Michael Mina

Chefs become attracted to being able to get product and then clientele - those are the two things that attract you as a chef.

I'm not a big breakfast eater.

I loved the cooking; that was what I was passionate about, but getting to watch the guests eat - because you could see everything from the kitchen - just watching people eat and looking at the plates when they came back, just understanding, this is such an amazing job.

My last two years of high school, I did work-study half the day, and I ran the restaurant. It was just this little restaurant, but it was just so cool. I had 35, 40 employees.

I liked to screw around in the kitchen when I was a kid. But I started cooking when I was 15.

I love San Francisco; it's very hard to compete with San Francisco when it comes to availability of product, but one thing you can't replace about Las Vegas or Miami is people are walking in the door and they want to have a good time.