The best place to use vanilla beans is anywhere where they won't be mixed in with a million other flavors. Anything with dairy, yogurt, milk, cream, or eggs - any custard or flan - how can it be bad?

I've thrown vanilla beans into mustard. Nothing crazy or grainy, just normal dijon. It's great for duck. Smear some of that right on the duck, coupled with some roast plums, and it all comes together in that savory over sweet over savory over sweet way we all love.

My two great treats in life are baked beans and vanilla ice-cream.

Fresh herbs really belong anywhere you put them.

My most memorable meal was with my parents at Joel Robuchon's Restaurant Jamin in Paris. It was Christmas 1982, and the flavors - from cauliflower and caviar to crab and tomato - astounded me. It was the first time I remember thinking that I would like to really learn how to cook.

It's amazing how meaty cauliflower can be.