With chefs, the problem is we have to be very confident because people are looking at us for that. So pretty soon, you think you’re a plumber, you think you’re an electrician, you think you’re an accountant. – Michael Mina
When restaurants start to mature – and usually the five-year time is the time when the restaurant starts to settle in and have its own personality – your job is to grow it. – Michael Mina
The part that I know I enjoy most is the restaurants. You can’t do everything, you know? For me, the priority has been being deeply involved in my restaurants and figuring out different ways to make them run better. – Michael Mina
Bringing your kids into the kitchen doesn’t require you to be a top chef; only time and maybe a willingness to get a little messy. – Michael Mina
I did want to share with you one of the greatest lessons I’ve learned over the years cooking for my kids – there is enormous value in bringing children into the kitchen. – Michael Mina
There’s always room to improve in a restaurant. A restaurant is better or worse every day than it was the day before. It’s impossible not to be, because it’s human. – Michael Mina
Guests love to be ‘wowed’ in Las Vegas. They enjoy and embrace new tastes, new flavors, and they come to expect the unexpected in Las Vegas. – Michael Mina
Food feeds both the body and soul – there are clear reasons to eat a balanced diet, but there are also reasons you cling to your mom’s secret chicken noodle soup recipe when you’re sick. – Michael Mina
Even in fine-dining restaurants, you have people that say ‘I want to be out in half hour’, ‘I want to be out in 45 minutes.’ It happens. – Michael Mina
I loved growing up in Washington, but I have been a diehard, 100 percent 49ers fan since I was 11. – Michael Mina
I look at each one of my restaurants, and I want my personality to come out. Some are serious, some are intense when it comes to food and wines, some are meat masters supreme. I enjoy all my guests. – Michael Mina
I’d rather have Daniel Boulud have 20 restaurants than some restauranteur. It’s going to make the food in our country better. – Michael Mina
From a young age, I understood the idea of balanced flavor – the reason you put ketchup on a hamburger. I was that kid who wouldn’t eat something if there was something missing. I never really understood it until I began cooking professionally, balancing acids, sweets, spicy flavors and fat. – Michael Mina
I believe what makes cooking in Las Vegas different from cooking in most other cities are the guests that dine with you in Las Vegas. – Michael Mina
I take after my mother more than my father in terms of personality. My mother’s a worrier, and I’m a worrier. Both were very good with numbers and mathematics, so I kind of got that from both of them. – Michael Mina
When your parents are Middle Eastern immigrants, you have three choices. You can become a doctor, a lawyer or an engineer. – Michael Mina
There are two ways to look at how life works and how people find their paths. One way is you take your time and try different things out. The other is you settle in early. I was into cooking very early. – Michael Mina
