"Anyone who thinks they're too grown up or too sophisticated to eat caramel corn, is not invited to my house for dinner"
— Ruth Reichl

"Pull up a chair. Take a taste. Come join us. Life is so endlessly delicious."
— Ruth Reichl

"Every restaurant is a theater, and the truly great ones allow us to indulge in the fantasy that we are rich and powerful. When restaurants hold up their end of the bargain, they give us the illusion of being surrounded by servants intent on ensuring our happiness and offering extraordinary food.
But even modest restaurants offer the opportunity to become someone else, at least for a little while. Restaurants free us from mundane reality; that is part of their charm. When you walk through the door, you are entering neutral territory where you are free to be whoever you choose for the duration of the meal."
— Ruth Reichl

"...it was so rich and exotic I was seduced into taking one bite and then another as I tried to chase the flavors back to their source."
— Ruth Reichl

"...I was not prepared for the feel of the noodles in my mouth, or the purity of the taste. I had been in Japan for almost a month, but I had never experiences anything like this. The noodles quivered as if they were alive, and leapt into my mouth where they vibrated as if playing inaudible music."
— Ruth Reichl

"A thousand years ago the Chinese had an entirely codified kitchen while the French were still gnawing on bones. Chopsticks have been around since the fourth century B.C. Forks didn't show up in England until 1611, and even then they weren't meant for eating but just to hold the meat still while you hacked at it with your knife."
— Ruth Reichl (Garlic and Sapphires: The Secret Life of a Critic in Disguise)