mercfoot

Hi Bryan, Been to Volt and Family Meal. Love them both! A few questions: I'm constantly amazed by how much food can affect my mood. I remember when my father was in hospice care I treated myself to a day off which included an amazing meal. I was blown away by how much better I felt going home the next day. Do you have a specific comfort food that you brings you up when you're feeling down? Can you think of a time when you were down and you had a meal that turned your day/outlook around for you?

What are the characteristics that go into making a successful contestant on Top Chef other than simply being able to make good food? What is the difference between being able to compose a kick-ass restaurant menu vs. being able to put together those Top Chef dishes?

Antonia Lofaso said in an interview that, between the time that you hear the quickfire challenge and you start cooking there's a half-hour where everyone has to basically sign contracts, so you get a little time to work on a dish in your head. How long do you actually take to come up with a dish? How often is it based on something you've already made and how often is it something totally new?

Thanks for doing the AMA and for the great meals!

I'm curious what you think of this article:

http://m.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/a-psychiatrist-thinks-some-patients-are-better-off-without-antipsychotic-drugs/2013/12/06/547f5680-48aa-11e3-a196-3544a03c2351_story.html

Tl;dr: a psychiatrist has looked at the long term data and realized that the long-term outcomes of people who take meds aren't much better than those who don't.

If I have one question I guess it would be this: how much agency do your patients have in terms of their med regimen? If a patient says they don't like taking a particular med, do you let them stop?

How much actual eating did you do on "Big Night"? Was the timpano a real dish that you got to try?

video of the timpano scene

I'm wondering what effect outpourings like this have on your psyche. Obviously I'm sure you get the negative comments, not just from your stalker, but also from the other idiots on the web. But there's also outpourings like this which are overwhelmingly positive. Do they "get in" in any way like the negative stuff does? Will this be something you can remind yourself of in hard times? Or is it just small comfort?