If you're in the writer's room, in any writer's room in the world, before you pitch a joke or suggest an idea, you first think it's funny and decide to say it out loud. The next step is for the people around you to accept it or reject it, before it ever sees the light of day, on film or in front of an audience.

We live life in restaurants, its the center of social life, where we celebrate with family and friends, make new friends, travel without traveling, and of course, eat.

I don't have the talent, the temperament, or the patience to be a great chef. I'd much rather order from someone who can really do it. I love restaurants. They make my life better.

Because you know what happens when you say 'hello' or 'good morning?' You make a connection. And isn't that what being human is all about?

Two-thirds of us in the U.S. don't have a passport. I'm here to say that travel is the best, most mind-expanding thing we can do with our hard-earned extra money.

Because you know what happens when you say 'hello' or 'good morning?' You make a connection. And isn't that what being human is all about?

The other stuff of marriage can fade a little bit, but as long as you can laugh with your partner, that's everything because that's what remains at the end of the day. I think that's how we pick our friends and that's how we ultimately pick who we marry.

And with regard to the Italian family we portrayed on 'Everybody Loves Raymond' - Italians and Jews do share two traits: all problems are solved with food, and the mother never leaves you alone.

Food is the great connector, and laughs are the cement. If we go out to eat and have a nice meal, that's one thing. If we can share a laugh, now we're friends.

It's our most underrated value, I think, as human beings is our sense of humor. It's how we choose our friends.

I've inherited a Jewish sensibility and sense of humor from my parents and all those who came before me. All the Jewish comedians, character actors and writers I was exposed to also reminded me of my family in their sense of humor.

A good restaurant is like a vacation; it transports you, and it becomes a lot more than just about the food.

I am a terrible chef; I'm not a good cook. I don't have the talent, the patience, the desire even to cook the way these great artists that I meet around the world cook, and I'm very, very happy to support them. I invest in restaurants because I love them so much.

Life is about travel, and beauty in life, the love we find, the joy we have the laughs we have together. That's what I'm dedicating the rest of my life to.

So, I've got to have food, I've got to have humor. But these things are just the way in to what the show's really about, I think, which is connecting with the people.