If somebody has a chance to put my food in their mouth, that tells the story.

Lagasse frames culinary success in the most direct, sensory terms: the proof of a cook’s work is not in reputation, technique, or television persona, but in the intimate act of someone actually eating the food. The line suggests a chef’s story is told through hospitality and consumption—if a diner chooses to taste what you’ve made, that choice validates the craft and the relationship between cook and guest. It also implies humility: the audience’s experience, not the chef’s self-description, is the final measure. In a media-saturated food culture, the quote re-centers cooking as a lived, bodily encounter rather than a performance.