Eric Ripert l The Associated Press

Blog reader Debbie drew my attention to this interview with celebrity chef Eric Ripert on the food and restaurant blog Eater. The writer interviewed Ripert about such topics as the strength of his New York City restaurant, Le Bernardin, during a tough economy, his upcoming stint as a guest judge on the reality show “Top Chef,” and the new season of his own show, “Avec Eric.”

While I was interested to see that he plans to “explore the South, starting in Virginia and moving down” for “Avec Eric,” I was more drawn to his responses to questions about that Restaurant Marc Forgione fiasco that was chronicled in The New York Times last week. We had a pretty healthy discussion about that on this blog, so I thought you all would like to read what Ripert had to say about it. Here’s a quote to whet your appetite:

Ripert: “At the end of the day, the chef who is screaming cannot be happy. Maybe he is feeling powerful, but he is blind powerful.”