Chefs, Bikes, And Automobiles Slideshow

"I never intended to buy this car," says chef Donatella Arpaia, of Donatella and a regular judge on Food Network's Iron Chef America and The Next Iron Chef. "I arranged to borrow this car for a day as a gift to a longtime loyal employee so they could drive it. As soon as I got behind the wheel, it was love at first sight. I could not describe the complete unexpected thrill that came over me. I felt that I'd arrived. Growing up in an immigrant family, 'work hard and save' was the mantra we lived by. This certainly wasn't a necessary purchase, but for me, as a hardworking woman, it felt like I could finally embrace my power while I was driving this car."

Donatella's culinary memory most associated with the car was with her husband, Allan Stewart. "After my wedding ceremony, my husband, Allan Stewart, and I drove to the ceremony in the Lamborghini," she explained. "I was so excited not only to celebrate, but to taste the menu I had created with the head culinary chef at The Plaza Hotel. It was a menu I had carefully planned for my guests and I could not contain my excitement as we pulled up to see how it turned out! My pastry chef, Andrea Jarosh, at Donatella created my six-tier wedding cake, adding to one of my most memorable culinary experiences to date."

Chef Sean Brasel of Meat Market in Miami has two Ducati 1000 DS, and yes, that's really him. "Racing is very zen," says chef Brasel. "In my day-to-day life, my mind is in constant motion — thinking about food costs, menu items, creating new, unique dishes, or thinking up restaurant concepts."

The only thing in life that takes him away from all that is racing. "The adrenaline is so intense that the only thing my brain has time to consider is all the components of riding, shifting, taking on the next corner, and who is in front of me."

As for associated culinary memories, chef Brasel said he likes to ride down to Homestead, Fl., during the winter to check out the farms.

"This was my first motorcycle purchase in California," says chef Jason Rose of Ram's Gate in Sonoma. "Cooking and motorcycling is why I came here in the first place, as it's the best place in America to do both. It was also very special to me because it was my sole means of transportation for four years. Year round, rain or shine, I was on that motorcycle."

As for associated culinary memories, Rose noted, "One of my favorite, most memorable rides on this bike was heading up to the Jimtown Store in Alexander Valley. It's like the place I have always wanted to own. Simple, rustic, homegrown, and delicious."

"Like many chefs, I'm an adrenaline junkie," admitted chef Mike Lata of FIG in Charleston, S.C. "I need to find release and riding my bikes — be it on the racetrack or in the mountains — gives me that."

Lata loves the challenges of multi-tasking through 14-hour days, but also needs balance. "The bike offers solitude. Inside my helmet, my universe is tiny. As I weave through the chicane looking for the best line, I become connected to the machine — in the zone. Just me and my finely tuned Italian machine, revving and surging, feeling the exact point of contact where the rubber meets the road. Precision, finesse, and execution are mine to master and mine alone, quite the departure from what I leave at the restaurant."

As for culinary memories, he once flew to Italy with chefs and wine professionals, ditching the group to ride a Ducati he rented from Lucca to Bologna and back. "During the three days I passed through the Tuscan mountains, I was fortunate to enjoy many off-the-beaten path restaurants and got a great sense of rural Italian food. I still draw inspiration from that trip."

"I grew up on motorcycles and ATVs, so it is in my blood," said chef Johnny Iuzzini, co-host of Top Chef Just Desserts, and most recently of Jean Georges in New York City. "I got my first street bike at 17. A little 400 cc Honda CB-1. I love my bikes because it gives me time alone in my head. I can't talk to anyone, no email, text, etc. It gives me time to think, to clear my head, to focus, to reflect and to just be alone."

As for culinary associations with his customized bike, "No great ones as of yet other than short trips to visit farmers in the Catskills and eastern Long Island." But he has one planned for spring that was inspired by actor Ewan McGregor's Long Way Round.

"If Top Chef Just Desserts (shot in L.A.) gets picked up for a third season, I plan on shipping my moto out and riding home to New York. This will be anything but a straight line. I have bike friends all over the country, so a few may jump in and cut out, but the plan is to zigzag all the way home and document the trip while eating at destination restaurants, truck stops, mom and pop spots, camping, plus a whole lot of sightseeing. I have traveled extensively around the world, but never really in my own country as an adult."

"I have a 1971 Chevy Chevelle with the original red and black interior, and a completely custom 1968 Chevy Impala Convertible that was painted using a paint process called candy," explained chef Michael Galata of Circo in New York City. "It's a lost art where the layering of paint and colors makes a new color. The interior is two-tone brown and tan ostrich leather. It has an all-chrome 350 motor and is perfect. These cars mean freedom, style, good times, and paying homage to the cool things America once produced. They're living, breathing, gas-guzzling pieces of art, and in New York, cars are so rarely embraced, while art is."

Galata's most memorable moment was driving late to work: "My top was down and it started pouring rain. The top broke and would not go up and my back seats were filled with veg coming from the farmers market. I drove from 16th Street to 55th Street on Sixth Avenue, not looking very cool driving that day."

"It doesn't have a ring tone, but the more I put into it the faster it goes," explained chef Michael Chiarello of Bottega in Napa Valley. "I seldom have to push it, unlike the rest of the challenges in my life."

As for the most memorable culinary association with his bike, the chef noted, "I hope to create this memory on my 50th birthday in the Basque country of Spain: 50 years old, five friends, five days, 500 miles, and 5,000-calorie dinners each night. Can't wait."

"My Bayliner is my childhood dream realized," says chef Jacques Torres of Jacques Torres Chocolate in New York City. "The water is my haven. It grounds me; erases the hectic pace of New York City; and connects me to home in Bandol, France, where I used to play among the boats as a child and always dreamed of owning one myself."

As for culinary associations, the most memorable, "was in June, 2009 on my 50^th birthday. I piloted the boat with my wife Hasty to Jacques Pépin's home in Connecticut. It was a weekend celebration with friends filled with cooking."