If you've been reading Chef Salad here at Chow Bella for a while, you've probably gleaned a few tasty nuggets about your favorite chefs: what they like to eat and where, the colleagues they admire, the mentors they've learned from and their views on trends and celebrity. As the interviewer, I've been fascinated by their differences (no two snowflakes and all that) but also their similarities.

See also: Chow Bella's 12 Most Popular Phoenix Food and Restaurant Stories of 2012

Twenty-eight interviews in, I've figured out a few things: Chefs aren't afraid of hard work and long hours, but they play hard, too. They like their environment to be neat and orderly but accept the blood, grease and smelly stuff that comes with their job. They respect authority and expect the same in the people who work for them, but the good ones are often rebels at heart. There's a lot more I could say about the metro Phoenix chefs I've talked to this year, but their own comments tell the story best. Here are a few of the memorable things they said in 2012.

(And check back next week for part two of our Chef Salad Highlights.)