If chef José Andrés has learned anything in 55 years, it’s that life can get a little messy at times. But in those messes, he says, there can be an awful lot of joy.
He’s not necessarily talking about prepping a dish and finding out a diner has a food allergy that requires him to adjust his ingredients (though it’s certain this has happened to him a few times in the nearly 40 years he has worked in kitchens). It’s more likely that he’s talking about the plates he spins in a culinary empire that includes acclaimed restaurants, a media group, an ingredient line, and the food relief not-for-profit World Central Kitchen.
“I always say there’s one José, but he has three full-time jobs,” says Sam Bakhshandehpour, global chief executive officer of José Andrés Group (JAG). “Somehow, he has 25 hours in the day, when we have 24. But we have an incredible team of talented men and women who help us grow and deliver an excellent culinary experience to various markets around the world.”
Miami’s booming restaurant industry has been part of JAG’s recent growth. The group opened Zaytinya (a Turkish, Greek, and Lebanese mezze restaurant) and DiLido Beach Bar at The Ritz-Carlton, South Beach in December 2023. It continues its expansion this year with a Mediterranean-meets-Florida eatery called Aguasal, which will be located at the new Andaz Miami Beach and is on track to open this spring. Andrés notes that JAG has even more plans to become a part of the city’s rich food culture, which includes everything from food halls to Michelin-starred destinations.
“I love Miami,” says Andrés, who has traveled the world, savoring the tastes and smells of global cuisine, both home-cooked and haute. His interest in the 305 fits neatly with his long-held culinary ethos that food is a community builder and a source of love and healing.
Born in northwestern Spain, Andrés moved with his family to the Barcelona area when he was 6 years old. Some of his earliest kitchen memories are of watching his mother make croquetas: a round, deep-fried tapa that, in his household, gave a second life to leftovers—everything from ham to vegetables, you name it.
“She was like a magician, making something out of nothing,” Andrés recalls. “It taught me that food is a way to show love. She would take these leftovers and chop them up and mix them in with bechamel. She would use old bread, put it in the coffee grinder, and make breadcrumbs to coat the bechamel and fry the croquetas for me and my brothers. I loved being in the kitchen with my mother, and today, of course, you will find croquetas in many of my restaurants.”
From a very young age, Andrés knew he wanted to be a cook, so he entered culinary school at age 15. However, he quickly discovered that he’d rather be out in the world, learning from experience.
“I became a student of life,” he says. “I began working in restaurants, and then I joined the Spanish Navy and explored the world. I got to try ingredients and dishes that I’d never seen before.”
To this day, he believes the world is one of his best educators. The other is Ferran Adrià, the El Bulli head chef who mentored him for three years. “El Bulli was more than just a restaurant,” Andrés says of the former Michelin-starred restaurant known for its molecular gastronomy. “It was where the gastronomic revolution—a Big Bang in creativity—began. I learned so much about cooking and gastronomy, but also about generosity. The team there made sure their discoveries were shared with the world.”
That world beckoned to Andrés, enticing him to try his luck in the United States. He had always been fascinated with American pop culture, whether it was adventure movies like Indiana Jones and Star Wars or the high-flying excitement of NBA basketball games. While he was in the Spanish Navy, Andrés’ first sight of the Statue of Liberty and New York City skyline had a profound impact on him. He saw America as other immigrants before him had—as a land full of possibility. He knew he’d be back.
In 1991, he fulfilled that dream, arriving in Manhattan with $50 to his name. He found work, and then learned to speak English by watching Julia Child on PBS. He also learned that American diners weren’t yet accustomed to eating the small, shared plates—known as tapas—that he was so familiar with in Spain.
“When I first arrived, a lot of people weren’t always comfortable with the idea of sharing food,” Andrés notes. “But I had a lot of great conversations with early guests, encouraging them to push their plates to the middle of the table, instead of keeping them for themselves. I saw how the Spanish way of sharing, the tapas way of life, could be welcomed in my new home.”
Two years later, 23-year-old Andrés moved to Washington, D.C. to become head chef of a new tapas restaurant called Jaleo. There, his small plates with big flavor were a huge hit. Three decades later, the restaurant remains wildly popular.
“When we opened Jaleo, I took the advice of one of my early mentors, Clemente Bocos, who owned a tiny tapas bar in Manhattan,” Andrés says. “He told me to follow my instincts and not Americanize anything. When you cook for yourself, you’re able to please others. I believe that is what made Jaleo so successful. It was authentic, based on real Spanish ingredients and simple Spanish cooking. And it worked.”
But Andrés was still hungry to tell the culinary stories of cultures he had experienced on his travels. Where Jaleo is a tale about Spain, Zaytinya—his Mediterranean restaurant with several locations (including Miami Beach)—weaves together the histories and cultures of Turkey, Greece, and Lebanon. China Chilcano in D.C. spins a yarn about Peru’s cultural diversity with its fusion of Criollo, Chinese Chifa, and Japanese Nikkei cuisines. No matter the flavor, Andrés’ artistry has garnered him accolades, among them a Best Chef: Mid-Atlantic award from the James Beard Foundation in 2003, two Michelin stars for his avant-garde Minibar by José Andrés, and four Bib Gourmands.
Despite the awards and reservation wait-lists, Andrés had more on his mind. He began thinking about how food could be more than a meal—it could be a powerful change agent. When he first moved to Washington, D.C., he got involved with DC Central Kitchen, a nonprofit that trains people for culinary careers and feeds people in need. His experience with the group inspired him to create his own not-for-profit organization, World Central Kitchen (WCK), after the devastating 2010 earthquake in Haiti.
“It is now 15 years since WCK began and we are still learning every day,” Andrés says. “When we go into a community, we never tell them, ‘This is what you need to eat, this is what you want.’ Instead, we come with open ears and a deep hunger to learn from them. I think that is the same approach you must come to every situation with, not what do I know, but what can I learn?”
Andrés remembers that not long after arriving in Washington, D.C., the late senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan told him that if he loved America, it would love him back. To be sure, Andrés found love with his wife, Patricia, whom he met there, and then their three daughters, Carlota, Ines, and Lucia. He poured his heart into his restaurants, his work in crisis zones such as fire-ravaged Los Angeles, and into his George Washington University class, “The World on a Plate: How Food Shapes Civilization.” In January, President Joe Biden awarded him the Presidential Medal of Freedom for his tireless humanitarian work. Andrés says it was a humbling experience in a lifetime where he has served meals to everyone from former First Lady Michelle Obama to Asheville residents who’d just lost their homes in a devastating flood.
“When your neighborhood has been decimated, you realize how powerful having your local restaurant is,” Bakhshandehpour says. “I’m talking about just going to a local restaurant and knowing your table, recognizing the hosts, the managers, your favorite server, and it [feels like] family. That’s why I love José dearly because he delivers that from community to community in such a multitiered approach. It’s not just another sterile restaurant experience, it’s something unique that does storytelling and leaves a mark for people, and they keep coming back and appreciating that’s where memories are made.”
In April, Andrés’ new book, Change the Recipe: Because You Can’t Build a Better World Without Breaking Some Eggs, will recount some of his life stories, and, he hopes, inspire readers to create positive change.
“I know that immigrants can be bridges,” Andrés says. “We build the longer tables that connect us all. And I believe we all share a responsibility to create an even better America, one where the American dream can be achieved by everyone, regardless of what you look like or where you come from. Chefs like me feed the few, but our destiny is to feed the many, to be an army of goodness where a plate of food becomes a plate of hope, a light in dark times.”
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