José Andrés

José Ramón Andrés Puerta(Spanish pronunciation:[xoˈseraˈmonanˈdɾesˈpweɾta]; born 13 July 1969) is a Spanish-American chef andrestaurateur. Born in Spain, he moved to the United States in the early 1990s and since then, he has opened restaurants in several American cities. He has won a number of awards, both for his cooking (including severalJames Beard Awards), and his humanitarian work. He is a professor as well as the founder of the Global Food Institute atGeorge Washington University.
Andrés is the founder ofWorld Central Kitchen(WCK), a non-profit devoted toproviding meals in the wake of natural disasters.He is often credited with bringing thesmall platesdining concept to America.He was awarded a 2015National Humanities Medalat a 2016White Houseceremony for his work with World Central Kitchen.In addition, he has received honorary doctorates from Georgetown University, George Washington University, Harvard University, and Tufts University. In March 2022, he was named as co-chair of the United StatesPresident's Council on Sports, Fitness, and Nutrition, a role he served in until he submitted his resignation one week beforeDonald Trumptook office in January 2025.
José Ramón Andrés Puerta was born inMieres,Asturias, Spain,on 13 July 1969.Andrés' family moved toCataloniawhen he was 6.He enrolled in culinary school inBarcelonaat the age of 15, and when he needed to complete hisSpanish military serviceat age 18, he was assigned to cook for an admiral.He metFerran Adriàin Barcelona, and he worked three years atEl Bulli, from 1988 to 1990.In December 1990, he was fired by Adrià and decided to move to the United States.
At the age of 21, Andrés arrived inNew York Cityto cook in midtownManhattanat an outpost of a popular Spanish restaurant, Eldorado Petit. During his time in New York, he also staged servings atThe Quilted Giraffe.In 1993, Andrés was hired to lead the kitchen at Jaleo, a new tapas restaurant inWashington, D.C.In subsequent years, he helped the owners of Jaleo to open more restaurants: Cafe Atlantico, Zaytinya and Oyamel, along with two more Jaleo outposts.In 2003, Andrés started minibar – a restaurant space within a larger restaurant – at a six-seat counter within Cafe Atlantico.Minibareventually became a stand-alone restaurant that has a twelve-seat counter. Seats are released on a monthly basis; according to theWashington Postthey typically are reserved within 24 hours.
As he opened more restaurants in the US, Andrés became more well known in his native Spain, starring in his own cooking show,Vamos a Cocinar, which debuted in 2005.He also published his first book,Tapas: A Taste of Spain in America, in 2005.In 2006, he partnered with Robert Wilder to form ThinkFoodGroup, making Andrés a co-owner in his restaurants.Together, they opened more restaurants in Miami, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, and Puerto Rico.
Beginning in the fall of 2010, Andrés taught a culinary physics course atHarvard Universitywith Ferran Adrià.In May 2012, Andrés was named dean ofSpanish StudiesatThe International Culinary Center, where he andColman Andrewsdeveloped a curriculum in traditional and modernSpanish cuisine, which debuted in February 2013.On 29 October 2012, he announced he was heading back to the classroom, and would teach his first course on how food shapes civilization atGeorge Washington University.He did so until 2023, when he started the Global Food Institute atGeorge Washington University.
Andrés planned to open a restaurant in theTrump International Hotel(also known asOld Post Office) inWashington, D.C., in 2016. AfterDonald Trumpmadedisparaging commentsabout illegalMexicanimmigrants in June 2015, Andrés withdrew from the contract with theTrump Organization, which then sued him.Andrés counter-sued, and the parties reached a settlement in April 2017.
TheTrump International Hotel, Washington, D.C., closed on 11 May 2022.It was sold toCGI Merchant Group, and later reopened as theWaldorf Astoria Washington, D.C., on 1 June 2022.On 13 June 2022, Andrés announced that he would return to the location to open the restaurant that he had planned in the original 2015 deal.The Bazaar by José Andrés opened on 8 February 2023.Andrés remains an outspoken critic of Trump.
TheWorld Central Kitchen(WCK) raised almost $30 million in 2019, then $250 million in 2020.In response to the2010 Haiti earthquake, Andrés provided locally cooked dishes specific to the region essential to comforting people touched by disasters.Since it was founded, theNGOhas organized meals in theDominican Republic,Nicaragua,Zambia,Peru,Cuba,Uganda,Cambodia,and inPolandon the border ofUkraine.It has provided aid and meals in the United States and Puerto Rico and has helped during theCOVID-19 pandemicin the United States. Andrés runs WCK's operations with the help of ~200 devoted colleaguesincluding CEO Erin Gore and Director of Emergency responseSam Bloch.
In 2021,Jeff Bezos, the owner ofThe Washington PostandAmazon, handed Andrés $100 million through hisCourage and Civility Award.During the2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, Andrés announced that he was going to donate a part of the $100 millionto the organization to address the humanitarian crisis in Ukraine.
In 2022, WCK took in $519 million in grants and donations.
On 1 April 2024, seven WCK employees in Gaza werekilled by multiple Israeli drone strikesin the city ofDeir al-Balah.Andrés rejected Israeli and U.S. assertions that the strike was not deliberate, stating the seven employees were "targeted deliberately" and killed "systematically, car by car". TheIsrael–Hamas war, he said, is "not a war against terrorism anymore" but a "war against humanity itself."
Along with partner Rob Wilder,Andrés owns several restaurants:
Signature restaurants:
Other restaurants:
Andrés is married to Patricia "Tichi" Fernández de la Cruz and has three daughters; they live inBethesda, Maryland, United States.He met his wife while they were both living in Washington, D.C.; she is originally fromCádiz, Andalusia,in the southwest of Spain.He became a naturalizedU.S. citizenin December 2013.
Andrés is an avidgolferand lovescigars.
He has a collection of rare cookbooks, totalling to 1500, including an 1825 first edition ofJean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin'sThe Physiology of Taste, a rents and receipts notepad from 1795 that belonged toThomas Jefferson’s chef Honoré Julien, and an 1851 edition ofThe Virginia House-WifebyMary Randolph.He has expressed a predilection for his early edition ofAuguste Escoffier’sMa Cuisine, his first edition ofIrma S. Rombauer'sJoy of Cooking, and Ángel Muro'sEl Practicón.
On 5 November 2024, Andrés said he planned to challenge Rep.Andy Harrisin the2026 election.He called Harris, aRepublicanand chair of theHouse Freedom Caucus, a "disgrace making so many lies and hateful rhetoric."