Chef José Andrés is preparing to Feed America

José Andrés is an internationally-renowned chef and humanitarian, owner of the ThinkFoodGroup, and founder of the non-profit World Central Kitchen. Throughout his career, he has been driven by his passion for food and desire to share it with others. Those who have had the pleasure to meet him, know he is energetic, optimistic, and a problem-solver.

He was born in Asturias, Spain, where he helped his father prepare paellas. At 15, he enrolled in the culinary and hospitality school in Barcelona, Escola de Restauració i Hostalatge. His studies where briefly interrupted with his service in the Spanish Navy. As a chef in the Juan Sebastián de Elcano great tall ship, he traveled to the U.S. and dreamt of returning to New York City.

At the age of 21, with $50 in his pocket, José Andrés moved from Spain to New York City to work at Eldorado Petit. He has lived in the U.S. ever since (mostly in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area), and he eventually became a U.S. citizen 22 years later.

He spent the 90s decade creating culinary experiences and popularizing the small-plate dining menus as the head of the kitchen at Jaleo and Café Atlantico. Early next century, José Andrés’ other popular restaurants (Zaytinya, Oyamel, minibar) opened in the D.C. metropolitan area together with the other two Jaleo locations. He also partnered with Rob Wilder to form ThinkFoodGroup to oversee all of José’s restaurants and creative endeavors. Today, TFG owns over 30 restaurants located around the U.S. and employs more than 1,000 persons.

José Andrés profoundly believes in every person’s right to good food, especially amid catastrophes. In the wake of Haiti’s earthquake in 2010, he began traveling to the island to help. Two years later, “with projects aimed at providing smart solutions to hunger and poverty in Haiti and beyond, José founds his humanitarian organization World Central Kitchen.” That same year Time magazine recognized him as one of the world’s 100 most influential people. In 2018, he was awarded the same recognition after leading the team that served over 3.6 million meals to the people of Puerto Rico following Hurricane Maria.

The WCK’s work has extended to other countries, including Indonesia, Mozambique, and Colombia, where they serve meals to Venezuelan refugees. It “has served more than 10 million meals through 24 deployments with over 44,000 volunteer shifts worked, to survivors in the aftermath of natural and man-made disasters.”

WCK is also working to address the nutritional challenges that emerged since the COVID-19 crisis broke. For one, it deployed emergency food logistics to serve meals to thousands of passengers and crew members quarantined on the Princess Cruises ships both in Japan and California. They are also distributing meals in the Bronx and Queens (New York City), Arkansas, and Los Angeles.

But the 2016 National Humanities Medal recipient (awarded by President Obama) is concerned for the near future of the whole country. In D.C., he transformed some of the TGF restaurants into community kitchens to feed people from noon to 5 PM daily. These spaces take into account the CDC’s guidance and implement it so that the cooks and customers are all safe. Against criticism, José Andrés believes independent restaurants are ideal for creating small feeding operations that solve for the food deserts and the nourishment needs of people who relied on meals distributed in schools, which have started to close around the country.

True to his optimistic ways, José Andrés is preparing for the worst while hoping for the best. The work he is carrying in both TFG and WCK will serve as a blueprint to feed America through the COVID-19 crisis. While TFG is moving ahead with the community kitchens, the non-profit organization is envisioning large-scale operations that could be hosted at convention centers or stadiums and staffed with healthy chefs with no contact to the outside world for a month.

Story cover photo: USDA photo by Bob Nichols.