José Ramón Andrés Puerta was born in Mieres, Asturias, in northern Spain. At 15 he enrolled in culinary school in Barcelona, and at 18 during his military service, he was given the job of cooking for an admiral. He then worked for three years for superstar chef Ferran Adrià at the famous avant-garde restaurant elBulli, but was eventually fired, and decided to move to the US.
Since arriving in 1991 at the age of 21, he has built an empire of over 30 restaurants in US cities including New York, Chicago, Washington DC, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Miami, and Orlando, along with others in the Bahamas and Dubai.
He has also become famous for his humanitarian work, creating the non-profit organization World Central Kitchen in 2010 to provide food relief in crisis situations around the world.
Over the years, he has accumulated a remarkable array of recognitions, from culinary prizes—including a James Beard Outstanding Chef Award—and media accolades —including Chef of the Year in Bon Appetit and GQ—to a string of humanitarian awards, honorary degrees, and other recognitions, such as a place in TIME’s 100 Most Influential People and a nomination for the Nobel Peace Prize.
Restaurants
The José Andrés Group owns a large portfolio of restaurants serving different kinds of cuisine at different price points. They range from the two-Michelin-star Minibar by José Andrés in Washington DC—serving a tasting menu of around 25 small courses to just 12 diners— and the similar è by José Andrés in Las Vegas to The Bazaar by José Andrés, which has restaurants in New York City, Miami Beach, and Washington DC.
The latest incarnation of The Bazaar opened in 2022 in Washington DC in the historic Old Post Office building, an event that Andrés says had been a dream since he moved to the capital from NYC in 1993, and which was postponed for several years by his falling out with the building’s previous owner, Donald Trump.
In terms of cuisine, The Bazaar restaurants serve innovative dishes rooted in Spanish tradition and avant-garde techniques, crafted with Andrés’ signature creativity, and designed to stimulate the senses in surprising and satisfying ways, in “a carefully created theater of shared plates.” The menu in the Washington DC restaurant offers an additional twist, with references to favorite dishes of past presidents and tributes to the rich history of the nation’s capital.
Recipes and dishes
Andrés has been credited with introducing tapas to the US. Signature dishes include Beet Butterfly, which is a rosette of beet with Greek yogurt, mandarin orange, and marigold flowers; Snail Caviar: Fast & Slow, a twist on a classic Spanish pairing of conejo con caracoles, highlighting the snail caviar; and Corn BBQ & CornChata, made with crispy chicken skin, hot corn gelee, BBQ sauce, and corn milk horchata.
Besides being an award-winning chef, restaurateur, and humanitarian, Andrés is also a bestselling author, television host, podcast producer, and educator. This parallel career as a communicator began in 2005, when he starred in his own cooking show in Spain, Vamos a Cocinar and published his first book, Tapas: A Taste of Spain in America. He has since appeared on TV in Iron Chef America, Top Chef, and numerous other shows, as well as lecturing in culinary physics at Harvard University, helping develop a curriculum in Spanish cuisine for the International Culinary Center in New York, and teaching a course in how food shapes civilization at George Washington University. His 2023 book, The WCK Cookbook: Feeding Humanity, Feeding Hope, focuses on recipes associated with WCK's global relief efforts.
