José Andrés

Chef, Restaurateur, Humanitarian

N

amed one of Time’s “100 Most Influential People” in both 2012 and 2018 and recipient of the 2015 National Humanities Medal, José Andrés is an internationally recognized culinary innovator, author, Emmy Award-winning television personality, humanitarian, and chef/owner of José Andrés Group.

A pioneer of Spanish tapas in the United States, he is also known for his groundbreaking avant-garde cuisine and his award-winning group of nearly three dozen restaurants located throughout the country and beyond. José Andrés Group’s concepts include the two Michelin-starred minibar by José Andrés in Washington, DC, the acclaimed NYC food hall Mercado Little Spain, and multiple locations of the Bazaar by José Andrés. He has been awarded the James Beard Foundation’s “Outstanding Chef” and "Humanitarian of the Year” awards, and in 2023 received an Emmy Award for Outstanding Culinary Series for his show “José Andrés and Family in Spain."

Andrés is a committed advocate of food and hunger issues and is known for championing the role of chefs in the national debate on food policy. In 2010, he formed World Central Kitchen, a non-profit specializing in delivering food relief in the wake of natural and humanitarian disasters. Since serving nearly 4 million meals to the people of Puerto Rico following the devastation of Hurricane Maria, World Central Kitchen has responded to dozens of major disasters worldwide and distributed hundreds of millions of meals in the process. A decade after he introduced his pioneering college course “The World on a Plate," Andrés launched the Global Food Institute, a partnership with George Washington University to develop innovative new food policies and train the next generation of leaders. A naturalized U.S. citizen originally from Spain, Andrés has been a tireless advocate for immigration reform and on July 4, 2014 was named by President Barack Obama as that year’s “Outstanding American by Choice.”