'I don't open restaurants, I tell stories': Chef Jos Andrs on his singular approach to food

[littlemissmartypants]

https://www.bbc.com/worklife/article/20240125-jose-andres-interview-influential-katty-kay

25th January 2024, 01:20 EST

By Jacqueline Schneider
Features correspondent


Chef José Andrés joins Katty Kay on Influential (Credit: BBC)

The restaurateur and Nobel Peace Prize-nominated chef tells the BBC's Katty Kay about his vision for each dish on the plate, and how food should be both an oasis and force for good.

"I don't open restaurants, I tell stories," says José Andrés. "Every one of my restaurants in a way is a story."

The two-Michelin-starred chef has been spinning narratives with food for the past four decades through his portfolio of American restaurants including Jaleo, The Bazaar and minibar. Along with his world-famous dishes, Andrés has also used his platform and talent to build up World Central Kitchen (WCK), a global supply chain of pop-up meal operations that appear in emergency disaster zones to provide direct aid.

Andrés talks with BBC correspondent Katty Kay ...snip...

Andrés found his way into food aged 15, when he enrolled in culinary school in his native Spain; at 18, he entered the Spanish military for compulsory service, becoming a cook for an admiral on a boat. The experience took him outside Europe for the first time, opening his mind to the meaning of collaboration and the possibilities of global impact.

"The military service gave me this sense that we are a part of making our country better, our world better and it also showed me the meaning of working as a team," he tells Kay. "When I was sailing on that ship, I understood that the winds may be against us, and the currents may be moving us in the wrong direction – but the 300 people were together as one, no waves or currents that could take us away from our destination."

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https://www.bbc.com/worklife/article/20240125-jose-andres-interview-influential-katty-kay

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