Welcome to Dining With the Stars, a series where we sit down with celebrities and chefs to discuss all things food. Grab a seat at our table to find out their favorite restaurants, dream dinner party guest list and more delicious details.
Chef José Andrés’ new cookbook, “Zaytinya,” was released on March 19 and features more than 150 recipes inspired by Greek, Lebanese and Turkish cuisine. Bearing the same name as his popular, vegetable-centric restaurant, the book is filled with colorful images and recipes for dishes such as Chicken Youvetsi and Turkish eggs with yogurt and Aleppian chile crisp (çılbır). Andrés, who was born in Spain and now lives in Washington, D.C., has always been partial to cooking with Spanish olive oil, but his latest project served as a reminder of the delicious ingredients that lie near the eastern Mediterranean.
Whether he’s cooking in his restaurants or at home for his wife and three daughters, Andrés is always thinking about others. The James Beard Award-winning chef and humanitarian splits his time between running his 31 restaurants and feeding those in need. His not-for-profit organization, World Central Kitchen (WCK), provides food to communities in need across the globe; these days, you’ll find frontline workers in Gaza providing food and supplies to displaced Palestinians. (Editor's Note: After this interview was conducted, seven WCK workers were killed in an IDF airstrike. WCK announced in a statement that they would be pausing operations immediately in the region. They have since resumed.)
“We must do more,” Andrés told Al Roker in a TODAY appearance following the strike. “We need to do everyday shipments to the North. We can solve the hunger problem in the North.”
Despite his impossibly busy schedule, Andrés found time to take a seat at our table for this edition of Dining With the Stars.
You previously mentioned that your wife’s gazpacho made you fall in love with her. Do you prefer her cooking or your own?
I have said this many times: I may be a chef, but my wife, Patricia, feeds our family. She doesn’t always like to cook, but there are many dishes she makes that our family loves, like her garbanzos with spinach. I know that when Tichi cooks, she cooks with love.
What’s one thing you do in the kitchen that makes cooking easier?
Give the most time-consuming jobs, like peeling blueberries and strawberries (Yes, I peel my berries!) to the annoying houseguests. It will keep them busy and let you focus on the cooking!
What are a few ingredients you think home cooks should stock in their pantry to make their food more flavorful?
Of course, Spanish extra-virgin olive oil is my favorite, but I love Greek olive oil too, and California. No matter what, always have good olive oil in your kitchen.
Pimentón is one of my favorite ingredients. You might know it as paprika, but the kind from Spain is a special smoked paprika. It adds sweetness and smokiness to any dish.
World Central Kitchen has fed millions of people during times of need. Why is this work so important to you?
During and after a disaster, food is the fastest way to rebuild our sense of community. With World Central Kitchen, we can put people back to work preparing meals, and we can put lives back together by fighting hunger. Food relief is not just a meal that keeps hunger away, it’s a plate of hope. It tells you in your darkest hour that someone, somewhere, cares about you. That has been our mission since the beginning.
Where would you send a first-time tourist to eat in Barcelona, Spain?
You have to start at La Boqueria, Barcelona’s famous market. Here, you can see the amazing foods of Spain — it is like looking through a window into the history and stories of Spanish ingredients and cooking. Start early in the morning and, if you can, get a seat at El Quim; ask for the day’s special or order one of my favorites, fried eggs with baby squid.
Favorite restaurant in Washington, D.C.?
That’s like asking me to choose my favorite daughter!
Go-to comfort food?
Lentil stew, like my mother used to make, with lots of vegetables and pimentón.
Dream dinner party guest list?
You can actually see it on my new show, “Dinner Party Diaries” on Amazon Prime, where I cook with Jamie Lee Curtis, Bryan Cranston and O’Shea Jackson Jr. It’s like a dream come true!
Favorite food city outside of the U.S.?
The next city I go to. I am always inspired by the cooking I come across on my travels and the people who make the food to feed their community.
Cooking at home or dining out?
Both. Equally. Day by day.
Editor’s note: Andrés’ responses have been edited for clarity.
