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Jose Andres in the Media


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Check out what's cooking when culinary innovator Chef Jose Andres joins funnyman David Letterman in the kitchen

The mastermind behind minibar brings his unique culinary wizardy to the set of CBS' Late Show

Thursday, July 19, at 11:30 pm on CBS

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He did pretty well. I thought Letterman might overwhelm him, but he held his own and managed to be fairly humorous. Gotta get one of them smoke contraptions...

Yeah, it was pretty funny. I actually stopped watching late night TV a long time ago (kids and such) and had forgotten how funny Letterman can be. And Mr. "André", as he kept pronouncing it, did hold his own quite well.

We're going to Minibar next Wednesday, so it was especially fun to see the show, though I doubt we will be getting the crack-smoked clams in salsa verde.

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Yeah, I thought it was pretty funny too--Dave seemed determined to get Jose off course but Jose hung in there with him and completed his dish. My favorite part was when Letterman started chugging cava from the bottle and spitting it all over the food prep area. Jose's grossed-out expression was priceless. Best quote from Jose: "I am a green card holder." LOL

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My favorite part was when Letterman started chugging cava from the bottle and spitting it all over the food prep area.

Not just over the prep area -- onto Andres as well it seemed. I was hoping Andres would return the favor.

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"Jose Made In Spain" will debut Saturday, February 2 at 12:30 on WETA in Washington.

I caught this over the weekend and really enjoyed it. Love, love, love the accent. I would like to volunteer to scout out locations for next season. Somebody please let Jose know I am available.

Check this out too (Feb 12 epi). Quite the comedian. :mellow:

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Check this out too (Feb 12 epi). Quite the comedian. :mellow:

Breaking News

José Andrés has pulled ahead of both Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, a report released this afternoon says.

Commenting on the development, a spokesperson for Andrés says a challenge is being prepared against Article 2, Section 1 of the U.S. Constitution, adding that "Eez boolsheet, the CityZen requirement."

Speaking on terms of anonymity, The Source added that Andrés also plans to challenge, and ultimately overturn, the 22nd Amendment, which limits Presidents to two terms in office, but also emphasizes that no action is to be expected for "six or seven more years."

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Nice profile by Katy McLaughlin entitled "The Rise of José Andrés" with photos by Ethan Pines in the WSJ.

PT-AK995_andres_DV_20090225152809.jpg

Mr. Andrés says he hopes to open branches of Jaleo and his other concepts in as many as 20 cities and to partner in future SLS hotels. He has commissioned designs for an enlarged version of Minibar, which he hopes to open in late 2010, and says plans are in the works for an additional avant-garde restaurant with a strong Spanish theme.
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The show just started, looks like he will be interviewed by Anderson Cooper.

While this was very interesting, it had me banging my head. Jaleo was NOT Andres' first restaurant in town. He opened the first incarnation of Cafe Atlantico on Columbia Road--where Cashion's Eat Place now resides. How hard is it to get this stuff right?

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The story was more of a testimonial than an interview. 60 minutes, which is ostensibly part of the network's news division, didn't allow for the possibility that the food at Minibar would be mediocre or unpleasant. This is the sort of story that used to be handled by Morley Safer with much more savoir faire. Don Hewitt would never have allowed such an uncritical look at a so-called trendsetter. The question of whether a spoonful of foam can legitimately be called "a course" never came up. Anderson Cooper, a Yalie, threw in Andres's Harvard connection as some sort of amorphous catchall endorsement, but what the chef is doing in acadmia was completely unclear. While it is true that I have never eaten at Minibar, and the possibility exists that I would be bowled over by it, this story did nothing to further that possibility. It was a disgraceful piece of celebrity journalism with an uncharismatic celebrity, and may be a portent of the new product-oriented emphasis of television news.

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The story was more of a testimonial than an interview. 60 minutes, which is ostensibly part of the network's news division, didn't allow for the possibility that the food at Minibar would be mediocre or unpleasant. This is the sort of story that used to be handled by Morley Safer with much more savoir faire. Don Hewitt would never have allowed such an uncritical look at a so-called trendsetter. The question of whether a spoonful of foam can legitimately be called "a course" never came up. Anderson Cooper, a Yalie, threw in Andres's Harvard connection as some sort of amorphous catchall endorsement, but what the chef is doing in acadmia was completely unclear. While it is true that I have never eaten at Minibar, and the possibility exists that I would be bowled over by it, this story did nothing to further that possibility. It was a disgraceful piece of celebrity journalism with an uncharismatic celebrity, and may be a portent of the new product-oriented emphasis of television news.

I guess they could have called BS on some of his dishes, but what would the point have been? While I certainly don't think that MG is the future of dining it does provide a fun and interesting detour from the norm.

I think they tried to cram way too much in the little time that they had and were not able to dig into any of the items in much detail. I thought it was interesting to hear his view on how chefs should do more to feed the 97+% of folks that will never dine in their upscale restaurants. Could this have been a bit of self serving ego boost? I guess but I guess it depends on your view or personal knowledge of Mr. Andres. I have no idea.

BTW, I don't think the foam was "a course" of air, but simply a component. I don't think the idea of Minibar is to blow folks away, but provide an interesting and frequently tasty way of looking at food and ingredients. That said, my one trip years ago was enjoyable.

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I thought it was interesting to hear his view on how chefs should do more to feed the 97+% of folks that will never dine in their upscale restaurants. Could this have been a bit of self serving ego boost? I guess but I guess it depends on your view or personal knowledge of Mr. Andres. I have no idea.

Shortly after my wife and I moved to DC 15 years ago, she, as a nutritionist, became involved in Share Our Strength, and Jose was the chef she worked with. They would go to local schools and housing projects to demonstrate basic cooking skills and the principles of good nutrition. Jose took this very seriously.

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While this was very interesting, it had me banging my head. Jaleo was NOT Andres' first restaurant in town. He opened the first incarnation of Cafe Atlantico on Columbia Road--where Cashion's Eat Place now resides. How hard is it to get this stuff right?

Heading up the kitchen at Jaleo, he helped create one of the first critically and commercially successful tapas restaurants in the country, setting the standard for other Spanish restaurants for the next 15 years. José next took over the kitchen at Café Atlantico, a popular DC hangout, transforming it into one of the city’s most exciting dining destinations.

Funny-I also sort of remembered him from Cafe Atlantico first, but the quote above is from Jose's bio. And if my memory serves me well, he was not the first chef at the original Cafe Atlantico.

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Yesterday's Boston Globe had an article by Amy Sutherland detailing a walking, progressive dinner at Chef Andres' Penn Quarter eateries:

The Spanish-born Andres has four restaurants in an eight-block radius around the Portrait Gallery. On one corner you’ll find his well-loved tapas joint Jaleo. Just down the street, his buoyant Mexican cantina Oyamel claims another corner. A block west you can sup on Andres’s updated Latin cuisine at Cafe Atlantico. A five-minute walk away, you can snack your way through mezze in the crystalline light of Zaytinya. What would seem like geographic overkill offers a rare opportunity to easily sample two or more of a chef’s restaurants in one evening. And you’ll be sampling the work of no ordinary chef.
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I've only scanned this article, but this quote about Tom Sietsema jumped out at me as suspicious, and Sietsema said today on his chat that it took him by surprise as well: "Tom Sietsema of the Washington Post had previously reviewed Minibar, which Andrés had conceived as his most personal statement, and found it wanting—a clever exercise not worthy of serious consideration." I'd like to see Kliman cite precisely where Sietsema made these remarks; I can't recall him being anything but enthusiastic about Minibar, even if he did question some dishes here and there. It sounds like something he either made it up or misquoted Tom in order to get a rise out of Andres and to underscore the article's assertion that the chef feels "underappreciated." If anything, Tom has been one of Andres's biggest champions. One can legitmately disagree about Andres as a chef and restaurateur, and about Tom as a critic, but this smells like BS

I'll let the comments about Don Rocks go unremarked. :(

Edited by Tujague
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I've only scanned this article, but this quote about Tom Sietsema jumped out at me as suspicious, and Sietsema said today on his chat that it took him by surprise as well: "Tom Sietsema of the Washington Post had previously reviewed Minibar, which Andrés had conceived as his most personal statement, and found it wanting—a clever exercise not worthy of serious consideration." I'd like to see Kliman cite precisely where Sietsema made these remarks; I can't recall him being anything but enthusiastic about Minibar, even if he did question some dishes here and there. It sounds like something he either made it up or misquoted Tom in order to get a rise out of Andres and to underscore the article's assertion that the chef feels "underappreciated." If anything, Tom has been one of Andres's biggest champions. One can legitmately disagree about Andres as a chef and restaurateur, and about Tom as a critic, but this smells like BS.

I'll let the comments about Don Rocks go unremarked. :(

Tujague,

FYI, the review was headlined, "A Culinary Roller Coaster; Jose Andres' latest adventure offers plenty of thrills -- and some notable chills." It ran in 2003. Reading it, I had the impression of a place that was still finding itself, with some really good dishes, and some not so-good. My sense was of someone who believed that Minibar was not among the very best restaurants in the city, but rather a wild ride of a place -- a place to go for a fun night out: an experience. The verdict reinforced this impression: two stars out of four.

As for skewing young ... Youth is a state of mind as much as anything. There's an energy on this board, a passion to discuss and debate the issues of the day, an intense keeping-up with trends, that is very different from the letters (believe it or not, people still do write them) and emails I get asking for a restaurant recommendation or a place to buy bread or meat or fish, etc., or who have a question about etiquette, etc. These folks I just described see themselves as food lovers, but they don't keep up with blogs or message boards, they don't read chats, and they're generally not at all plugged into the sorts of things that seem to matter most to people on this site. They also tend to be older -- say, 55 and over

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FYI, the review was headlined, "A Culinary Roller Coaster; Jose Andres' latest adventure offers plenty of thrills -- and some notable chills." It ran in 2003. Reading it, I had the impression of a place that was still finding itself, with some really good dishes, and some not so-good. My sense was of someone who believed that Minibar was not among the very best restaurants in the city, but rather a wild ride of a place -- a place to go for a fun night out: an experience. The verdict reinforced this impression: two stars out of four.

So, Andres was "apoplectic" about your "impression," your "sense," of Tom's review--or about the actual review itself? OK, it's not made up or misquoted per se, but that certainly is highly misleading, and to my mind, a very loose and provocative interpretation of what he wrote. Thanks for at least clarifying that "not worthy of serious consideration" are your construal, not what he actually thought.

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why would you be talking about a review from 7 years ago? I get that your conversation happened then, but that just seems silly to discuss now.

I don't agree at all. The point he was making was Andres' reaction to the review, and what that says about the type of guy Andres is. That's the point he was addressing, not the quality of the restaurant or the current validity of the review. I don't see anywhere that he was suggesting the review is valid today.

BTW, on the other point, I'm, shall we say gently, well north of retirement age, and I'm pretty sure I'm not alone here.

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Seems like an odd nit to pick. Within context of the article the Sietsema thing makes perfect sense.

Sometimes I think Mr. Kliman has a weakness for melodrama -- it's just cooking, after all -- but I enjoyed the article and am, as I sit here typing, trying to think of another piece about a local chef that had the ambition this one had.

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Seems like an odd nit to pick. Within context of the article the Sietsema thing makes perfect sense.

Sometimes I think Mr. Kliman has a weakness for melodrama -- it's just cooking, after all -- but I enjoyed the article and am, as I sit here typing, trying to think of another piece about a local chef that had the ambition this one had.

It is not nit-picking. Tujague has it exactly correct. Kliman is characterizing a Sietsema review without making it clear that this is his (Kliman's) characterization. In fact, Kliman's claim that Andres is an egomaniac is not supported by his opaque and muddy piece. This is hatchet work at its worst-Kliman projecting his insecurities onto Andres-this piece says more about Kliman than Andres. And this piece may have been the most ambitious that you have read (you really have got to be kidding here, right?), but I find it hard to believe that Kliman can read Andres' daughter's mind, or that ANY of the so-called emotions and reactions he attributes to Andres are anything but Kliman's own fantasies. This is possibly the worst piece I have ever read on a chef. Kliman needs an editor, and Andres was correct to treat Kliman like a second-rate writer.

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Tujague,

FYI, the review was headlined, "A Culinary Roller Coaster; Jose Andres' latest adventure offers plenty of thrills -- and some notable chills." It ran in 2003. Reading it, I had the impression of a place that was still finding itself, with some really good dishes, and some not so-good. My sense was of someone who believed that Minibar was not among the very best restaurants in the city, but rather a wild ride of a place -- a place to go for a fun night out: an experience. The verdict reinforced this impression: two stars out of four.

As for skewing young ... Youth is a state of mind as much as anything. There's an energy on this board, a passion to discuss and debate the issues of the day, an intense keeping-up with trends, that is very different from the letters (believe it or not, people still do write them) and emails I get asking for a restaurant recommendation or a place to buy bread or meat or fish, etc., or who have a question about etiquette, etc. These folks I just described see themselves as food lovers, but they don't keep up with blogs or message boards, they don't read chats, and they're generally not at all plugged into the sorts of things that seem to matter most to people on this site. They also tend to be older -- say, 55 and over

Are we to understand that you are privy to the demographics of your letter and email writers? Do you ask their age or are you just guessing? And by "skews young", regarding this board, are you also privy to the demographics of this board, or are you, again, just guessing?

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Todd has a point - Tom gave Minibar 2 stars, that's not exactly an enthusiastic endorsement and that in and of itself probably pissed off Andres to no end. Andres' English may not be very good but he knows 2 out of 4 stars ain't shit.

Andres is an immigrant, yes, but he has been here for more than 20 years and his English is just fine. That is a cheap shot.

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José Andres serves as translator and sidekick for Ferran Adria, guest lecturer at Harvard's first Food and Science course. (entire class is filmed–over 2 hours long)

click

Harold McGee discusses the history of food science starting at 20:41.

Adria and Andres begin at 47:32

Interesting stuff, but definitely skip the first twenty minutes, which consists of various Harvard folks congratulating themselves for offering this course.

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Don -

Did you see this?? I love it! If you don't follow @nowayjoseandres, you should. He's hilarious.

He (assuming it's a he) is *very* funny, and my acquaintance, @DarthOnestar, follows him. Honestly, I don't understand why he doesn't have more followers because it is wicked, dead-on parody (and I say this as someone who likes José Andrés).

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Donald Trump lands José Andrés' (or vice versa) for a new restaurant at the Old Post Office hotel.

It's funny that of the three surviving buildings that served at different times as the main post office in Washington, the one known as "the Old Post Office" served that purpose for a much shorter time (about fifteen years) than the older main post office, which now houses Hotel Monaco (about fifty-five years) or the newer one, Daniel Burnham's jewel at Massachusetts and North Capitol (more than seventy).

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