In an announcement Thursday, Andrés mentioned his eponymous firm, previously generally known as ThinkFoodGroup, has chosen Sam Bakhshandehpour to function world chief govt. Bakhshandehpour will work with Ron Parker, president and chief working officer, and Nestor Nova, chief monetary officer, to assist broaden the José Andrés Group in each home and worldwide markets.
“Sam understands the facility of eating places to move us, for meals to be the language of connection, and the way we could be part of communities in a significant manner, all around the world,” Andrés mentioned within the announcement.
Andrés will stay as founder and govt chairman of José Andrés Group, which additionally oversees the chef’s media firm. That firm, amongst different tasks, helped produce the six-part collection “José Andrés and Family in Spain” on Discovery Plus.
Andrés didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark.
As a part of the shake-up, the group introduced the promotion of two cooks: Rick Billings will turn out to be chief culinary officer, and Carles Tejedor will likely be chief inventive officer. The corporate’s board can even add two administrators: Justin Heyman, managing director on the funding agency RockCreek, and Carlota Andrés, senior affiliate of partnerships on the meals tech start-up Marvel. Carlota Andrés can be the eldest daughter of the celeb chef.
The strikes at José Andrés Group come as the corporate has obtained an inflow of capital from RockCreek to help with enlargement. The announcement didn’t point out the scale of RockCreek’s funding. EagleBank, the announcement famous, can be main a debt refinancing for the corporate.
“RockCreek is happy to companion with José, Sam, and the remainder of the JAG staff to assist this subsequent section of the corporate’s development,” Heyman mentioned within the announcement. “JAG is a mannequin of how the meals and hospitality trade can each be an amazing enterprise and alter the world for the higher, and we’re wanting ahead to working with the corporate to assist it develop.”
Since his arrival in D.C. greater than three many years in the past, Andrés has been the face of a restaurant empire that has expanded effectively past Spanish delicacies. His firm contains such eating places as Zaytinya (that includes Turkish, Greek and Lebanese plates), China Chilcano (Peruvian delicacies, together with influences from China and Japan), Oyamel (Mexican) and Minibar, his experimental kitchen that holds two Michelin stars.
However in recent times, Andrés has additionally been investing lots of his time in World Central Kitchen, a humanitarian support group that got here into its personal after serving millions of meals to Americans left adrift on Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria. The nonprofit has activated in international locations throughout the globe after all types of disasters, whether or not pure or man-made. WCK can be lively in two warfare zones, Ukraine and Gaza, although not without some controversy.
Andrés was nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize in 2019 for his work with WCK. He was nominated again this year for the prize.
A few of Andrés’s friends weren’t shocked by Thursday’s announcement. Richard Brandenburg, the chef and co-owner of the Square in Washington, was the kitchen director for Andrés when the corporate was known as ThinkFoodGroup.
“What he desires to do might be extra World Central Kitchen. That’s the place his ardour has been mendacity for a very long time,” Brandenburg informed The Publish. “It’s nice to get to a place in life the place you are able to do precisely what you need to do on a regular basis, no matter your ardour is.”
Rubén García, companion with Brandenburg within the Sq., was director of analysis and improvement at ThinkFoodGroup for 16 years, working immediately with Andrés.
“As he mentioned many, many instances, he doesn’t need to feed the few,” García mentioned of Andrés. “He desires to feed as many individuals as doable.”
And the easiest way to do this, García mentioned, is thru World Central Kitchen.
