Another year together
Some highlights from 2024
Hola, people, I can’t believe we’re finally here…the end of 2024! Whatever your plans are for the holidays, and whatever your visions are for 2025, I hope everyone’s days are full of love, hope, and of course amazing food and drink.
Today, I want to take a moment to thank all of you. We’ve had such an incredible year, and as a community it’s been great to cook together, to tell new stories, to explore new ideas with you all. From the bottom of my heart, I appreciate your support. And of course, your support of World Central Kitchen…together, annual and monthly subscribers donated almost $20,000 in 2024 to the work that the organization has done all around the world. Thank you.
I wanted to take a moment share with you a few highlights from this year…and if you pay close attention, you might even get a couple last-minute holiday gift ideas!
Zaytinya Cookbook
In March, I released the Zaytinya cookbook, full of our favorite dishes that span the Eastern Mediterranean from Greece to Lebanon and Turkey. This is a region that I am in love with because of its food, its people, and especially its history. I couldn’t have done this without Michael Costa, my concept chef at Zaytinya, and the amazing Aglaia Kremezi, whose incredible knowledge of the food from her home country of Greece helped open my eyes to the region and its culture and people.
Dinner Party Diaries and MasterClass
In case you missed it this spring, you can still watch Dinner Party Diaries, a special where I invited some friends to help me in the kitchen. Not just any friends, though…I’m talking Hollywood legends Jamie Lee Curtis, Bryan Cranston, and O’Shea Jackson, Jr! It was such an amazing experience to get to cook, eat, and drink with them. I also had the opportunity to do a three-part MasterClass, where I wanted to tell a big story—the story of how food connects us, breaks down barriers and opens up new ways of communicating with each other. And it looks like MasterClass is having a sale right now, so…maybe another gift idea?
Best New Recipes
I love sharing new recipes with you every week, and here were some of your favorites from the year: Jamie Lee Curtis’ Caesar salad, the easiest and most delicious dessert: my mother’s roasted apples, and what about my daughters’ favorite olive oil pancakes…or a super fast and delicious pea soup….people, there are so many it’s almost impossible to name them all! If you’re ever looking for inspiration, check out our recipes section, because you’ll find an amazing selection of both traditional Spanish recipes and American classics. And if you ever have something you’d like to know how to make, send us a comment, and we will make it happen!
A big year in Vegas
I spent a lot of time in Las Vegas this year, for lots of good reasons! This spring, I had the honor of attending the World’s Best 50 celebration—it was a week full of joy and reconnecting with old friends, and of course eating (and I was so proud of seeing all my fellow Spanish chefs absolutely dominate the list!). My team from barmini popped up for a guest bar shift, and I hosted a “four hands” dinner at Bazaar Meat with my friend and the incredible culinary mind Quique Dacosta.
And I was so excited to open Bazaar Mar in Vegas in August! I don’t know if any of you were able to make it to Bazaar Mar in Miami when it was open, but I’m not lying when I tell you it was one of my favorite restaurants we ever opened. And now I’m so happy that we’ve opened it again in Vegas…bringing the ocean to the desert! If you’re in the city for the holidays, check it out.
And of course, be sure to stop at Bar Centro, which serves some of my favorite Spanish sweets on the Strip!.
Chef’s List and Longer Tables get married!
One of the things I’m most excited about this year is that I combined the two Substacks—Longer Tables and the Chef’s List. While they’re very different ideas, I think there is so much crossover within the communities, so by bringing those communities together, there is even more opportunity to share more food and travel ideas with a wider audience, and more chances for you all to learn from each other!
Exploring new wines
We’ve featured a couple amazing wine regions this year, and learned a lot about how unique Spanish wines really are. The still white (and unfortified) wines of the South are amazing and largely undiscovered in the U.S. Over on Chef’s List, I gave a tour of all my favorite wines of Spain (including a few made by some of my dearest friends!). And of course we need to talk about my friend, Pepe Raventós, who is making some of the best sparkling wines in the country. Cheers!
Tour de José
If you haven’t visited Nubeluz at the Ritz-Carlton New York yet, I really think you should…it has amazing views and some of the most inspired, creative cocktails you will find anywhere in the world (of course you just read about the menu creation process!). But of course, if you’re up for a little adventure, I recommend to you the Tour de José, which features all three of our restaurants at the Ritz-Carlton, starting with Zaytinya, then on to the Bazaar Bar and bites at The Bazaar, and finally finishing with caviar and cocktails at Nubeluz. Can you think of a better way to spend an evening?
Arroz for Christmas? Yes way, José!
This year, as part of our product line, we started selling a new paella rice—a Calasparra rice, which is one of the short-grain rices used to make authentic paella Valenciana. You can buy it as part of our paella kit on Mercado Little Spain to make at home, or send it to your favorite home cook for a holiday gift. Because, people, you can never have too much paella!
World Paella Day
World Paella Day is celebrated every year and happens at the same time as the rice harvest in Valencia, on the Mediterranean coast of Spain. I am so proud of my paella chef Avinash Agarwal from Jaleo Dubai, who competed in the World Paella Day Cup this year!
Bringing the Mediterranean to Los Angeles
Two of our most recent restaurant openings just happened at the Shay hotel in L.A. (Culver City): Zaytinya and Butterfly! Of course you are probably familiar with Zaytinya, but it’s the first time we’ve brought our unique combination of Greek, Lebanese and Turkish flavors to the West Coast—and L.A. is one of my favorite cities! You can also visit the rooftop at the Shay and check out Butterfly for tacos, ceviches, and agave spirits…if you’re a fan of Oyamel, you will absolutely love Butterfly.
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Capital One Landing
This one is for the travelers…this fall, we opened our first airport lounge at DCA in Washington, D.C., my hometown airport! This isn’t just any airport lounge—this beautiful space in Terminal 2 has amazing Spanish food (can you get that at any other airport lounge? I don’t think so!), cocktail carts, and a quick service counter for anyone in a hurry. This is a perfect place to kick off any trip, whether you’re traveling for work or fun…with a little bit of Spain thrown in.
I’m so happy to celebrate this year with all of you, and please raise a glass with me as we cheers to 2025…and a new year full of new possibilities.
Feliz Navidad! 😎🎄😎
𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗢𝗯𝗶𝘁𝘂𝗮𝗿𝘆 𝗼𝗳 𝗗𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹𝗱 𝗝. 𝗧𝗿𝘂𝗺𝗽
𝗜𝗻 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝗿𝗸 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘀𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝗝𝗶𝗺𝗺𝘆 𝗖𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗲𝗿, 𝗮 𝗟𝗶𝗳𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝗖𝗼𝗿𝗿𝘂𝗽𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻, 𝗖𝗿𝘂𝗲𝗹𝘁𝘆, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗖𝗵𝗮𝗼𝘀
https://patricemersault.substack.com/p/the-obituary-of-donald-j-trump