Looking back...what a year!
2023 had many highs, a lot of laughs, and a couple of amazing new books on bookshelves
My friends. Here we are. Two more weeks in 2023, we’re almost there. How was your year? High points, low points?
I think I had a lot of high points, starting of course at the moment of midnight when I finished my 12 grapes first in my family…are you going to try it this year??
And it went up from there…from new restaurants to the amazing work of World Central Kitchen to spending time talking to some of my best friends on the planet.
And of course, I traveled! In January, I went to Athens, Beirut, and Istanbul to do research for the Zaytinya cookbook that will be coming out in a few short months! I also spent time with World Central Kitchen in Ukraine, eastern Türkiye, and Mexico (read more below), and went scuba diving off of the beautiful island of Dominica. If you want to read more about some of my favorite restaurants, markets, and bars to visit around the world, check out one of my newest projects, The Chef’s List.
What else did 2023 bring? Read on…!
New Restaurants
This was a year of amazing new restaurant projects coming to life. Did any of you get to travel to Dubai to experience our new Jaleo (and of course I’m still blinking because I got to meet the amazing Beyonce at the opening party!!)? Or taste the flavors of Spain and Japan at The Bazaar in New York City, or the history of American food at The Bazaar in Washington, DC? Or even more recently, have any of you been to our very new Zaytinya at the Ritz-Carlton in South Beach, Miami??
World Central Kitchen
We had another big year at World Central Kitchen, working in 16 countries around the world and 10 states in the US. In Ukraine, we continued to support chefs and restaurants around the country to keep their communities fed, including expanding our Seeds of Hope project, providing seed kits to families to be able to grow their own food. The team and I went to Türkiye and Syria after devastating back-to-back earthquakes—7.8 and 7.5 magnitude, and served over 20 million meals across 39 cities. In October, we were in Acapulco, Mexico, hours after Category 5 hurricane Otis made shockingly powerful landfall, and have been working with local chefs to continue providing hot meals. And now we are working in Gaza, as well as Israel, Lebanon, and Egypt to make sure that families impacted and displaced by war have meals to eat—we’ve brought dozens of trucks into Gaza to deliver food and supplies to the Palestinian people, alongside our partners at Anera, and hope to continue that vital work.
To learn more about what WCK did this year, check out their site.
Oh…and amazing news to share with all of you. At Longer Tables, we’ve been donating $10 from every subscription to the amazing work of World Central Kitchen, and I’m proud to tell you we raised more than $20,000 this year! That’s more than 2022. We’ll keep the donations rolling in 2024…let’s see how we do!
We Won an Emmy!
I’m sure many of you tuned in at some point to the show I made with my daughters, José Andrés and Family in Spain. At least I hope so! This year we brought it to CNN, and it’s streaming on Max as well, so if you haven’t yet, what are you waiting for? And now you have an even bigger reason to watch…we just won an Emmy for it! I can’t believe it!!
Oh—after you’ve watched, go and get your tickets to Spain and follow in our footsteps! I even wrote up a handy guide for you over at The Chef’s List…
Amazing Conversations
I hope that at least some of you listen to my podcast Longer Tables when it comes out…I think it’s pretty entertaining. I had a lot of great moments this year, from talking to Cory Booker about vegan food, Dominique Crenn about coming to America, and Yo Yo Ma about his love for eating innards. Here’s a clip with my friend Eva Longoria, who talked with me about the history of Mexican food in America.
And it wasn’t just on Longer Tables! I loved talking to Dax Shepard and Monica Padman about our favorite burgers, why I love cooking with my daughters, and more on Armchair Expert. And of course, I am always so happy to be with my old friend Stephen at Thanksgiving, a time when we do all of the traditions of the holiday….like making cotton candy with a turkey leg!
The World Central Kitchen Cookbook and Feeding Dangerously
Well, if you didn’t know by now, I guess you haven’t been reading these emails!! We of course published The World Central Kitchen Cookbook in September, which amazingly was a New York Times bestseller, and last month I also published Feeding Dangerously, a graphic novel with the brilliant Steve Orlando. I’m telling you, if you still have some holiday gifts to get for people, don’t be ashamed! Get them these two books and they will be reading and cooking all winter long!
The Biggest Party of the Year
It was a big year for anniversaries! Did you make it to DC for Jaleo’s 30th Birthday Party? And did you realize it was also 20 years for the two Michelin-starred minibar and 10 for barmini. It’s bittersweet to remember that it’s the 25th anniversary of when we moved the old Café Atlántico (if you know, you know!) into its new location in Penn Quarter. Oh, and the original Bazaar opened in Los Angeles in 2008, so this year marks 15 years.
President’s Council
Of course, it’s not all parties! I am super proud to be one of the co-chairs of the President’s Council on Sports, Fitness, and Nutrition, along with the basketball star Elena Delle Donne. The Council is full of amazing people, like Steph and Ayesha Curry, Olympic snowboarder Chloe Kim, and my friend Dr. Dariush Mozaffarian from Tufts University. Since our swearing-in ceremony in June, we’ve been hard at work building community partnerships to advance healthy lifestyles for all…and cooking up some big announcements for 2024!
Global Food Institute
Speaking of academia, I still almost can’t believe that we successfully launched the Global Food Institute at George Washington University! I will have more to tell you about it in a few weeks, but the work that they’ve already started to do—sending GW students to the World Food Forum in Rome; opening a teaching kitchen on campus—is just the beginning. We have so much more to do!
My biggest controversy of the year
I tend to say some things that might be controversial…but apparently nothing compared to my love for peeling strawberries!
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I know we’re out of strawberry season, but you have something to look forward to next spring and summer..!
Some amazing recipes
Speaking of food…I want to know which of the recipes I shared this year were you favorites. Was it the Turrón de Chocolate, the rice krispies-chocolate bar that every single Spaniard grew up with (including my three daughters!)? Was it Fabada Asturiana, the bean stew from my home region of Asturias, that is perfect for a winter night? Or something more simple, the super easy, super incredible Microwave Cacio e Pepe that my daughter Lucía taught me about? Tell me, what was your favorite??
So friends. It’s so much fun looking back at all we’ve done, what a year! I’m so glad you’ve been here with me for it, and I’m excited for what’s to come in 2024!
As a bit of a holiday, I’ll be taking off a couple of Mondays for Christmas and New Years with my family…but don’t worry, my team and I, we lined up some amazing recipes for you this week and next week. On Wednesday I will share with you an absolutely incredible American cake called Smith Island Cake, a true original, that you could make for the holidays and impress everyone around you. And then before New Years I will be sharing our take on a beautiful sparkling wine cocktail, the Airmail, which would be a perfect drink to ring in the new year!
My friends, I hope that you’re having a great holiday season, and can’t wait for another year with you.
Thank you for bringing us along!
You are unstoppable! And for such good causes! ¡Y que en 2024 sigas con tantos éxitos!