Meet a leading force in my Spanish restaurants

Thanks to Patricia Blanco, I can spread my love of Spanish food across the world

As many of you know, I came to the United States with a dream of introducing tapas and Spanish cuisine to the people of America. It started when I helped open Jaleo in Washington 30 years ago. Luckily, the people of Washington shared my love of paella, tapas, and other Spanish foods. Pretty soon, Jaleo expanded into other cities across America, and my team was able to open more Spanish restaurants, like Mercado Little Spain in New York, Spanish Diner in New York and Bethesda, and we have tastes of Spain at our locations of The Bazaar (speaking of The Bazaar, if you live in New York and haven’t been to The Bazaar at the Ritz Carlton Nomad what are you doing people??) 

I’m very lucky that I’ve been able to open so many Spanish restaurants. If you remember my post about how I open so many restaurants, you know that I have an amazing team of chefs who are with me every step of the way. I’m very grateful for the people around me, and I wouldn’t be able to spread my love of Spanish cuisine without them!

So today I wanted to tell you about one of my amazing team members, who is also Spanish (actually, Catalan!) People, meet Patricia Blanco! 

Patricia recently joined my R&D team in Washington, but before that she was the head chef at La Barra inside Mercado Little Spain and before that she worked at my two Michelin starred restaurant minibar. 

Like me, Patricia is from Spain. She was born in Barcelona and stayed there for most of her life until it came time for culinary school. It was then that she headed to San Sebastian in northern Spain, where she completed many stages (internships at restaurants) and worked as a server to earn money on the side. 

Funny enough, Patricia met her husband, Daniel, during her last stage. She knew he was the one so after that she made the decision to move to San Sebastian permanently after culinary school. 

Patricia lived there for seven years until one day, Aitor Zabala, a chef who was working on my R&D team at the time, mentioned to Daniel that my restaurant company was looking to bring on more chefs. As Patricia tells me, she and her husband both wanted to see another part of the world so they said yes…and the rest is history!

That was 7 years ago and I’m so happy she made the decision to join my team. She’s intelligent, funny and knows how to be a good leader. Patricia has helped lead my restaurants to success, whether it’s during an opening or in a pandemic. 
I’m so glad to have met Patricia, and more importantly that I can call her my friend. Now it’s time that the people of Longer Tables gets to know her too!

How did you get into cooking?

Patricia: I was in high school and I had to decide between two careers. One was cooking and the other one was teaching classical languages, like Latin and Greek. I decided to be a chef because I love to eat so bad and I like to travel.

Tell us a bit more about your time at minibar and how you got started at José Andrés Group.

Patricia: I started in minibar as a chef de partie and was there for a year and a half. They made it easy to adapt to the country but it was tough to start learning English, because I had zero [knowledge of English]. I was working with my boss, Charisse [Grey]. Charisse didn’t speak Spanish and I didn’t speak English. I learned some words in English, she learned some words in Spanish. Once we figured out a way to communicate with each other, we became friends. 

Where did you go after minibar? 

Patricia: I went to Mercado Little Spain. I started at the tortilla station but then moved to La Barra, the tapas concept. I was the head chef there for 4 years. However, I will say that during the pandemic I worked at different stations, the fruit stand, Leña, everywhere. 

Do you have a fond memory from Mercado?

Patricia: So at Mercado they make us wear hats and I hate hats. I really hate it. But for five years I wore one. It was super uncomfortable, so I smashed the front of the cap and it looked like a “w.” So for five years, I wore the same hat and everybody would ask me about it. My last day [at Mercado] everyone was wondering if I would throw the hat away or if I would keep it. I decided to keep it. This hat has seen everything: a super tough opening, the entire pandemia [pandemic]. This one hat has seen everything in five years. 

Patricia in the center along with other chefs from my team (including my brother Jordi on the left!) with the famous Ferran Adrià

What’s your favorite dish to eat at Mercado? 

Patricia: It depends on your mood, if you want something really quick I would recommend going to our kiosks because they have empanadas and bikinis. But if you want more small plates style and want to try different things then eat at La Barra.

As a Spaniard, what are some of your favorite Spanish foods?

Patricia: There’s many, many, many. Pan con tomate is always on the table. It’s easy, simple and delicious. You can add to the pan con tomate: tortilla con patatas, quesos, embutidos (cured meats), canned seafood.

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I also like ensalada ucraniana. My mom’s one is the best one. She uses the common base of potatoes and mayonnaise then adds peas, carrots, olives, hard boiled egg, and tuna. And you can’t forget about the desserts! For every festivity we have a dessert: turrones for Christmas, Roscón de Reyes for El Día de los Reyes Magos (Three Kings Day). But of course, we have plenty of pastries that are delicious too: xuxos, churros, ensaïmadas [or as my Puerto Rican friends call this spiral pastry, Mallorcas!] 

You’ve been at JAG for 7 years! What’s one of your favorite moments working at the company?

Patricia : Working in minibar was really fun. Because I didn’t speak good English, my colleagues tried to teach me English by pushing me in front of the guests to explain the dishes. I was very shy. But they helped me to learn and gain confidence to speak to the guests!