You’ve Never Heard Chef Jose Andres Like This

Chef Jose Andres is not shy. Over the years that he’s built his 26-restaurant empire and international non-profit World Central Kitchen, he’s advocated for good food (of course), but also for access to health, education, and jobs in underserved communities, and most recently, for immigration reform. And in a new candid radio interview, the chef talks about that crazy lawsuit, the new American dream, immigration reform, and big dreams.

Related: Chef Jose Andres Speaks (and Wears) His Thoughts on Immigration

First, the lawsuit. You may remember that Jose Andres recently made headlines for the lawsuit brought against him by President Donald Trump. After Trumps hateful comments about Mexicans, Jose Andres pulled out of a deal to open a restaurant in a Trump hotel in D.C.. Trump sued Jose Andres’ ThinkFoodGroup for $10 million and the group countersued for $8 million. [pagebreak]

During the interview Jose Andres covered the lawsuit, saying this:

And so, it was a business decision, and I tried to come to terms, to an understanding, even though I spoke to the then-Republican-candidate Mr. Trump about his comments about Mexicans, about Latinos being rapists. And at the end of the day it was like, life is too short to not respect others and make sure that others respect you, specifically for those who have no voice. And I felt that all of those things made the business environment not the right one. That’s why I told him, “Listen, change please. Help me help you.” But I was not very successful.

The chef also talked about what he perceives the American dream to be now:

But I do believe the new American dream should be to work as hard for yourself and the people you love, but you have to equally do the same for others you don’t know. I do believe that should be the new American dream in the 21st century: Provide for others what you dream to provide for yourself.

On the topic of immigration reform, Jose Andres had this to say:

I do believe that immigration reform is not a problem for us to solve, but it’s an opportunity for us to seize. I do believe America will be stronger bringing those 11 million back from the shadows. So what I would tell everybody is that we need to be actively telling our congress to stop doing nonsense and talking about things that don’t improve anything, and let’s push congress to pass comprehensive immigration reform. [pagebreak]

The chef also address what he has on the list of projects:

I was talking with my wife the other day because there was this restaurant for sale somewhere, I’m not going to tell you where, in the middle of nowhere. And I told my wife, “Wouldn’t it be cool if we bought this restaurant with the beautiful house and all the acres, and we moved there without telling anybody? No press release, no nothing, and we begin cooking. We see who shows up. Let’s see what happens.” So eventually I will do this, on a boat probably going from port to port or something. Just show up in the middle of nowhere.

And on the subject of what music pumps him up, Jose Andres credited his daughters for his eclectic tastes:

I love hip-hop. I love “Whatever You Like” [by T.I.]. I love hip-hop, rap. I love classic music. I love Beyoncé. Lemonade, her last work, was unbelievable. It was so sad that she didn’t win the big Grammy, but, you know, Adele is great, too. So, I’m very, very open in my music preferences.

Listen to the full interview here.