Spanish celebrity chef José Andrés – who counts Gwyneth Paltrow and Prince Harry and Meghan among his A-Lister friends – may be renowned for his restaurants around the world, and credited for bringing the small plates dining concept to America.
But the culinary master chef also has a heart of gold and is devoted to helping others through food.
Alongside his wife Patricia in 2010, he set up the not-for-profit organisation, World Central Kitchen, which provides meals to struggling communities in the wake of natural disasters.
"We envision a world where there is always a hot meal, an encouraging word, and a helping hand in hard times" - José Andrés
The first case was in Puerto Rico where José emerged as a leader of the Hurricane Maria disaster relief efforts. He organized a grass-roots movement of chefs and volunteers to establish communications, food supplies, and other resources. "We just started cooking," José stated.
WCK managed to serve more than two million meals in the first month after the hurricane. Since then, the organisation has responded to natural and manmade disasters in countries on five continents, from massive bushfires in Australia to a deadly explosion in Lebanon to devastating hurricanes in Central America.
On his website, he states: "With your help, we have shown that there is no place too far or disaster too great for our chefs to be there with a hot plate of food when it's needed most. I hope you'll dream with us as we envision a world where there is always a hot meal, an encouraging word, and a helping hand in hard times."
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