Jack Watson: First, uh, a few words about José Andrés. I just met José half an hour ago, and I'm blown away. The guy does 5 things at once.
He was named the outstanding chef by the James Beard foundation in 2011. He is an internationally recognized culinary innovator. A passionate advocate for food and hunger issues.
An author. A television personality and commentator and chef and owner of the ThinkFoodGroup. To top it all off, he is in this neighborhood with us.
For those of you who don't know, just a word about the ThinkFoodGroup. It's the team responsible, under José's leadership, for, among many other things, some of Washington's most renowned and enjoyable restaurants.
Jaleo, Zaytinya, Oyamel, and The Minibar by José Andres.
The Bazaar restaurant, at the SLS hotel in Beverly Hills which opened in 2008, was named in 2009, as- by Zagat-
as the top newcomer restaurant in 2009, and on of the top 10 best restaurants of the decade, to give you some idea.
On another subject, but related, after José travelled to Haiti, following the earthquake, the devastating earthquake, he came back, and he launched something called the World Central Kitchen.
The goal of which is to feed and assist people who find themselves in humanitarian crises around the world.
He has been called, and I love this, by Food & Wine Magazine, the hero of the Spanish revolution. [[laughter]]
Because he's been such a central figure in helping create the Spanish food boom in the United States.