Celebrity Chef Jose Andres wants Americans to get vaccinated

WASHINGTON (Zenger News) — Renowned Chef Jose Andres says people who are vaccinated against COVID-19 can get free $50 gift cards if they come to eat at his Washington, D.C. restaurants.

Jose Andres is known for restaurants in New York, Los Angeles and South Beach, and for global efforts to fight hunger through his nonprofit World Central Kitchen. Now he is throwing his weight behind beating the global pandemic in the U.S.

Andres will reserve the $50 gift certificates to people who can show “vaccination papers” to prove they have gotten the jab. Restaurant patrons must show “vaccine papers” to take advantage of the special offer.

“We want everyone vaccinated,” Andres wrote on Twitter. He said the offer at his eateries would stand until 70 percent of Americans are inoculated against COVID-19.

World Central Kitchen has responded in the past to hurricanes and other disasters in Haiti, Peru, Houston, Puerto Rico, California, Hawaii, Indonesia, Guatemala, Mexico, the Carolinas, Florida, Nebraska, Mozambique, Colombia and Venezuela.

Andres’s for-profit company, Think Food Group, is the engine that drives his philanthropy. He has eight restaurants in the national capital region including Barmini, China Chilcano, Jaleo and Minibar—a pricy Michelin-starred eating space that seats just 12 people every night.

Besides Washington D.C., Think Food Group has restaurants serving Spanish, Mexican, Peruvian and other cuisines in Miami, Las Vegas, New York, Orlando, and the Bahamas.

This is not the first time Jose Andres has become involved in activism to fight the pandemic.

Last year, his NGO’s efforts to feed those struggling financially during the health crisis in his native Spain made him the subject of a documentary for Radio Televisión Española.

Andres is one of the most famous chefs in the world, parlaying his personal brand into TV appearances on programs like “Top Chef” and “TODAY.”

He has won honors including the National Humanities Medal, the McCall-Pierpaoli Award from Refugees International, an Honorary Doctorate of Public Service from George Washington University and the Hispanic Heritage Award from the Hispanic Heritage Foundation.

Andres earned global visibility for suing former President Donald J. Trump. When Trump attacked migrants from the Spanish-speaking world during his presidential campaign, the Spanish chef backed out of a deal to open a restaurant at the Trump International Hotel in Washington.

The Trump Organization sued to enforce the contract, and Andres counter-sued. Both parties settled their lawsuits in 2017, but no Andres eatery is part of the hotel.

Celebrity Chef José Andrés Wants Americans Vaccinated first appeared on LatinHeat Entertainment.

(Edited by David Martosko, Fern Siegel and Gabriela Olmos)