New cookbook celebrates `dishes that belong to the people'
LOS ANGELES >> José Andrés spends much of his time contemplating the unifying nature of food, both in and out of the world's most dangerous conflict and disaster zones.
Days before an Israeli airstrike killed seven members of his aid organization working to feed Palestinians in Gaza, Andrés spoke to The Times about his recently published cookbook “Zaytinya.” Andrés is scheduled to speak at the 2024 Los Angeles Festival of Books, on April 21. The April 1 Gaza bombing that killed his fellow aid workers thrust Andrés further into the global limelight, and spurred international calls for accountability from the Israel Defense Forces and for an independent investigation.
In addition to owning dozens of restaurants spread around the globe, the Spanish chef has become synonymous with food aid through his organization World Central Kitchen, which dispatches chefs and other volunteers to feed people in the wake of wars and natural disasters.
“I wish that the world was run by people that cook and feed, because this is something that brings everybody together,” Andrés said on a phone call three days before the attack.
The Middle East and Eastern Mediterranean regions have always been particularly dear to him. The sights, scents and tastes have proved somewhat of a compass for the chef, especially over the last 22 years.
At his Washington, D.C., restaurant Zaytinya, a haute but tradition-minded exploration of Lebanon, Turkey and Greece, he pursues the culinary ties found across these cultures and the birthplace of some of the world's most ancient and influential cuisines. He hopes his new Zaytinya cookbook will further share the beauty of the region.
Andrés and his wife, Patricia, ducked into cobblestone alleyways and bazaars, home kitchens and high-end restaurants across the Levant, consulting chefs and merchants and other authorities to bring the restaurant to life.
He debuted Zaytinya in 2002, the kind of place where Lebanese-inspired butternut hummus, Turkish braised lamb shank and Santorini-style whole fish sit side by side — ideally on a table shared with a bevy of friends and family. Eventually he would expand this restaurant to Florida and New York, and soon, to Palo Alto and Las Vegas (Los Angeles is not slated to receive Zaytinya, though an outpost of the chef's steakhouse, Bazaar Meat, is expected to open downtown this fall, near sibling restaurants San Laurel and Agua Viva).
At Zaytinya the focus is on dishes' shared connections. And within the cookbook, items enjoyed across the regions are titled in multiple languages.
“The meaning to me of culture is not something exclusive, but something inclusive,” he said. “It's not something that only belongs to you, but belongs to everybody. Culture to me is the perfect synonym for longer tables, for sharing. Culture is not what I know but what I'm sharing with others, and what others are sharing with me. That's why I never understood cultural appropriation in the way of food.”