Chef José Andrés Of Bethesda Honored By Raskin As His 200th Local Hero

BETHESDA, MD — Rep. Jamie Raskin named chef José Andrés his 200th Local Hero on his weekly video series dedicated to recognizing the service and excellence of the people of Maryland’s 8th congressional district.

Born and trained in Spain, Chef Andrés is a restauranteur and humanitarian who lives with his family in Bethesda. Earlier in his career, Chef Andrés established a group of restaurants in the D.C. area.

In 2010, after a devastating earthquake hit Haiti, he and his partners founded World Central Kitchen, a nonprofit organization providing fresh meals in response to humanitarian, climate and community crises. Since then, World Central Kitchen has served more than 350 million nourishing meals to people around the world.

“My 200th Local Hero, Chef José Andrés, exemplifies the spirit of service that makes Maryland’s Eighth District special,” Raskin said in a statement. “Harnessing the unifying and transformational power of food to address global crises, Chef Andrés and his organization World Central Kitchen have delivered hundreds of millions of meals to people across the globe — feeding people facing natural disasters like wildfires and earthquakes, reeling from the violence and devastation of war, and even while exercising their right to vote across America.”

Raskin began recognizing Local Heroes in March 2020, featuring frontline workers, emergency responders and neighbors helping neighbors in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Raskin now features Local Heroes across every sector of civic life, including educators, community organizers, businesspeople, artists, volunteers, changemakers, activists and local elected leaders.