Food

Anthony Bourdain: ‘José risked everything to take a principled stand.’

By Carlos Frías
“He is the first chef in the history of the world to be sued by a sitting president. He is my hero,” emcee Anthony Bourdain told the crowd at the South Beach Wine & Food Festival’s formal tribute dinner for Chef José Andrés at the Loews Miami Beach Hotel on Feb. 25, as Gloria Estefan looks on.
“He is the first chef in the history of the world to be sued by a sitting president. He is my hero,” emcee Anthony Bourdain told the crowd at the South Beach Wine & Food Festival’s formal tribute dinner for Chef José Andrés at the Loews Miami Beach Hotel on Feb. 25, as Gloria Estefan looks on.

Anthony Bourdain is not one to couch his opinions.

After chef José André tore off his chef’s coat at a South Beach Wine & Food Festival formal dinner in his honor, to reveal a black T-shirt that read, “I am an immigrant,” Bourdain bolstered the Spanish chef’s stance.

“I have nothing to lose to take that stand. I don’t run a restaurant empire. The president ain’t going to sue me for $10 million,” Bourdain said. “José risked everything to take a principled stand. And I don’t think he can be admired enough for that.”

Andrés pulled out of out of an agreement in 2015 to open a restaurant in Washington D.C.’s Trump Hotel in response to Trump’s talk of building a wall and using terms rapist and murders to describe Mexican immigrants. Trump returned fire with a $10 million lawsuit.

Read more: He tore off his chef’s coat and told a black-tie crowd, ‘I am an immigrant’

This story was originally published February 27, 2017 at 11:02 PM.

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