TWSF Meets Chef José Andrés

José Andrés and Me

 As you know from previous posts, TWSF loves farmers markets. The Dupont farmers market, located near the circle on Massachusetts Avenue is one of our favorites in the District (open every Sunday from 8:30 AM - 1 PM).

Upon our arrival at Dupont yesterday we were incredibly excited to see a giant paella pan at the entrance of the market. We could only anticipate that the sight of the pan meant that a special guest would be appearing to use it, so we began shopping around keeping a hopeful eye on the entrance. We made one last attempt at the pan before leaving and there he was. José Andrés, one of our favorite DC chefs, was right there in front of us calling out instructions in Spanish to his crew who began preparing the paella pan with bottles upon bottles of oil.

For those of you who are not familiar with Chef José Andrés, he is the chef and owner of ThinkFoodGroup, which is responsible for some of DC's finest restaurants. TWSF was introduced to José's restaurant concepts during our first restaurant week reservation at Café Atlantico. We were immediately hooked and have continued to enjoy his other DC establishments including Jaleo, Oyamel, and our favorite, minibar. If you aren't a local, you can catch Chef José Andrés on the PBS series Made in Spain.

Unfortunately, we were unable to stay for the cooking of the paella, but were able to see pounds of meat thrown on the heated pan and scored a photo with the man himself. Thanks Chef!