José Andrés Had An Emotional Holiday Message For Twitter

Chef José Andrés may go down in history as the pioneer of "small-plates"-style dining, aka "tapas," in the U.S. (per Explore Las Vegas). But that's just one of the Spanish-born American chef's many contributions to society and culture. One of Time's "100 Most Influential People" in 2018, the prolific restaurateur and longtime humanitarian established World Central Kitchen in 2010 to feed and empower food-insecure communities (per his website). Moreover, whenever in the future it is said that Andrés' cuisine is "out of this world," it will now be a literal truth. As Space explained, Andrés' famously transcendent paella went with the crew of the Axiom Space mission (along with other examples of his signature Spanish specialties) when it exited Earth's atmosphere on its way to the International Space Station.

But it's something that Andrés said about this particular contribution that might highlight what makes him so influential and inspiring to so many. "In times like these," Andrés tweeted last month, "we need to come together to remember our shared humanity. Believing in longer tables, believing in sharing, remembering we're part of the same planet. That's the spirit of the @Space_Station and the spirit of eating paella from the same pan." This wasn't the first or last time we've heard a similar message from Andrés, but why don't we let the emotional holiday message he made on Twitter this past weekend speak for itself?

"Easter, Passover and Ramadan coincided this last weekend!" chef José Andrés tweeted on Sunday, April 17, 2022, a day on which Christians, Jews, and Muslims around the world were in the midst of honoring and celebrating their religious and cultural beliefs. "Three religions," he noted, "but all people of the world. Can we once and for all believe in respecting each other? In building longer tables not higher walls...in stopping war...specially when we kill children and women and elderly?" 

Once again, Andrés has employed the holiday feast as a metaphor for bringing widely varying beliefs "to the table," while genuinely embracing what it is that makes every member of humanity, in effect, the same underneath it all. What we are referring to here is the universal drive to not only survive but also to thrive and experience fulfillment in our lives in all of its many forms, whether food, love, family, faith, etc. 

The emotional message is an earnest plea for tolerance and unification, as we see it. And judging from the more than 9,000 likes, retweets, and quotes it has garnered as of Tuesday afternoon, we're not alone in that sentiment. Moreover, it was a message one could imagine being reiterated over and over again in innumerable comments made in multiple languages by people of different races, religions, and ethnicities.