There will be a José Andrés restaurant at the Trump hotel, although it is no longer a Trump hotel.
Seven years after the beginning of a battle between the most successful Spanish chef in the United States and Donald Trump, José Andrés announced yesterday on his Twitter account the opening of a restaurant in the historic Old Post Office in Washington, the old post office built in the late 19th century, the building where the Waldorf Astoria hotel is now located.
A few weeks ago, workers removed the signs that identified it as the Trump International Hotel.
It already operates with the new brand.
This Monday José Andrés has released a small video recorded at the same time that the bells were ringing at the top of the imposing tower of the almost 100-meter-high building:
“Hello, how are you?
The bells of the Old Post Office.
I've come to visit and dream about what we're going to do.
These bells are announcing that I am going back to the Old Post Office.
I am going to open a restaurant.
I'll tell you more in the future, but the good news, my friends, is that my old dream, which I once started talking about with Senator Patrick Moynihan, back in 1993, of one day having a restaurant in the Old Post Office, almost 30 years later, it is coming to fruition.
And that's why the bells are ringing, for a new José Andrés restaurant in the Old Post Office.
God bless America!
Longer tables!” he has said.
People of DC big news!
Today after a dream of 30 years I'm announcing we will open @bazaarbyjose in the Old Post Office!
Building longer tables in the heart of our nation's capital, welcoming people from across the city & the world🙏 I'll share more soon.. @WaldorfAstoria @cgi_mg pic.twitter.com/CFf4QOmRzw
– José Andrés (@chefjoseandres) June 13, 2022
José Andrés's dream was frustrated by his own decision almost seven years ago, in the summer of 2015, when the chef canceled his plans to open a store in Trump's five-star hotel in Washington in protest at statements by the then-candidate Republican to the primaries, who in November 2016 was elected president.
“When Mexico sends its people, they don't send the best.
They send people who have many problems”, he blurted out when he announced his candidacy.
And he added that Mexican immigrants "bring drugs, crime, are rapists and, I guess some of them, are good people."
Trump's hotel company sued José Andrés and claimed 10 million dollars (about 9.5 million euros) for breaking the agreement.
In turn, José Andrés answered with another lawsuit in which he claimed 7.5 million dollars for expenses incurred, lost profits and interest, alleging that Trump's words frightened potential clients and employees of those he intended to be. a Latin restaurant.
In the end, both parties signed peace in 2017 with an agreement whose terms have never been disclosed and with kind words towards the opposite party.
Instead of José Andrés's restaurant, the spectacular venue of the then-Trump International Hotel hosted BLT Prime, a steakhouse by David Burke, a chef who first served Trump a meal on his yacht at a Fourth of July celebration.
The restaurant became a favorite place for the circles of power close to the president.
It was practically the only place in Washington where Trump himself went to eat outside the White House while he was president.
After a terrible run due to the pandemic, Trump's company reached an agreement at the end of last year to transfer the hotel to the Miami investment firm CGI Merchant Group, which reached an agreement with Hilton Worldwide Holdings, which manages it with the Waldorf Astoria brand.
The agreement was valued at about 375 million dollars, but it implies giving up only the concession of the building, since the property is federal.
According to The Washington Post, José Andrés himself is a minority partner of the CGI fund.
With the transfer of the hotel, the cook resumed his dream.
The Old Post Office is just a few blocks from Jaleo, Washington's first Spanish restaurant.
José Andrés has frequently recalled that he spoke with his client and later his friend, Democratic Senator from New York Patrick Moynihan, who died in 2003, about the possibility of opening a restaurant there, in a building that was then neglected and far from luxury. current.
The new restaurant will be under its brand The Bazaar, as it already appears on the chain's own website.
José Andrés's company and his partners, ThinkFoodGroup, already have a successful location for this brand in Miami Beach and another opening is planned this year in New York.
In parallel, its Bazaar Meat brand, more carnivorous, is present in Las Vegas and Chicago and is preparing to open in Los Angeles.
José Andrés is the embodiment of the American dream of the self-made man.
From scratch, he has built a small empire with about thirty restaurants.
In addition, he has created the World Central Kitchen humanitarian aid organization, which provides food in emergency situations such as natural disasters or armed conflicts.
He is now focused on helping Ukrainian refugees fleeing the war.
The Waldorf Astoria Washington hotel also has another restaurant, the Japanese Sushi Nakazawa.
CGI brings Waldorf Astoria to Washington DC pic.twitter.com/VaXZgPuBys
— CGI Merchant Group (@cgi_mg) May 11, 2022