Why José Andrés Is Stepping Down as CEO of His Restaurant Group

Chef and activist José Andrés has his hand in a lot of pots–literally and figuratively. So it should not come as a total surprise that he’s vacating his role as CEO of the restaurant group he founded three decades ago.

But as Andrés told Washingtonian, he’s not stepping back–he’s actually “stepping up.” He will still be the face and “creative force” of the company as the founder and executive chairman of José Andrés Group, which includes nearly 40 restaurants ranging from tapas spots to food halls as well as a media arm handling projects such as books and podcasts. Sam Bakhshandehpour, who joined José Andrés Group as president in 2019, will take over as CEO. 

It’s the “right, natural move,” Andrés said. “I’ve been nonstop the past 30 years, but especially the past 15 years. I need some air. This is giving me air.”

In announcing the leadership transition last week, José Andrés Group also said that investment firm RockCreek had invested an undisclosed sum, as the company is actively expanding to new locations and projects with major hotel groups.

Andrés’s restaurant empire includes Washington, D.C.’s Michelin-starred Minibar as well as Peruvian restaurant China Chilcano, which for a few weeks last year was one of the only restaurants in the country serving cultivated chicken. Andrés is also founder of the Global Food Institute at George Washington University, which researches global food policy.

In 2010, following a major earthquake in Haiti, Andrés founded World Central Kitchen, which provides meals to people living in disaster zones. The organization has been working in Gaza since soon after the conflict started there last October, but suspended operations for most of April, after seven aid workers were accidentally killed by Israeli missiles.