Welcome to The Chef's List

The ultimate guide to restaurants, bars, and more from my travels around the world!

My friends,

Welcome to this new project of mine, The Chef’s List! Here I’ll be sharing with you all of my favorite places to visit in the world, for food, for drinks, and for experiences. 

So, what are we going to be doing at The Chef’s List?

We’re making the ultimate list

My grand plan is that we will make the ultimate list of everywhere to eat and drink all around the world. Nothing short of that! Because I know we all have websites, and awards, and books, and guides, but who do you trust more than the people in your community? A restaurant could have all the stars in the world, but your friend went recently and had a disappointing meal and bad service—who do you trust, the guide book or your friend? And maybe another friend, she’s told you that you can get the absolute best sandwich of your life off a tiny street in a town you’ve never been to…wouldn’t you want to go out of your way to find it? 

Recommendations from my friends

Oh yeah—and The Chef’s List is not just mine… you’ll also get to hear from some of my friends, including Eva Longoria, Marcus Samuelsson, and many more! These are the people that I call when I travel to a new place, the ones whose advice I trust to guide me to the best bites in town. I know I can trust my friend Eva to give some incredible recommendations for tacos in Mexico City, and Marcus to share his ideal day in Harlem…so I know you can trust them too.

And…recommendations from YOU.

This is a community of food lovers and travelers. In a week, I’ll ask you all to send me your lists for each of these locations. I know you might think, “Me, José? You want my recommendations?” Well yes, we all do…if you’re a part of this community, we would love to hear about where you’ve been, what you ate, what you loved.

But there’s one small catch. We want to trust each other's recommendations, so we need you to show that you're really into this, like I am. Before you can join, you need to share with me and my team a few lines about what you love to eat—whether it's a great restaurant you've been to recently, a dish you've tasted, or a recipe you've made. You can send that to chefslist@joseandres.com—and we’ll know that you have great taste. 

The Chef’s List Map

As a part of your subscription, you’ll get access to an exclusive map that my team and I will be curating with all of our suggestions as we go. This map will only get MORE and MORE full as we talk about more places around the world! You can use this map when you’re planning your travels, while you’re on the ground exploring a new city, or just to daydream about your next trip!

So…have a taste.

So here you go, below you can get a taste of what we’ll be doing on The Chef’s List. Here are a few of my favorites from around the world, places I’ll be going into more detail in the coming days. Tomorrow will be my ultimate guide to Barcelona, then on Monday I will take you across the ocean to Puerto Rico, the absolute best place to celebrate the holidays, followed by a seafood journey in my backyard of Washington, DC. Then I’ll hand it over to Eva Longoria for her thoughts about the tacos of Mexico City.

Are you on board? I hope so. I look forward to this journey with each of you…together, we will make the ultimate list of everywhere to visit, all around the world! 

Barcelona

Fried eggs with amazing Catalan mushrooms (instagram.com/granjaelena1974)

Granja Elena
Pg. de la Zona Franca, 228, 08038 Barcelona

Granja Elena (Elena’s farm) started in the 1970s as a fine goods grocer, so you know that the ingredients are going to be the star of the show. This is a three generation family-run business, and each generation has adapted to the times. When it opened, Granja Elena was a market/deli where you could stop in to get fresh milk and meat, straight from the farm…and then after shopping, you could sit and have a hot meal. Today, it has transformed into an incredible breakfast and lunch spot. On the menu you’ll find classic dishes, like jamón Ibérico, croquetas, a salt cod omelet, and a super rich, super amazing capipota. More than anything else, Granja Elena’s chef, Borja, always uses the highest-quality products, just like the generations before him.

Andalucía

Casa Pepe de la Judería
C. Romero, 1, 14003 Córdoba

To learn about the Moorish history of southern Spain, the time we call the Al Andalus period when Islamic leaders ruled the area, Casa Pepe is the spot. This Córdoba tapas bar serves dishes that were created or influenced by the Arab rulers, including alcachofas confitadas (artichokes fried in olive oil…if you didn’t know, most Spanish or English words beginning with al—like alcachofas or algebra or alcohol—come from Arabic!). You should also try the pinchos morunos, amazing, savory skewers of spiced lamb. And since the south of Spain is so hot, you’ll need to cool off with one of the very famous cold soups—gazpacho, salmorejo, and mazamorra.

Puerto Rico

La Casita Blanca
351 C. Tapia, San Juan, 00915, Puerto Rico

This is a MUST for anyone visiting San Juan during the holidays (or really anytime). La Casita Blanca (the little white house) is a casual restaurant in the Santurce neighborhood that’s been open for more than 30 years…the best part is that you feel like you are eating in your grandma’s (or your best Puerto Rican friend’s) living room. Their carne guisada is to die for, and you can’t forget to order a side of “arañitas,” little fried spider webs of shredded plantains. If you don’t want to have to choose, during the holidays they have a “Plato Navideño,” a holiday platter with a little bit of everything…arroz con gandules, a pastele, some pernil, and morcilla. And of course you have to finish the meal with a (free!) shot of “Chichaíto”...anise liquor, rum, and a few coffee beans. Don’t forget to ring the bell to get one!

Mexico City

Chicharrón de Queso taco (instagram.com/tacoslosalexis/)

Tacos los Alexis (Roma)
Chiapas 46, Roma Norte, Cuauhtémoc

This taqueria, in the Roma neighborhood of CDMX, is run by chef Alexis Ayala, who has an impressive resume: he cooked at Disfrutar in Barcelona (the culinary temple in Barcelona that’s taken on the mantle from the legendary elBulli), as well as Pujol in Mexico City. His tacos are informed by his time cooking with some of the best chefs in the world. “These tacos are sophisticated,” says Eva Longoria. “And the presentation of them is beautiful, as they make each taco right in front of you.” He also runs Pargot Restaurant in the same space, which specializes in Mexican seafood with a Mediterranean accent, influenced by his time cooking in Spain. 

Alexis’s mother is from Monterrey, in the north of Mexico, where meat is king due to the region’s history of cattle ranching. Alexis’s norteño tacos, made of carne asada, are incredible, but they’re actually not Eva’s favorites. “Alexis, always the norteño, refused at first to make a vegetarian taco.” But he started developing a recipe using cheese and huitlacoche, a special wild fungus that grows on cobs of corn: “Mexico’s answer to truffle,” says Eva (Alexis actually has a tattoo of corn on his arm, complete with huitlacoche!) And now his “chicharrón de queso” taco is one of the most popular items on the menu. He starts by making a “chicharrón de queso”—frying cheese on the plancha until it’s crispy, like a traditional norteño pork skin chicharrón—and wrapping it around the huitlacoche, with a piece of avocado and a raw salad of green tomatillo and chili manzano. “Oh my god. Oh my god. So good,” according to Eva. Enough said. 

Washington DC Area

Bethesda Crab House
4958 Bethesda Avenue, Bethesda, Maryland 20814

This is my go to spot for the Maryland Blue Crab, my favorite crab of all time (okay maybe besides the ones from the north of Spain). Here I am a regular. I always bring my family, friends, chefs visiting from Spain…anyone I want to impress. The owner, Yen, will text me where the crabs are coming from and how big they are. They even keep four wine glasses on one of the shelves whenever I come by. (They don’t have any other glassware in the restaurant!) Because, of course, seafood is always better with a glass of crisp Albariño or Cava in your hand! Now I know not everyone can text Yen, but let me assure you people, that if you come to Bethesda Crab House in the fall, you’re going to have some of the best crabs you’ve ever tasted in your life.