Celebrity Chef José Andrés Says the Future Is Plant-Based

Spanish-born celebrity chef José Andrés revealed during an interview this month at festival South by Southwest (SXSW) in Austin, TX that he believes the future of food is plant-based. “If we’re going to be feeding 9 billion [people], we need to be open in many ways,” Andrés said before expressing his adoration for the Impossible Burger. “A vegetable … you put it in [your mouth], it’s elegant from the beginning almost to the end,” Andrés added, before asking, “Why are we eating meat still?” Andrés gained his culinary accolades at world-famous elBulli restaurant in Spain and currently owns a number of eateries in the United States, including vegetable-centric fast-casual chain Beefsteak, with locations in Washington, DC and Philadelphia. The chef made recent headlines for his humanitarian relief work in hurricane-devastated Puerto Rico, providing free food for youth protesters during the March for Our Lives in Washington, DC, and his refusal to open a restaurant in the Trump International Hotel after Donald Trump made racist remarks about Mexicans.