Popular chef, author and humanitarian José Andrés is joining the ranks of newsletter scribes and podcasters
His media company José Andrés Media, will launch “Longer Tables,” a new weekly newsletter in partnership with Substack that aims to highlight stories that illustrate how food connects people around the world. The publication is expected to contain “deep dives into food history and the politics of nutrition, profiles of the chef’s growing community of food fighters, as well as recipes and audio and video postcards from Chef Andrés’ travels around the globe,” according to the company. Some topics expected to be discussed early in the venture’s history include “The Pots, Pans and People that Make a Million Meals” and “What’s in a ‘Real’ Paella? 10 Ingredients (and Nothing Else).”
José AndrésMedia will also introduce a “Longer Tables” podcast with Substack, in which Chef Andrés will examine the food lives of notable guests from the worlds of culinary and creative arts, politics and media. Guests in the first season include Dave Matthews and Ron Howard.
The chef indicated last fall that he was interested in creating new works — not all of them from recipes. José Andrés Media, launched in October, was billed at that time as a production company specializing in unscripted and scripted television series, books, podcasts, and digital short- and mid-form content with a focus on food-related stories and characters, and the culture of food.
José Andrés Media “was created to share the stories of diverse cultures through food. Substack is an exciting platform to build a direct relationship between José and his audience through our culinary storytelling,” says Sam Bakhshandehpour, president of José Andrés’ ThinkFoodGroup and José Andrés Media. “In partnering with Substack, we have the opportunity to amplify that message via José’s personal newsletter and a dynamic new podcast that will complement the other short and long form media projects we are pursuing.”
The company also plans to debut a second podcast, “Pressure Cooker.” Hosted by veteran reporters Jane Black and Elizabeth Dunn, the show aims to explore thorny food topics related to how parents feed their children, and is expected to bring to the surface stories from parents who are struggling with manipulative marketing messages, cultural expectations, and, of course, the personalities of little children. In early episodes, the show will examine the importance of family dinner; how to teach kids to like vegetables; and the history of the popular Dino Nugget.
