A Tasty Life

“Socrates said something I use every day, not these exact words, of course, but: ‘The more I know, the more I realize I know nothing.’” – Jose Andres

A Tasty Life

There are some people, you know the type, that accomplish so much it boggles my mind!  My friend Robert Crooks calls them the “beautiful people.”  Then he immediately says, “that’s not me!  I don’t know how they do it.”

I had that same feeling as I looked across Jose Andres’ 35,000-square-foot “Little Spain” food hall at Hudson Yards in New York City.  “How does he do it all?” I asked myself, knowing that he currently has at least 30 restaurants, some of them two and four Michelin Star award winners.  To say the least, learning how to cook up great success from a person such as Jose Andres would be like attending an award-winning culinary school!  That’s not something most of us can do, but you and I can get a taste of how to do a little better, personally, by learning directly from him.

“Socrates said something I use every day, not these exact words, of course, but: ‘The more I know, the more I realize I know nothing.’” Jose says as he talks of his recipe for making a difference in the world.

As his words penetrated my heart, I have to tell you that my mind was having a hard time understanding how Jose can be so accomplished, yet stay so grounded, being one with all of us.  Perhaps it’s because he is so comfortable being human?  After all, he’s continually showing his humanity, having fed 5 million meals to the less fortunate, those having their lives turned upside down because of disaster.

“I know my weaknesses.” Jose says as he introduces the next ingredient in his recipe.  “I try to cover all of my weaknesses with good people.  I’m not afraid to admit that: You have to always work with people who are good at what you are not good at.”

While most people spend their time and effort working to prove their strengths to everyone around them, Jose lives differently.  As a result, he employs thousands of other people who use their talents working with him toward common goals, because of his leadership and the values he conveys.  And, while he conveys his values through social media, he more importantly expresses them by the way he lives.

Yes.  Jose Andres is one of those people! You know the type, he accomplishes so much that if boggles our minds!  My friend Robert Crooks would call him one of the “beautiful people.”  Perhaps that doesn’t describe you or me.  But, we can at least follow the recipe Jose has been generous enough to share. 

And, as you know, millions of people can follow a same-shared-recipe and it will often not taste the same.  That’s just fine, because they’ve included their own little twist!  They’ve made it their own. How will you and I make our own lives a little tastier?