Read this for Inspiration:

If you’re looking for a pocket-sized read with bite-sized chapters and a message that will stick with you after you’ve closed the cover, read the latest work of José Andrés: Change the Recipe. 

This little yellow book is the closest thing I’ve read lately to a manifesto for how to live.

Risk-taker, dream-maker, world-changer, Chef José Andrés details life lessons, in the way of stories from his life, in highly digestible chapters spanning from childhood to his current work with international relief organization, World Central Kitchen (of which he is the founder). The journey of native Spaniard, José’s life path is certainly not conventional: but you can’t change the world by following convention! Instead, through examples from his own life, he explains how growth and forward progress require you to rethink customs, re-work rules, and re-start or pivot as many times as necessary, in short: to “change the recipe.”

José founded World Central Kitchen after working under, and eventually establishing his own Michelin Star restaurants where he honored first cuisine from his own home, and eventually cuisines from cultures around the world- with his dynamic and highly thoughtful dishes. He understands that to share food with people is a gift of love. It is an art for expressing creativity and passing on stories, born of ancestors' legacies. He exemplifies passion and purpose in all that he does- and when he began working with DC Central Kitchen, an organization in the nation’s capital that feeds thousands of meals a day to those in need, he became connected to the concept of the empathy of mankind but also the “liberation of the receiver”… aka focusing energies on investing in the community you’re intending to help. At DC Central Kitchen, this meant training the recipients with culinary skills so they could get a leg up in building a life with sustainable change. He points out that those living an experience are often more of an expert when it comes to change-making action than those in positions of power. He encourages readers to work outside the constraints of systems to build a better way forward. With this vision he built World Central Kitchen, which has provided millions of meals DAILY in disaster zones around the globe including Gaza, Ukraine, the Palisades, and Puerto Rico (just to name a few). He explains how he truly made up the rules as he built and tapped into already existing communities, chefs, and restaurants to make it happen. 

The book can be read front to back or literally opened to any chapter, as the lessons each stand alone in their meaning. Broken into four sections: Early Lessons, Starting Out, Action and Impact, and Fixing the World, Andrés shares wisdom from his past alongside hopeful guiding principles for the future. It’s simply impossible to set this book down and not leave inspired. It’s so good I may just read it twice.

“So don’t despair. Don’t turn away. Don’t give in to cynicism. You can make a difference. You can do something. No matter how small, your actions tell the world there are good people who want to see an end to suffering. It’s never too early or too late to change the recipe and fix our broken world.” - Excerpt from Change the Recipe