José Andrés Reveals His New BFF & Yes, Chef! Co-Host Martha Stewart's Secret "Powers"
The A-list chefs talk about bonding behind the scenes on NBC's new competitive cooking series Yes, Chef!
NBC’s cooking competition series Yes, Chef! is gifting foodies and competition reality show fans with the sublime sugar-and-spice pairing of José Andrés and Martha Stewart.
Legends in the field of hospitality excellence, Martha and José are sharing duties on Yes, Chef! as co-hosts and judges. The celebrity chefs will be part rigid culinary arbiters and kitchen psychologists for 12 highly confident and skilled chefs who struggle with personal issues that have held them back from achieving their full career potential.
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And while José and Martha have worked in the same culinary television circles for years, they've never worked — or even spent extended time — with each other. In a recent PEOPLE interview, the pair revealed what they've learned from their time on set together.
José Andrés and Martha Stewart bond over darts and ... rubber chickens?
While both chef José Andrés and Martha Stewart have hosted their own cooking series and guest-judged on myriad other cooking shows and lifestyle programs around the world, they haven't co-hosted a competition cooking series together.
"We had known each other for many years, but not a close relationship in any way," Martha said. "I've eaten, I think, at most of his restaurants and been very, very impressed with his work, both in the restaurants and in his humanitarian work."
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As the hosts, there's plenty of downtime to fill between setting up the series' many challenges. The two revealed they fill some of that time by playing darts or cards in José's dressing room.
They also break bread together, with José cooking for Martha and his family in his own kitchen.
"I made escalopes and I made strawberries with Parmesan and I made foie gras and I made oxtail and beef cheeks and I made oysters with lemon and kamachi and nigiri of a shrimp," he shared.
Meanwhile, the always meticulous Stewart has been helping the Spanish native with his English translations: "I taught him the difference between objects and subjects," she said.
She said she's also gotten to know José's impish sense of humor. "He brought rubber chickens and ducks and he's hiding them around the set," she said.
José Andrés and Martha Stewart have become fast friends during Yes, Chef!
Aside from their incredible skills making cuisine from all around the world, José is also a restaurateur and the founder of global humanitarian disaster relief non-profit World Central Kitchen (WCK). When trouble strikes, José and his team travel there to set up cooking pop-ups to feed victims and disaster aid workers. And that means he's learned a lot of life lessons as he's connected with other humans.
When asked what life advice he passes on to those who ask, José said, "My advice is when you are in a hole, stop digging. When you are in a hole and you keep digging and digging, you are only making the hole deeper. That's for cooking, that's for life."
A big admirer of WCK and his global work, Martha said, "I just considered myself lucky to even know José."
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Of course, Martha is known more for her practical advice giving, such as gardening tips and helpful shortcuts to get closer to perfection in the kitchen. But on the Yes, Chef! stages with their contestant chefs seeking their approval, José said he got a big dose of Stewart's other gift: perfectly landed sarcasm.
"Martha has the most beautiful sarcasm ever," he said. "She can deliver anything to anybody and just use a smile. She has powers. I say the same thing and they look at me like, 'Excuse me?' She says the same thing and they laugh for her. Really? That's a power!"
Yes, Chef! premieres on Monday, April 28 at 10 p.m. ET/PT on NBC, following a new episode of The Voice. Each episode will be available to stream on Peacock the next day.
