WASHINGTON — Chef José Andrés announced on Twitter Monday plans to open a restaurant in the Waldorf Astoria years after backing out of an agreement with the former Trump Hotel building.
"My longtime dream, once I began talking to Senator Patrick Moynihan in 1993, of one day having a restaurant in the old post office almost 30 years later it's coming to fruition," said Andrés in a video posted to Twitter.
Very few details are known about the new restaurant but Andrés said he plans on sharing more information soon.
The news comes nearly seven years after Andrés very publicly exited a deal to open a new restaurant in the same location. The main difference between the 2015 and 2022 deals? The Waldorf Astoria is no longer owned by Former President Donald Trump.
Andrés has feuded with Trump since July 2015 when the then-GOP presidential candidate referred to Mexicans as "rapists" in a speech. The chef put out a statement a month after the speech saying he would be backing out of the hotel restaurant deal.
"Donald Trump’s recent statements disparaging immigrants make it impossible for my company and I to move forward with opening a successful Spanish restaurant in Trump International’s upcoming hotel in Washington, D.C.," the statement reads. "More than half of my team is Hispanic, as are many of our guests. And, as a proud Spanish immigrant and recently naturalized American citizen myself, I believe that every human being deserves respect, regardless of immigration status."
The Trump Organization subsequently sued Andrés for $10 million for breach of contract, and Andrés countersued for $8 million. After two years of legal fighting, the two men settled, but neither released details of the settlement.
In March 2022, the Trump Hotel was sold to a developer and all evidence of the former president's ownership has been wiped from the front of the building.
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