José Andrés Invites Cancer Teen For Dinner
He even put Anthony Bourdain and Emeril Lagasse on the phone
Though busy running his D.C. restaurant empire and feeding Puerto Rico, José Andrés still manages to find time to remind us why he's one of the most heartwarming chefs out there.
After learning about Ali Allouche, a food-obsessed, local teenager battling cancer for the second time, Andrés invited him and his entire family—including his parents, five siblings and his grandfather—over to his house for dinner. During the meal, Andrés even put Anthony Bourdain (who already donated to Allouche's GoFundMe page) and Emeril Lagasse on FaceTime so the teen could chat with his other culinary heroes.
"Food has this huge power to make you make you forget, to make you dream, to be hopeful," Andrés tells WUSA9. "I'm very happy Ali is having this connection with food."
After being diagnosed with osteosarcoma, Allouche and his mother mapped out a list of restaurants in every state they hope to visit. You can see it here.