As much as I love José Andrés with his animated and friendly personality, I could never understand why this event was one of the first to sell out year after year. All I really knew was that he always made a unique entrance to the event and made some of his delicious paella. So this year I finally got the chance to see what all the fuss was about.
The entrance spoke for itself; James Bond music, the Cayman Islands helicopter and a golden Moët & Chandon champagne gun. Did I mention that he jumped out of the helicopter and towed behind a jet ski to make it to land?
Once he was finally ashore the entertainment didn’t stop there. José owned the event by joking about American politics, how the French chefs are taking over Cayman and the importance of eating the invasive lionfish. It started off with him making a Moët & Chandon champagne sangria with a lot of individual tastings of the vodka, gin and champagne to ensure that it was “good quality”.
He showed guests an impressive Iberico ham where he informed us that it is the best lip balm. And then he scooped a ridiculous amount of Paramount caviar and ate it one shot…twice. Luckily he saved some caviar for the rest of us as he generously spooned it on top of the aged Iberico ham.
Finally he talked us through his famous paella which he loaded with calamari, local lionfish and topped with local red snapper. The flavours were phenomenal.
Now that I’ve been I can understand why Ole Jose continues to be such a popular event. Even Chef Jose Andres admits that this is not an event to learn, but it is all about fun, passion and good food.
The entrance spoke for itself; James Bond music, the Cayman Islands helicopter and a golden Moët & Chandon champagne gun. Did I mention that he jumped out of the helicopter and towed behind a jet ski to make it to land?
Once he was finally ashore the entertainment didn’t stop there. José owned the event by joking about American politics, how the French chefs are taking over Cayman and the importance of eating the invasive lionfish. It started off with him making a Moët & Chandon champagne sangria with a lot of individual tastings of the vodka, gin and champagne to ensure that it was “good quality”.
He showed guests an impressive Iberico ham where he informed us that it is the best lip balm. And then he scooped a ridiculous amount of Paramount caviar and ate it one shot…twice. Luckily he saved some caviar for the rest of us as he generously spooned it on top of the aged Iberico ham.
Finally he talked us through his famous paella which he loaded with calamari, local lionfish and topped with local red snapper. The flavours were phenomenal.
Now that I’ve been I can understand why Ole Jose continues to be such a popular event. Even Chef Jose Andres admits that this is not an event to learn, but it is all about fun, passion and good food.
