Best American Food and Travel Writing 2026

José Andrés is a Michelin-starred chef, an Emmy Award–winning TV host and producer, and a New York Times bestselling author of Change the Recipe, Zaytinya, Vegetables Unleashed, and The World Central Kitchen Cookbook. A pioneer of Spanish tapas in America and a celebrated ambassador of Spanish cooking, his renowned José Andrés Group operates more than forty restaurants across the United States and beyond. Andrés is the founder of the nonprofit World Central Kitchen and has been honored as Outstanding Chef and Humanitarian of the Year by the James Beard Foundation. He has twice been named one of Time’s 100 Most Influential People, and has been awarded both the Presidential Medal of Freedom and one of Spain’s highest honors, the Princesa de Asturias Foundation’s Concordia Prize, for his humanitarian work.Jaya Saxena is the co-author of Basic Witches (Quirk, 2017) and a staff writer at Eater. Her work has appeared in many outlets, including the New York Times, Buzzfeed, GQ, ELLE, Electric Literature, Catapult, the Daily Dot, The Toast, and more. She lives in New York City with her partner.