Globe-trotting celebrity chef José Andrés is best known for his World Central Kitchen that has swooped into countless disaster areas to serve free meals to victims of natural disasters. That’s brought him to the Bay Area before, notably to serve firefighters and evacuees in the 2019 Kincade Fire, and in the early days of COVID-19, World Central Kitchen served stranded cruise ship passengers on the Grand Princess at the Port of Oakland. But the Washington, D.C.-based chef Andrés has never had a Bay Area restaurant.

That’s going to change. The San Francisco Business Times reports that chef José Andrés is opening a new restaurant in Palo Alto, at the open-air Stanford Shopping Center. The announcement does not reveal what the restaurant will be named, nor what kind of food it will serve, but it’s one of three restaurants that the José Andrés Group announced they’ll be opening at properties owned by the Simon Property Group. (The other two will be in Las Vegas.)

While this is their first Bay Area restaurant, the José Andrés Group otherwise has more than 30 restaurants in the U.S. and abroad. Needless to say, many Michelin stars and James Beard awards have been bestowed upon them. 

And it’s probably the most significant food upgrade yet to the Stanford Shopping Center. That mall saw a Taro San Japanese Noodle Bar open in 2019, and has a Sushi Roku expected to open this year. And as a reminder, the Stanford Shopping Center also became home to the Bay Area’s first Shake Shack in 2018.

According to a press release announcement from José Andrés Group (JAG), “The new restaurants are expected to open in 2023-2024.”

Image: AUSTIN, TEXAS - MARCH 11: José Andrés speaks on stage at "The Stories We Tell Can Change the World" during the 2023 SXSW Conference and Festivals at Austin Convention Center on March 11, 2023 in Austin, Texas. (Photo by Amanda Stronza/Getty Images for SXSW)