Norm Clarke Clarifies What José Andrés Really Said

Here's a doozy of a correction. Earlier this week, gossip columnist Norm Clarke said that José Andrés claimed Julian Serrano was a sous chef for him and learned everything from him.

His quote that got Serrano hot under the collar: "Funny, Julian Serrano used to be a sous-chef of mine. He worked for me for many years. In Washington, he was a sous-chef."

Serrano fired back, "I never did, never want to and never will. Never, never, never. That's absolute (expletive)."

Turns out, Clarke got the quote all wrong.

Here's the correction, in full.

In an article that appeared here Sunday, chef Jose Andres was referring to one of his former sous chefs, not Julian Serrano, as someone who "worked with me for many years." I quoted Andres as saying, "When I opened here, Julian Serrano left his French side and decided to open (a tapas restaurant)." My misunderstanding came in the following Andres quote, which should have read, "Funny, the chef at Julian Serrano (at Aria) used to be with me for many years." Andres was referring to Jose Picazo, who had worked for Andres for six years at Jaleo in Bethesda, Md., before moving to another Washington, D.C., restaurant.

Now peace and tapas can be made.
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