BUY TICKETS HERE to make Soda Shop Magic with Richie Brandenburg, Director of Culinary Strategy at Eden's and Ruben Garcia, Director of Creativity at ThinkFoodGroup on Sunday, March 1 at 11 AM

Rubén García is Research and Development Director of José Andrés’ ThinkFoodGroup, the team responsible for award-winning concepts in Washington, DC, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Miami and Puerto Rico. As José Andrés’ right hand, García works on menu development, quality control, special events and promotions and provides leadership to culinary teams. He also helps provide direction for Andrés´ creative projects including television programming, cookbooks and appearances.

Since joining ThinkFoodGroup in 2004, García has been instrumental in launching new projects. After working on Andres’ television series on TVE Spanish Network, “Vamos a Cocinar,” García helped Andrés bring Spain to the American television audience as a culinary producer for “Made in Spain” on PBS.  He also helped develop and style the recipes for José’s cookbooks, Tapas: A Taste of Spain in America (Clarkson Potter), Vamos a Cocinar (Planeta) and, Made in Spain: Spanish Dishes for the American Kitchen (Clarkson Potter). Garcia alongside Andrés, oversee and provide creative direction to the culinary team of the award wining minibar by José Andrés. As ThinkFoodGroup geared up to open concepts in new markets, Andrés turned to García to lead his culinary team to open the SLS Hotel at Beverly Hills and South Beach, Jaleo, China Poblano, and é by José Andrés at the Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas, Mi Casa at Dorado Beach a Ritz Carlton Reserve and most recently Ku Noodle and Bazaar Meat at the SLS Hotel and Casino Las Vegas.

Prior to joining ThinkFoodGroup, García spent five years working alongside world-renowned chef Ferran Adrià at el bulli. During his time at el bulli, Garcia worked at every station, including serving as pastry chef for 3 years. This experience provided him with extensive knowledge on innovative techniques, imaginative presentations, and high quality products; values that he implements in menu development for new ThinkFoodGroup restaurants and projects.