Between hobnobbing at the Time 100 Gala, clashing with former president Donald Trump, promoting his book on MSNBC’s Morning Joe, starring in a Ron Howard documentary, dishing out meals to refugees at the Ukrainian border, and cinching a nomination for the Nobel Peace Prize, celebrity chef José Andrés has made a name for himself as a philanthropic restaurateur with an altruistic vision for his business empire.

Yet back in his home base of Washington, DC, Andrés’s company is trying to block restaurant workers from receiving better pay. Campaign finance records show Andrés’s firm is helping fund opposition to a ballot initiative that would phase out the lower minimum wage for the city’s tipped workers — despite Andrés’s calls to eliminate the subminimum tipped wage in New York. Andrés previously opposed a similar DC tipped wage initiative, which voters overwhelmingly passed in 2018 before the DC council blocked it.

The episode highlights the contradiction between the saintly image Andrés has carefully cultivated and his Washington-based restaurant empire’s focus on the bottom line: while Andrés generates headlines with displays of generosity, he’s working to deny a steady, living wage to his own employees and tens of thousands of other DC workers.