Andrew Zimmern

Andrew Scott Zimmern(born July 4, 1961) is an American chef, restaurateur, television and radio personality, director, producer, businessman,food critic, and author. Zimmern is the co-creator, host, and consulting producer of theTravel Channeltelevision seriesBizarre Foods with Andrew Zimmern,Bizarre Foods America,Bizarre Foods: Delicious Destinations,Andrew Zimmern's Bizarre World,Dining with Death,The Zimmern List,andAndrew Zimmern's Driven by Food, as well as theFood NetworkseriesThe Big Food Truck Tip.For his work onBizarre Foods with Andrew Zimmern, he was presented theJames Beard Foundation Awardfour times: in 2010, 2012, 2013, and 2017.Zimmern hosts a cooking webseries onYouTube,Andrew Zimmern Cooks. Another show,What's Eating America, premiered onMSNBCin 2020.
In November 2018, Zimmern opened a Chinese restaurant, Lucky Cricket, inSt. Louis Park, Minnesota.
Zimmern was born in 1961 to Caren and Robert Zimmern, who worked in advertising, and raised in New York Cityin a Jewish family.
As a boy, he attended James Beard's legendary Christmas and Sunday open houses with his father and father's male partner, and credits Beard's hospitality for his early culinary aspirations.Zimmern's mother was a college roommate of the founder of theTrader Vic'srestaurant chain, which he said he would frequent in high school.He began his formal culinary training at the age of 14. His first job at a restaurant was at The Quiet Clam inEast Hampton, Long Island.
Zimmern attended theDalton Schooland graduated fromVassar College. Zimmern worked at several fine dining restaurants in New York as eitherexecutive chefor general manager. He has also lectured on restaurant management and design at TheNew School for Social Research.
Owing to severedrugandalcohol addiction, Zimmern washomelessfor about one year. During this period, he survived by stealing purses from cafes and selling the contents.In 1992, Zimmern moved toMinnesota, where he checked into theHazeldenTreatment Center for drug and alcohol addiction treatment, where he now volunteers. He currently resides inMinneapolis.He later gained wide acclaim during his four-and-a-half-year tenure as executive chef of Café Un Deux Trois inMinneapolis'sFoshay Tower.His menus received the highest ratings from theSt. Paul Pioneer Press,Minneapolis Star Tribune,Minnesota Monthly, andMpls. St. Paul Magazine, as well as national publications.Zimmern left daily restaurant operations in 1997.
Zimmern describes himself as a "progressive Democrat" and is friends with former U.S. Senator and comedianAl Franken.
Zimmern is a contributing editor and award-winning monthly columnist atMpls. St. Paul Magazineand a senior editor atDeltaSky Magazine. As a freelance journalist, his work has appeared in numerous national and international publications. Zimmern has served asSuperTarget's meal adventure guide, sharing his passion for ethnic foods with supermarket customers around the country. He is the international spokesman for Travel Leaders and Elite Destination Homes.
Prior toBizarre Foods, Zimmern had an extensive radio career. His showsChowhounds,The Andrew Zimmern Show, andFood Court With Andrew Zimmernachieved wide popularity in theTwin Cities.
Zimmern was the food features reporter forFoxTV stationKMSP-TVand was also a featured contributor on bothHGTV'sRebecca's GardenandTip-ical Mary Ellen, where he handled on-air food duties for both shows. He was the food and lifestyle features reporter during the 1997 season of theUPNnetwork's nationally televisedEveryday Living.
Zimmern has been a guest chef at many national charity events, food festivals, and galas, includingFood and Wine Magazine's Aspen Festival, the Twin Cities Food and Wine Experience, and theJames Beard Housein New York City. He has appeared frequently on theFood Network'sBest Of...,CNN'sMoney and Health, andNBC'sToday Show. He also starred in the Cooking Club of America's instructional video series.
Zimmern regularly speaks to professional associations around the globe on all culinary matters, from the American Federation of Chefs to the Chinese Chefs National Committee. In the fall of 2002, he was an honored guest of thePeople's Republic of China, traveling, lecturing, and giving demonstrations onChinese cuisine.
Zimmern's bookThe Bizarre Truth: How I Walked out the Door Mouth First ... and Came Back Shaking My Headwas published by Broadway Books in 2009. It is a collection of his food and travel stories from around the world.He is also the author ofAndrew Zimmern's Field Guide to Exceptionally Weird, Wild, and Wonderful Foods, released by Feiwel & Friends on October 30, 2012. His latest book is a grade-level reader series calledAlliance of World Explorers, Volume 1: AZ and the Lost City of Ophirand was released in February 2019. This book won the 2019 Gold IPPY in Juvenile Fiction.
Zimmern also lends his name to a stand named Andrew Zimmern's Canteen at Target Field and U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
Bizarre Foods with Andrew Zimmernpremiered on theTravel Channelwith a pilot episode on November 1, 2006. The series has aired over 140 episodes, with Zimmern visiting dozens of countries and states. Bizarre Foods took home two CableFax awards in 2009, one for Best Television Program: Food, another for Best Online Extras for Andrew's web seriesBizarre Foods in the Kitchen.
In 2009, Zimmern hosted aspinoffofBizarre FoodscalledAndrew Zimmern's Bizarre World. A pilot and nine episodes were produced in eight countries and two states.
Zimmern guest-starred in a 2007 episode ofNo ReservationswithAnthony Bourdainin New York City; Bourdain did the same onBizarre Foods. Zimmern also appeared in a 2009 episode ofMan v. FoodwithAdam Richmanin Minneapolis where he introduced Richman tolutefisk.
In January 2012, another spinoff ofBizarre Foods, calledBizarre Foods America, debuted. This time, Zimmern focused on various cities in theUnited Statesand sampled local cuisines and ways of life.
In May 2010, Zimmern won theJames Beard Awardfor Outstanding TV Food Personality.He won another James Beard Award in 2012, a third in 2013, and a fourth in 2017.
His online series,Toyota's Appetite for Life, won an Effie Award in 2010.
Zimmern is entrepreneur-in-residence atBabson College.