Memorable Meals By Bob & Sue While known more for its wine than its food, the greater Bordeaux area offers some memorable dining opportunities: La Grande Vigne La Grande Vigne (Michelin one star) sits in the heart of the Smith Haut Lafitte winery south of the city of Bordeaux. A young chef brings a wonderful sense… Read More →
Heritage Hog Renaissance As the founder of the pork-centric culinary competition Cochon 555, Brady Lowe is on a mission to remind us what true pork tastes like. In each of the 10 cities on the annual tour, Cochon 555 showcases five chefs, five heritage breed pigs and five winemakers to promote breed diversity and whole animal… Read More →
Up Your Burger Game The hamburger is a cultural constant in this country, the most iconic of American foods that defines us in many ways. It’s proletariat, it’s a kids meal, it’s high-end luxury food. And it’s one of my favorite things to eat. Now that summer is in full swing, it’s time to perfect… Read More →
Food Capital of Spain By Bob & Sue In addition to the greatest tapas bars in the world (Gambara and Zeruko rock!) featuring the Spanish Iberico ham, stuffed piquillo peppers and small bites of local seafood, we ate at four great restaurants in the area. Arzak Marrying traditional Spanish cuisine with creative ingredients from all over… Read More →
Lidia Bastianich Happy Mother’s Day! Andrew tells Molly about his weekend at the James Beard Foundation Awards from the Derby party at Eleven Madison Park to his meeting with Martha Stewart. Then Lidia Bastianich joins them for a special Mother’s Day edition of Go Fork Yourself. Plus, the Zimpostor and where to grab a bite in Arizona.… Read More →
Nose-to-Tail Icon Chef Jamie Bissonnette gained notoriety for his soulful food, innovative style and pork proficiency at his Boston restaurants, Coppa and Toro. Last fall, Bissonnette brought his incredible tapas menu to Manhattan when he opened a second Toro with business partner and fellow empire builder Ken Oringer. As we predicted, New Yorkers are just as infatuated as Bostonians with… Read More →
Madtown Recommendations By Molly Mogren Wisconsin’s capital city is also its biggest college town. While Badgers are known to party hard, this hippy-dippy town also offers up amazing ethnic restaurants, classic German bars and locally-driven fine dining. Without further ado… The Classics Tornado Steak House An old-school steak house serving up classic cuts (T-bones, ribeyes… Read More →
It’s Back! I can’t even believe we’re in the sixth season of Bizarre Foods America (set your DVRs for Monday, March 24 at 9 p.m. ET/PT.) In this new season, we’re getting back to our international roots, with episodes in Vancouver, Lima and Cartagena, Colombia. Yes, remember how America is two FULL continents?! I’ll also be trying domestic… Read More →
Eating in the Capital By Bob & Sue We love visiting Washington, D.C., which has become one of the great food cities on the East Coast because of its variety of restaurants and emergence of several destination chefs. While we did not visit a José Andrés or Michael Richard restaurant on this trip, we have… Read More →
The Holy City Charleston is one of the oldest cities in America. While the food scene in Charleston is filled with innovators and food-forward thinkers, you can always taste the Southern roots and history in its cuisine. From incredible fresh seafood to mouth-watering barbecue to classic Southern dishes with a modern twist, you really can’t… Read More →
Memphis on the Rise As born and bred Memphians who grew up in large Italian families, it only makes sense that chefs Andy Ticer and Michael Hudman cook a soulful fusion of Southern and Italian cuisines at their restaurants Hog & Hominy and Andrew Michael Italian Kitchen. This happy mash-up has garnered lots of rave… Read More →
Spit Soup Every once in a while I stumble upon a food and think, “What sick mind came up with this idea in the first place?” Bird’s nest soup falls into that category. I’d like to meet whoever first decided to soak a bird’s nest in water overnight, then pick feathers and feces out of the… Read More →
This Year’s Required Reading There have been too many wonderful cookbooks published in 2013 to mention, but here are 25 of my favorite. No matter what type of cook you consider yourself to be, these are cookbooks that should be in your library. From recipes for simple weeknight meals to authentic Asian dishes and impress-your-guests… Read More →
Always Special By Bob & Sue We visited both of Robuchon’s Paris Ateliers and enjoyed many different small plates including langoustine ravioli, foie gras hamburger sliders, iberico pork brochettes and of course the legendary Robuchon potaoes (made with decadent amounts of butter). Our all time most legendary chef appeared at the Champs-Elysees location, and we relived with him the… Read More →
Always Special By Bob & Sue We visited both of Robuchon’s Paris Ateliers and enjoyed many different small plates including langoustine ravioli, foie gras hamburger sliders, iberico pork brochettes and of course the legendary Robuchon potaoes (made with decadent amounts of butter). Our all time most legendary chef appeared at the Champs-Elysees location, and we relived with him the… Read More →
Meet Elizabeth Elizabeth Gonda of The Flan Connection invites AndrewZimmern.com into her kitchen in St. Paul, Minn., and shows us how to make her perfected flan recipe. The authentic Mexican dessert is a sweet custard-like cake covered in caramelized sugar. It’s a very versatile dish and can be flavored in a variety of different ways.… Read More →
Meet David & Lily The whole Food Works office visits Verdant Tea in Minneapolis for a tea tasting. There we meet owners David and Lily Duckler who share their vast tea knowledge with the team. David tells us about tea tasting and how Verdant Tea does business. Find out more about Verdant Tea here, and get… Read More →
Celebrating the Life of a Legendary Chef I have known Shin Tsujimura since his early days at Hatsuhana in New York City. He had come from Hatsuhana in Tokyo and after a brief run in the NYC outpost, he joined up with Nobu Matsuhisa and has been a part of that world class group for… Read More →
Kings of Dude Food As chef/owners of the widely acclaimed restaurants Animal and the seafood-centric Son of a Gun, Jon Shook & Vinny Dotolo are anchors of the Los Angeles food scene. These rockstar chefs turned successful restaurateurs also recently opened Trois Mec with pop-up king Ludo Lefebvre, plus another project in the works. Dotolo… Read More →
Perfect Peking Duck By Bob & Sue In between our memorable meals at Alinea and Grace, we enjoyed Sun Wah’s perfectly prepared Peking duck with soft buns. This informal north side neighborhood restaurant attracts large crowds of appreciative diners who also enjoy the delicious egg rolls, barbecued pork, and Singapore style rice noodles. Contact 5039 N Broadway Chicago, IL… Read More →
Paris’ Most Coveted Reservation By Bob & Sue This 25-seat restaurant is one of Paris’ most desired reservations and special dining experiences. At L’Astrance, Pascal Barbot’s creativity is evident in every course including the langoustine with bone marrow, poached oyster and Kombu jelly, a razor clam and veal tartare with bergamot foam and spring garlic,… Read More →
Paris’ Most Coveted Reservation By Bob & Sue This 25-seat restaurant is one of Paris’ most desired reservations and special dining experiences. At L’Astrance, Pascal Barbot’s creativity is evident in every course including the langoustine with bone marrow, poached oyster and Kombu jelly, a razor clam and veal tartare with bergamot foam and spring garlic,… Read More →
Divulging the Food Network Allen Salkin’s new book From Scratch: Inside the Food Network is a fascinating chronicle of the evolution of a television network, from a scrappy start-up to an influential powerhouse that turned food into a cash cow and chefs into celebrities. The former New York Times reporter paints a behind-the-scenes picture, including… Read More →
Doyenne of Fine Dining By Bob & Sue Anne Sophie Pic is hitting her stride as one of France’s finest chefs, fully earning her designation as the only female 3-star Michelin chef in France. Our recent meal there with Burgundy winemaker Alex Gambal was made memorable by a number of stunning courses: poached langoustines in… Read More →
Devoted to Sustainable Seafood Jamie Malone prepares incredible seafood at Minneapolis’ acclaimed Sea Change, located on the Mississippi River in the contemporary Guthrie Theater complex. Her artfully curated menu showcases a variety of well-researched sustainable species, so delicious that Food & Wine recognized her on this year’s list of Best New Chefs. We chat with… Read More →
The Ultimate Japanese Kaiseki Meal By Bob & Sue One of Tokyo’s greatest Michelin 3 star chefs, Hideki Ishikawa features a creative tasting menu with natural umami savory flavors in every course. Among the many highlights were an unusual mackerel dumpling soup made from the bones and head of the fish, accented by ginger and… Read More →
Meet Nok & Chuck Several years ago Chuck traveled to Thailand where he met Nok, a Thai-English translator. They fell in love, got married, and moved to St. Paul, Minn., where they currently reside. In Thailand, Nok grew up learning how to cook traditional Thai dishes from her father. She’s been cooking ever since. Nok… Read More →
Elevating Midwestern Flavors Credited with re-energizing Kansas City’s dining scene, Colby Garrelts is the James Beard award-winning chef behind the game-changing Bluestem, known for impeccable modernist cuisine, and Rye, a more casual eatery that celebrates his Midwestern roots. We chat with Colby about how the city’s food scene has evolved since he opened Bluestem, the inspiration behind his new… Read More →
Budding Restaurateur Celebrates His Roots Harold Dieterle, executive chef/co-owner of three outstanding New York City restaurants, Kin Shop, Perilla and The Marrow and champion of Top Chef season one, talks about his love of Thai food, how his heritage inspired the menu at his new restaurant and his favorite NYC eats. AndrewZimmern.com: You studied Thai cuisine… Read More →
Uncommon Honesty When Gabrielle Hamilton opened her acclaimed 30-seat bistro Prune in New York’s East Village in 1999, she had worked in the catering biz for more than 20 years, but she had never been a restaurant chef, nor could she imagine that her winding culinary path would lead to successful restaurateur. Fast forward a… Read More →
