Andrew Zimmern – More than a Man that Loves Bizarre Foods<\/span><\/h1>\n

by Dawn Garcia | Photographs by Dawn Garcia<\/a><\/p>\n

Photo above taken by Rishia Zimmern<\/a><\/p>\n

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April 26, 2013 – Austin, TEXAS<\/a> | South Austin Eatery & Trailer Park<\/a><\/h3>\n

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In the world of Food, Wine, and Reality TV, there are more shows to choose from than our minds can handle. With little time to sit down and watch most of them, there are a few that I feel really grasp the story and passion behind food and culture. Among them is No Reservations<\/a> and Bizarre Foods with Andrew Zimmern<\/a>. Willing to explore the many faces of food, the depths of just about any culture open to allow him entry, Andrew<\/a> is not the average man with a passion for cooking and the world. He has a genuine love for what he\u2019s doing. When I first got the email from Diana Bulners from Rogers & Cowan<\/a> that a few Members of the Press were invited to sit down with him and interview Andrew<\/a> one-on-one preceding a public press interview at the W Hotel<\/a> earlier that day, I was honored to be among those invited. The Eat & Greet<\/strong> was happening at the South Austin Trailer Park & Eatery<\/a> in collaboration with the 2013 Munchies People’s Choice Food Awards<\/a> (see attached Press Release). While I hadn\u2019t watched too many episodes, I knew the story behind the man. I understood the struggle, the rollercoaster he\u2019d been on and now, madly in love with his truly wonderful wife Rishia<\/a>, father to their incredible son, Noah, it just endeared me all the more to want to ask deeper questions and hope for honest replies.<\/p>\n

You can tell the moment you see Andrew<\/a> that he\u2019s the real deal. He\u2019s not walking around with a chip on his shoulder or a pompous approach to anything. No, he\u2019s just a regular guy who loves what he does, loves life, his family, values his opportunities, and has a true zest and passion food, cooking, culture, and travel. When I arrived at the South Austin Trailer Park & Eatery<\/a> after the quest for parking, the sound of music sure to make you feel nothing but joy infiltrates the air. Sour Bridges<\/a>. The violin bow strumming against the strings, the guitars dueling, the beat funneling through every vacant space, and one is hard pressed to find themselves not taken over. It\u2019s incredible!<\/p>\n

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I look for the area where interviews are being done, catch a glimpse of Andrew, meet Mary Jo, tell her I\u2019m ready whenever he is and she sweetly asks,<\/p>\n

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\u201cAndrew wants to sing a song with the band. Is that ok and we can sit down right after?\u201d<\/p>\n

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\u201cOf course!\u201d I reply and think to myself, that\u2019s way better anyway. He probably needs the break from all of the Press Interviews he\u2019s been doing since earlier today between the W Austin<\/a> and here.<\/p>\n

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He is dressed in jeans, a bright lemon yellow shirt with matching shoes, a colored watch, black circle rimmed glasses, and a joy that exudes from his very core. He makes his way around the crowd talking to as many people as he can and moments later emerges onto the stage where he sings \u201cFriend of the Devil\u201d<\/a> by the Grateful Dead<\/a>. You can feel the elation as he sings and after apologizing in advance for his singing voice, he just sings. Every word sung with a complete and utter heart and there\u2019s no self conscious hesitation, he belts out every lyric gleefully. He sings that song with conviction and that translates into GREAT! After what is no doubt an unforgettable performance for him and all the fans present, now there is a calm about him. Until he realizes he still has another interview. With me. He graciously comes over, shakes my hand, I tell him he rocked on stage, turn to his beautiful wife, introduce myself and ask her to sit down with us. She agrees. He took the time to tell me he appreciated the questions and the writer in me swelled with happiness. So, after our how-do-you-do\u2019s, we get to the interview.<\/p>\n

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ATOD – Dawn Garcia (DG):<\/strong><\/span> If you could reach down – dig into the deepest parts of your soul’s passion, what spice and herb would best represent you?<\/p>\n

Andrew Zimmern (AZ)<\/a>:<\/strong> I thought it was a great Question, a lot of people are afraid of \u201cif you could be a color, what color would you be?\u201d So spice and Herb. Chile<\/a> and Tarragon<\/a>. You know, I like chiles. Because, you know, from the same plant \u2013 well from the same plant, at different days of the week depending on sun clouds, rain or lack thereof \u2013 different chiles will have different kinds of heat. There\u2019s always a surprise with a chile and I think I\u2019m a surprise person. It\u2019s big and bold and over the top and they pack a punch when you least expect it.<\/em><\/p>\n

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DG:<\/strong><\/span> – and how did you get to tarragon?<\/p>\n

AZ:<\/strong><\/span> Well, I like tarragon because \u2013 licorice and anise are my favorite profile and tarragon I think is the most sophisticated of those kind of flavors. Because it\u2019s a clean herb its very delicate. I think what it does is \u2013 there are very few foods that tarragon doesn\u2019t make better and I like it. It\u2019s sophisticated.<\/em><\/p>\n

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DG:<\/strong><\/span> What is the first scent you remember that awakened your curiosity of fare? Scent … A moment, something that you can think of now \u2013 I realize everything is dependent on where we are in life but \u2013 [\/question]\n

AZ:<\/strong> <\/span>Sure. Sure. For me, it was a \u2013 well and it\u2019s a repeated memory, which is probably why it\u2019s a great memory. When I was very young, we had a house out on Long Island<\/a> and we would have these cookouts at the beach. And this is the early 60s. And the cookouts that we would have, some of the dad\u2019s would serve casper<\/a>, bass, older kids would take the fish heads while the bass was roasting, and tie it to a rope, throw it into the pond behind you and then get crabs to follow it in because we boiled the crabs and then some dad\u2019s would take the kids down to the jetty<\/a> \u2013 3 and 4 year olds and that was me, my father would lower me in between the big rocks and I would grab loads of mussels<\/a>. And there\u2019s a certain kind of briny, oceanic, smell from all the seaweed and mollusks<\/a> and other little crustaceans<\/a> from in between the rocks that kind of dries out the rocks and the tide goes out and that smell, the briny oceanic mussel is first food memory \u2013 and it oddly enough, or not oddly enough \u2013 mussels are two or three of my favorite foods. Usually someone says what\u2019s your favorite food and I hate that questions but I\u2019d say mussels because if they\u2019re on the menu anywhere, I\u2019ll order them. And I love briny oceanic seafood things.<\/em><\/p>\n

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DG:<\/strong><\/span> If you close your eyes and imagine the most blissful bite, what do you imagine?<\/p>\n

AZ:<\/strong><\/span> Blissful bite would be \u2013 like I said I\u2019m a briny oceanic guy, I like things that are cold, I like things that are bracing and so my perfect bite is one of the 3 courses on my death bed meal is really big cherry stone clams<\/a> on the half shell.<\/em><\/p>\n

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DG:<\/strong><\/span> The story of culture and food is one that is not only tangible but essential. A meal can pause a war, invigorate sensually, open your eyes, send your palate soaring. In the travels and experiences you’ve had, what culture and meal has had the most profound impact on you??<\/p>\n

AZ:<\/strong><\/span> Yah \u2013 I had, you know, I\u2019m 51 years old so you have a lot of things in life that when you look back and say, a lot of the way I think about the world changed you know when life happened. You get married, you have kids, those kinds of things. In terms of what I think of our relationship is with the world around us \u2013 which people have been trying to figure out for a long time. A lot of things coalesce for when I spent time with the Joon-twa-zee in Botswana<\/a>. I write a lot about it in my first 2 books<\/a>. (PA– — USE) But these are a hidden tribe in the world that live indistinguishably from the rest of the world. You can look it up on my books<\/a> on it. There is only one of \u2013 they don\u2019t own they have no personal possessions, they only take from the land what\u2019s given to them, they\u2019re hyper seasonal, they live in harmony with nature. And um, being with them \u2013 spending a week living with them was a life changer for me.<\/em><\/p>\n

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DG:<\/strong><\/span> So now \u2013 do you mind if I ask you another question? (To Rishia<\/a>) And I\u2019d like to ask you too.<\/p>\n

AZ:<\/strong><\/span> No, not at all . (She agrees.)<\/em><\/p>\n

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DG:<\/strong><\/span> How long had it been \u2013 when you went through all your stuff. How long before you two met? I mean when you were in recovery.<\/p>\n

AZ:<\/strong><\/span> I still am. I\u2019m 21 years sober \u2013 we\u2019ve been together 12 years? So I was 9 years sober when we met?<\/em><\/p>\n

We met \u2013 (to each other) When we met was the year before that.<\/em><\/p>\n

RZ:<\/strong><\/span> so we met how long ago?<\/em><\/p>\n

AZ:<\/strong><\/span> we\u2019ve been married 10, we dated for two but we met right after \u2013 it\u2019s been a long time!<\/em><\/p>\n

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DG:<\/strong><\/span> So have you guys gone on any great adventures together?<\/p>\n

AZ:<\/strong><\/span> Oh yeah! Absolutely.<\/em><\/p>\n

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DG:<\/strong><\/span> Does your son get to go too? How old is your son?<\/p>\n

AZ:<\/strong><\/span> He\u2019s 8 but its challenging to bring him. You can\u2019t bring your kid on every trip. I mean its work. It\u2019s not as glamorous as the TV Show<\/a> makes it seem. I\u2019ve been really lucky in being able to bring my wife with me to fun places. And when we go on vacation and stuff together we do some really cool stuff. I was actually just reading a book to Noah about Mexico \u2013 we\u2019re reading the book and I go you\u2019ve been to Mexico and he goes no I haven\u2019t. I said yah you have, you were like 3 and a half. I said you ate cheek tacos at this street cart, whatever we\u2019re in town we docked it on the boat and it was pretty funny. My wife has actually been on some shows with me. She\u2019s been on really great adventures like to Bali<\/a>, Madagascar<\/a> \u2013<\/em><\/p>\n

RZ:<\/strong><\/span> I picked the best ones!<\/em><\/p>\n

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DG:<\/strong><\/span> Absolutely! If you\u2019re gonna do it, do it right!<\/p>\n

AZ:<\/strong><\/span> She picked the ones that are hot and beachy.<\/em><\/p>\n

RZ:<\/strong><\/span> Where I\u2019m from there\u2019s no ocean so, he\u2019s lived in Minnesota<\/a> 21 years.<\/em><\/p>\n

DG:<\/strong><\/span> Well it looks like it\u2019s really worked out for you.<\/em><\/p>\n

RZ:<\/strong><\/span> yeah.<\/em><\/p>\n

AZ:<\/strong><\/span> yeah it’s been perfect.<\/em><\/p>\n

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DG:<\/strong><\/span> So personally, I did a little research on you and honestly, the Magazine<\/a> is so much more about humanity, which is why I really admire what you\u2019re doing. I think in life things get so sensationalized we forget that there\u2019s a common thread and so it\u2019s nice to strip away all the BS and kind of get to the heart of it. I appreciate the failure and the success because I think it\u2019s really, really important for people to fall flat.<\/p>\n

AZ:<\/strong><\/span> yah All of it. You don\u2019t learn from winning, you learn from stumbling.<\/em><\/p>\n

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DG:<\/strong><\/span> Thank you so so much for doing this. For taking the time. Rishia, thank you too, I really appreciate it.[\/answer]\n

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Below is the video I shot of Andrew<\/a> belting out the Grateful Dead<\/a>. It was an exquisite afternoon and the perfect way to kickoff my Austin trip. Thank you once again to Tara Moore and Diana Bulnes for arranging my interview with Andrew. In life you revel in the moments where you come across the genuine human beings. Something about talking to those who dare see the mystery and potential in life is, in my opinion, like awakening the soul and finding the commonality that brings us together. Andrew Zimmern<\/a> is certainly one of those people as is Rishia. This was one of the highlights in my career with Chefs thus far. Thank you again Andrew and Rishia for being candid and open. Look forward to doing an even more in-depth interview soon.<\/p>\n