Latest news with #AndrewZimmern
Yahoo
03-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Why Andrew Zimmern Says Your Next Great Meal Might Be At A Gas Station
Chef and television personality Andrew Zimmern may be best known for eating such fare as coral worms in destinations like Samoa on his series "Bizarre Foods," but there's a much less remote locale where he loves to chow down: gas stations. "I love gas station food," he told the Des Moines Register in May 2025. Zimmern has traveled extensively across the United States over the last 25 years and by dint of this has eaten a lot of meals at gas stations. He's come to appreciate these down-home dishes, whether it's boudin — the unique sausage made from pork, rice, and spices — in Louisiana (we can attest to this one) or breakfast burritos chock full of chorizo when he's in the Southwest. Yes, gas stations have had a questionable reputation vis-a-vis food. There was the 2017 botulism outbreak in California linked to gas station nachos, specifically the cheese, for instance. But on the other hand, gas stations have given birth to such well-respected establishments as Island Burgers & Bites, which was named the best cheeseburger in North Carolina in 2022 by Yelp and one of the best restaurants in the state two years later. For Zimmern, convenience stores and gas stations, at least the good ones, can offer the chance to deeply explore regional culture through food. Read more: Why Michael Voltaggio Calls The French Laundry Cookbook His Favorite Cookbook Of All Time When he isn't chowing down on bizarre foods, you're likely to find Andrew Zimmern enjoying a lox bagel in New York City, or some gas station pizza, of which he says he's an aficionado. He even teamed up with Casey's, a Midwest gas station chain, to promote its barbecue brisket pizza. Eating gas station fare isn't just about convenience or cost, although those are important factors, but also the adventure of culinary discovery, according to Zimmern, who claims not to be an elitist regarding food. Walking into a gas station in Arizona, you may discover that the three elderly women in back are making homemade breakfast burritos, which adds up to a "very, very, very special place, and you're about to eat something really extraordinary -- and they're all hiding in plain sight," he told Fox News Digital in May 2025. He enjoys Chester's Fried Chicken, clam shacks in New England, and even those day-go colored sweet and salty Kool-Aid pickles when he's down South. So next time you stop for gas, peruse the food options like Zimmern does. You may find a unique treat in the most unexpected of places. Read the original article on Chowhound.
Yahoo
21-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
New Mexico State Fair opens applications for 2025 Original Green Chile Cheeseburger Challenge
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (KRQE) – Do you think you make the best green chile cheeseburger? The New Mexico State Fair is now taking applications for the annual Original Green Chile Cheeseburger Challenge. What 'bizarre' foods did Andrew Zimmern eat in New Mexico? New Mexico restaurants that believe they serve up the best burger are encouraged to apply. Officials will select eight contestants who will compete to win the prestigious title of 'New Mexico State Fair Green Chile Cheeseburger Champion.' 'New Mexico is world famous for our green chile cheeseburgers and there is no better place than the State Fair to host the battle of the burgers,' Dan Mourning, general manager of the New Mexico State Fair stated in a news release. 'We can't wait to carry on the tradition, bringing the top restaurants in the state together to vie for the coveted title of New Mexico State Fair green chile cheeseburger champion.' The deadline to apply is June 30 at noon, and the competition will be held at the fair on Sept. 8. For more information on the event and to apply, click here. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Eater
17-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Eater
A Night of Glitz and Resistance at the James Beard Foundation's 35th Restaurant and Chef Awards
Last night's James Beard Award Foundation's 35th Restaurant and Chef Awards ceremony — which bestowed awards to culinary professionals and industry leaders — was a celebration of immigrants, a rejection of immoral deportation practices, and a big night for New York City. The evening kicked off with an energetic red carpet, followed by a filled ballroom at the Lyric Opera of Chicago. Chefs and television personalities Andrew Zimmern and Nyesha Arrington were gregarious hosts, channeling joyous energy in a room filled with industry veterans and newcomers on edge due to recent economic uncertainty and ICE raids devastating workforces. There were some truly exciting wins, including San Juan, Puerto Rico's Identidad Cocktail Bar taking home the award for Best New Bar (the first award of its kind in the ceremony's history), Austin's Birdie's recognition for a truly stellar wine program, and Salvador Alamilla of Idaho's Amano taking home Best Chef: Mountain, after his second nomination. From intricate garb to rousing speeches, here are some of the evening's takeaways. Immigrant-owned restaurants and bars, especially those offering fare from Asian and Latin American cuisines, won big this year, and award recipients were refreshingly unapologetic about celebrating their identity. Numerous winners, including Emerging Chef winner Phila Lorn of Mawn in Philadelphia and Julia Momose of Outstanding Bar winner Kumiko, pointed to their heritage as essential to the food and beverages that audiences so love. Sky Haneul Kim of Gift Horse in Providence, Rhode Island, thanked her parents in Korean, and Jungsik Yim of Jungsik in New York accepted his Outstanding Chef award using a Korean translator — delivering the acceptance speech their way. After years of public frustration, the James Beard Awards added several new categories to recognize the craft of beverages: Outstanding Professional in Beverage Service, Outstanding Professional in Cocktail Service, and Best New Bar. This allowed for some thrilling wins: Ignacio Jimenez was awarded Outstanding Professional in Cocktail Service for Superbueno, New York, and Identidad Cocktail Bar in San Juan, Puerto Rico, known for its Caribbean and Latin American influence cocktails, was named Best New Bar. Arjav Ezekiel of Birdie's won the inaugural award for Outstanding Professional in Beverage Service — having recently visited Birdie's, it appears strong wine and cocktail programs were a driving force for this year's judges. The new categories are inclusive of all beverages, such as beer, N/A cocktails, and coffee, so it'll be interesting to see if those are represented more heavily in future years. The last few James Beard ceremonies haven't been big wins for the city of New York, with spotty results ever since the ceremony's post-pandemic return in 2022; last year, the city was shut out of every national category entirely. This year was different, and NYC chefs, bartenders, and restaurateurs won in major categories across the board. Among the evening's notable wins were Vijay Kumar of New York's Semma, who took home the award for Best Chef: New York State; Lee Hanson and Riad Nasr of Frenchette, Le Rock, Le Veau d'Or won for Outstanding Restaurateur; Yim, whose restaurant Jungsik is in Lower Manhattan; and Atomix, which won for Outstanding Hospitality. Cat Cox of Country Bird Bakery in Tulsa, Oklahoma took home a particularly thrilling win for Outstanding Pastry Chef or Baker: It's terrific to see a baker celebrated in the category, and a woman who centers Heartland baked goods, no less. Unfortunately, Cox was one of just over a handful of women who won awards this year. James Beard has done laudable work to diversify its judgment process and awards body, and women are recognized and celebrated throughout the organization. This year's group of winners, however, did lean more male, and I look forward to more women taking home major wins in the future. The rallying cry of the evening — with regional Best Chef winners Timothy Wastell (Northwest & Pacific), Sky Hanuel Kim (Northeast), and a friend accepting on behalf of Noah Sandoval (Midwest) — all saying 'fuck ICE' as they departed the stage.
New York Times
17-06-2025
- Entertainment
- New York Times
Here Are the 2025 James Beard Restaurant Award Winners
The James Beard Foundation gave out its annual culinary awards Monday night in Chicago, with the chefs and co-hosts Andrew Zimmern and Nyesha Arrington handing out gold medals to chefs, restaurateurs, bakers and bartenders from across the United States. To reflect the growing influence of cocktail and bar culture, three new awards were given out this year: best new bar, outstanding professional in beverage service and outstanding professional in cocktail service. New York City restaurants won three of the six major national awards: outstanding chef (Jungsik Yim of Jungsik), outstanding hospitality (Atomix) and outstanding restaurateur (Lee Hanson and Riad Nasr of Frenchette, Le Rock and Le Veau d'Or). It was the 35th edition of the black-tie gala, which has been transformed from a Monday-night-only event (to allow chefs to squeeze in a trip when restaurants are traditionally closed) to a full weekend of panels and pop-ups. (Food media professionals like writers, directors, podcasters and influencers received their awards at a ceremony on Saturday.) The awards program was suspended in 2020 and 2021 as the industry responded to the pandemic, and as the foundation tried to incorporate rapidly evolving ideas about race, gender, privilege and workers' rights. Since then, priorities have shifted away from the traditional guest experience — food, service and décor — and toward evaluating chefs and restaurants as employers, community members and professional leaders. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
Chicago Tribune
16-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Chicago Tribune
The James Beard Awards are tonight. Here's what to know.
The James Beard Restaurant and Chef Awards are at 6 p.m. Monday at the Lyric Opera of Chicago. This year marks the 35th anniversary of the awards and the 10th anniversary of the ceremony taking place in Chicago. This year's ceremony will be hosted by chefs Nyesha Arrington and Andrew Zimmern. Here's what to know. The James Beard Awards are often referred to as 'the Oscars of the food world.' The James Beard Foundation will recognize chefs and restaurants tonight. It previously honored excellence in books, broadcast media and journalism covering food and drink at a ceremony on Saturday. James Beard was a Portland-born chef who was revered as the dean of American cooking. He was an actor, singer and caterer, and eventually went on to star in a TV cooking show called 'I Love to Eat.' He created the James Beard Cooking School in 1955, wrote a newspaper column and published multiple cookbooks. He died in 1985 and the James Beard Foundation was established in his honor. Semifinalists were announced in January, while the list of official nominees was announced in April. Chicago has five nominees hoping to clinch a win tonight: Kumiko in the Outstanding Bar category; Galit in the Outstanding Restaurant category; and Thai Dang of HaiSous, Chris Jung and Erling Wu-Bower of Maxwells Trading, and Noah Sandoval of Oriole in the Best Chef: Great Lakes category, which includes Illinois, Indiana, Michigan and Ohio. Chicago's most recent previous winners include Lula Cafe, which won the Outstanding Hospitality category in 2024; Tim Flores and Genie Kwon of Kasama, who won the Best Chef: Great Lakes category in 2023; and Damarr Brown of Virtue, who won the Emerging Chef category in 2023. Earlier this year, the James Beard Foundation recognized Lem's Bar-B-Q, Chicago's oldest Black-owned barbecue restaurant, as a recipient of its America's Classics Awards. Tickets for the gala are sold out, but Eater will host a livestream that you can watch here. The Tribune Food team will provide coverage throughout the day, so watch for our story from the red carpet, followed by a recap of the ceremony once it wraps up at the end of the night.
