For Andrew Zimmern, “food people,” from chefs to farmers to servers, are “the best humans on planet earth.”
By Jake Emen
Andrew Zimmern has been gracing our televisions for nearly 15 years, but if you still have him pegged as “the guy who eats all the weird stuff” then you’ve failed to notice what he’s really about. In truth, Zimmern was always more than that guy. But that mechanism proved to be a useful opening foray for further exploration and education.
Now, in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, Zimmern, 58, is taking an active role in support of the industry he loves, serving as a founding member of the Independent Restaurant Coalition (IRC). “In six short weeks, we’ve made incredible progress, and now have a seat at the table with policy and decision-making on Capitol Hill, which is extraordinary,” he says. Thousands of restaurateurs have already joined the organization, which is now fighting for Congress to pass a Restaurant Stabilization Fund, among other key policies.
Zimmern is encouraging any lover of food and restaurants to visit the IRC’s website, sign petitions to forward onto your Congressional representatives, and share the message with friends and family. “If you care about dining, if you enjoy what the world of independent restaurants has brought to you, in any small way, please be a voice that helps the independent restaurants to survive this horrific pandemic,” he says.
Independent restaurants serve more than food, they serve as the hub of communities across the country. And Zimmern fears that what’s being overlooked during the current crisis is the people themselves. That includes the 11 million workers in the restaurant industry, as well as those elsewhere in the supply chain, such as meatpacking plant workers who are carrying on through unsafe and potentially deadly conditions.
“Nobody is actually helping the human beings,” Zimmern says. “Big businesses are being bailed out. Big agriculture is being bailed out. Big meat is being bailed out. But you have to remember those who are being sacrificed on this altar of aid for big business—the human beings who populate small business. We have constantly othered, demonized, and abused people in our system. And we are seeing the same result today.”
Before the pandemic, Zimmern had already begun to shine a light on many of the same issues. His limited series “What’s Eating America” on MSNBC discussed many of the biggest cultural, political, and socioeconomic issues facing people in the country, through the perspective of food.
The show’s five episodes tackled immigration issues and migrant workers in the agricultural and food service industries; our health as affected by what we eat; addiction; and the impact of climate change on our food supply.
For Zimmern, the groups he refers to collectively as “food people,” from chefs to farmers to servers, are “the best humans on planet earth,” he says. “These people understand the essence of service to our fellows, and they understand people of all stripes, from all walks of life. They are team players and believe in the greater good for all people.”
Zimmern shared some of his tastiest tidbits and tips with Penta.
The perfect meal at home is… my grandmother’s roast chicken. I make it at least once a week. It is the dish that I make the most in my life, I absolutely adore it. I could eat it three times a week if I neededto.
The comfort food I’m making more of right now is… soups and stews. Meals in a bowl. I probably have 10 different types, from a German cabbage and pork stew, to Mexican pozole, to Russian borscht. The kind of soup where two or three cups of it in a bowl is a meal, along with maybe a little salad and a wedge of bread. I just can’t get enough of it right now. And it’s fun to cook.
My advice for the person just dabbling in cooking or baking at home for the first time is… to start out by cooking what you love the most, so you’re continuing with passion and you don’t get discouraged. But after a certain point, a short amount of time, you need to start cooking new things you’ve never made before. That’s how you learn.
The one thing in my kitchen or fridge that I can’t live without is… chiles and vinegars.
The restaurant in my hometown that I love to take a visitor to is…Spoon & Stable [in Minneapolis].
The way I’m now connecting with friends and family all over the world is… every night I share dinner with friends and family over a Zoom or FaceTime or Skype. It’s a blast. I think five nights a week, we have scheduled dinner clubs. Last night we had dinner with seven other couples in three different time zones. It was remarkable, a lot of fun.
A passion of mine that few people know about is… I love 19th century history, especially the Golden Age in America.
The thing that gets me up in the morning is… I have a morning ritual, a spiritual practice that I have been doing now for 28 years. It is a joy to begin each day. It is the adventure of a new day that excites me, but I had to develop a practice that taught me to see it that way.
A person who inspired me to do what I do is… my father.
The one thing people sometimes don’t understand about me is… how much I love trying new things and learning. It’s what drives me.
The one thing I’m doing more of to help me get through this difficult time is… doing service work for other people. I find that when I’m obsessed with myself and my own particular problems, my day goes less well. When I do things consciously to help other people, I’m concerned less with my own trials and tribulations, I’m more right-sized, I’m less prone to anger, resentment, jealousy, fear. And my life goes better. And I’m happier.