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$19 for a box of four patties. delpacificoseafoods.com.

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Travelgirl: I’ve followed you for years and years. I first became enamored when you launched Bizarre Foods and I’ve been a fan ever since. I wondered how you could eat the most unusual and sometimes rather ghastly things. You always had a smile and something endearing and enchanting to say. Was there one food item that didn’t appear enticing but really surprised you?
Andrew Zimmern: There have been so many. I remember the fertilized 14-to-16-day-old duck eggs in the Philippines. They were certainly something I had no idea I would enjoy, but I adored them. There were spicy, deep fried tiny little birds, which are available in jungle markets all over the world. They weren’t something I would think about every week, but I love them — they are delicious.
   There are hundreds of sorts of Dr. Seuss-type animal experiences where you have no idea until you get to a place that certain foods are eaten there. For instance, iguana eggs don’t have a hard shell. The white shell on the outside of an iguana egg is rubbery and elastic. When it’s cooked you have to nip it with your teeth and suck the egg out, yet it’s delicious. People around the world do eat yummy food.

TG: It sounds as if nothing edible frightens you.
AZ: No, nothing.

TG: Where did your love of food come from? I’m Jewish and I bake challah. I make gefilte fish, kreplach, brisket, kugels — all types of Jewish food — and oddly enough, my mother never cooked. But my mother-in-law was a fabulous cook. Who inspired you? You have a great love of food.
AZ: My parents and grandparents got me started. Some of my friends’ mothers loved to cook and many would take cooking lessons at the 92nd street Y in the late 60’s and early 70’s. These moms would come back with incredible recipes. I was entranced and I wanted to cook everything that I could get my hands on.
    I started working in professional kitchens in the summer of 1975. As a teenager that was my job and my love of cooking took off from there. As far as inspiration, I think I’ve drawn the biggest inspiration in a sense from the home cooks I’ve met over the years. They are the real masters of a specific dish or craft. I’ve known and I’ve worked in many kitchens under many famous chefs. I could rattle off a name and it’s a nice sound bite and I learned a lot in those kitchens. But when it comes to inspiration, it’s the home cooks. It’s experiences such as spending time in the home of an Italian family in Ravello, watching this family make meatballs in a way that I’ve never seen before. This knowledge can literally change my relationship to that food and how I cook it. This is what inspires me.
 
TG: I’ve read about AZ Canteen and would have loved to have been in Minnesota when you opened it. You’ve showcased not just food from around the world, but the history of food and that’s really interesting.
AZ: You’ve got to learn about the food first and then you can fall in love with it. You’re on the right track.

TG: You were born in New York, but live in Minnesota. Atlantans are very delighted you’ve set your sights on our great city partnering with and developing Chattahoochee Food Works. I do want to recognize the fact that Scott Selig, of blessed memory, was the impetus behind this development in the beginning. What most interested you in the project?
AZ: It dates back to the City of Atlanta for which I have an incredible love and abiding passion for. My family came over to the United States in the early 19th century and came into the port of Charleston. They were German Jews and meat cutters and they made their way to Atlanta, which was a booming bustling city. They wound up heading north to New York City after the Civil War.
   I’m a very modern scientific person. I’m sitting at a table talking to you and this table is extremely solid — it’s a 500-pound slab of red oak. It is rock solid and I could drop something on it and it’s impervious, but science tells me it’s actually not solid. Science tells me it’s a swirling mass of electrons, right? I feel pretty stable in my chair, but I know the earth is 19 degrees tilted and spinning through space at 20,000 miles an hour so not everything is at it appears to be.
    When I am in Atlanta, instantly I can feel the change. If I was blindfolded and I was flown somewhere, I truly believe if I landed in Atlanta, I could name the city when I got off the plane by how my skin felt. That could be just in my head, but I have and always have had, an affinity for Atlanta. That’s the reason I work with an Atlanta nonprofit called The Giving Kitchen. My relationship with The Giving Kitchen predates my relationship with the Seligs and my partnership with Bobby Montwaid and the idea of developing the food hall in Atlanta.
    Atlanta is a special place for me. I saw the building itself, then I met the Selig family and I fell in love with them. I believe because of that combination, and of the scope of the project which includes the architecture itself, the physical space, the building and the series of brick single-story units spread out over 90 acres, I felt it was going to be something really special. My partner Bobby and I wanted to be a part of that.

TG: You curated and selected the restaurants. What was the criteria to become one of the 31 vendors in this 25,000-square-foot food hall?
AZ: Curation and selection are quite a bit different today than it was years ago. We had an idea of what sort of mix we were looking for. You have to curate and select vendors and determine a menu mix for the food hall. When we started, we made phone calls to every food person in Atlanta and then COVID shut the country down. There was the idea that everything would be mothballed for a while.
While I was off shooting my television shows, my partner literally went to Atlanta every other week and just walked and talked to people. You have to remember most restaurants were closed. The ones that were open were serving at only 25 percent or they were just doing to-go orders or some sort of delivery or take-out. My partner would visit these restaurants. He would ask where the best tacos and other sorts of foods were located and they would tell him. One by one, working the phones and working the streets together, we found some incredible entrepreneurs. These entrepreneurs had to put their dreams on hold for more than 12 to 14 months due to COVID.
The people in the food hall, they are our partners, together they make up the rich tapestry of the experience of walking in there. This is not about Bobby or me; it’s not about selection or curation. I actually think it’s about the kismet of these incredible entrepreneurs who stuck it out and wound up persevering. Their stories are absolutely staggering and inspirational, and they make this collection of vendors what it is today.
For instance, it’s about the two friends who always wanted to make pizza together. It’s the mom and dad with eight children who are doing their take on their grandmother’s soul food. It’s the young South African kid who is doing some inspired food based on the food he grew up with. And it’s the pair of twins who for years, spanning decades, have worked for some of the best Mexican chefs in the country. These twins wanted to start their own business selling some incredible food, tacos, and other things and they are able to do it here. It really is a magical collection of people.

TG: I am sure for many of the chefs this is their first physical brick-and-mortar restaurant. What advice can you offer so that one day some of these chefs can walk in your famous footsteps
AZ: You just get up every day and you keep doing the right thing. I am certainly no one special. I just said yes to the next right thing. It sounds really cliché, but that’s rather complex because you are faced with hundreds of decisions every day and saying yes to the good stuff and saying no to the bad stuff takes practice. You may make mistakes, but at the end of the day, if your heart is in the right place, and you genuinely want to do things for other people, which I believe is our purpose here on earth, incredible things will come to pass.

TG: This is not your first food hall project. What attracts you to food halls both as a consumer and as a food expert?
AZ: First and foremost, the people and the stories attract me to food halls. I was at the Thursday night market in Berlin, which is one of the most famous food halls in the world. There are hundreds of vendors and it’s an extraordinary place. People come from all over Europe to sell there. There is a booth occupied by Dutch fishermen, a collective where they bring oysters and herring and all types of things, and it’s quite exceptional. There’s a booth that rotates every month, and it’s given to vendors as an opportunity to cook and raise money for whatever reasonable nonprofit or cause the group wants to raise money for.
   The last time I was there I saw this lamb dish. It was a Syrian dish and I remembered there was a huge influx of Syrian refugees in Germany. I went over to see what the booth was all about and there were four Syrian families working there together, cooking Syrian food. There was a big line of customers because the smells, flavors, and tastes of their food were outstanding. I remember these families asking me what I wanted to eat and I said, although I really wanted to taste their food, I wanted to talk to them first. I would eat their food later. They were so surprised that I wanted to speak with them.
   I find the human story to be most compelling and then the food comes after. Here were four families, which included a doctor, a lawyer, an accountant, a teacher, and they all had horrific refugee stories. They had suffered through really traumatic experiences and it was heartbreaking to hear their tales, but it wound up becoming a love story. These were the lucky ones who were able to get their papers in Germany and start their lives again. The doctor someday will hope to practice medicine again and the lawyer will one day hope to practice law. The accountant had already started with accounting work and the teacher was teaching Syrian children in the community. They had suffered from a lot of anger and hate directed at them because they were immigrants from another country.
   You find all sorts of stories in food halls. The world is not made up of fried chicken, fast cars, nice watches, and iPhones. The world is made up of people and I find people extremely compelling.

TG: You are the ultimate foodie, a renowned celebrity chef. You are an accomplished author. You have a wealth of top-notch television shows and you’ve won an Emmy. You teach, you produce and direct, and you’ve won four coveted James Beard awards. You are also a philanthropist and you make it a priority to be there for those who need your help. Which of these most defines you? In my opinion, it’s philanthropy.
AZ: I would agree with you. Philanthropy is the thing that occupies me and my time the most. The stuff that really interests me are the nonprofits and the boards I sit on and the development work that I’m doing here in Minnesota, in my own communities to try to heal and repair damage that has been done. This is what I hope will be the longer lasting legacy of mine.

TG: How do you balance your busy and rewarding career and your personal life? You’re a guiding light for the Independent Restaurant Coalition, diligently striving to save restaurants affected by COVID-19. You are also an inspiration to students with extreme challenges. You’ve given them an opportunity through your Andrew Zimmern’s Second Chances Scholarships and you scored a huge success with the International Rescue Committee. How do you balance it all?
AZ: I don’t; I wish I could. I get up every day and I keep going until nighttime. There’s so much need and so much to do. I don’t know any other way to approach it, so I dive into the deep end of the pool and get busy.
   There were 20 or 30 of us who got together in the beginning of March 2020 and we knew there was going to be a big problem for the independent restaurants and bars and the millions of people employed in this industry who would be affected by COVID-19. We decided to do something and we founded the IRC (Independent Restaurant Coalition) and several of us on the leadership committee sent a group text and as the SBA dollars started flowing, we were sort of collectively crying together. It was an incredible achievement. In over a year and a month, we went from being nothing to delivering $28 billion. We were finally able to deliver something to the people who needed it the most.
   You asked about the Second Chances Scholarships. I have one at the CIA, [Culinary Institute of America] and one at the James Beard Foundation. I was given so many second chances in my life and if I hadn’t been given these chances, I would have died a long time ago.

TG: What shows are on the horizon including your Family Dinner, which can be seen on Chip & Joanna Gaines’ Magnolia Network?
AZ: That’s the newest one, [Family Dinner with Andrew Zimmern] on Discovery+ and on the Magnolia App and the Magnolia Network, which takes over DIY, which happens in January 2022.  We have a bunch of other really cool shows in the works which I’m very excited about.

TG: You’ve eaten, written about, and developed television shows in almost 200 countries. Is there one item America’s most famous foodie never leaves home without when you are packing to hit the road?
AZ: Yes, crushed dried red chilies. I like spicy food and I find myself ordering room service at a hotel at 10 p.m. and the one thing they usually send up is a tiny bottle of tabasco. I always like to have dried red chilies for the bowl of pasta I order from room service.

TG: Is there one country you haven’t visited that’s on Andrew Zimmern’s bucket list? Do you have a favorite destination?
AZ: Shockingly I still haven’t been to the Czech Republic. If I go to Paraguay, I can cross all of South America off my list.

TG: Do you have a favorite destination, some place you really love?
AZ: Yes, southern and southwestern Africa. I find it a magical place. I find the indigenous people there to be kind and spiritually connected to their world and that is very special to me. This is real traveling and it takes forever to get into some the tribal communities there. 

TG: Thank you for enlightening and enriching our lives through all of your endeavors. 
For more information or to donate to Andrew Zimmern’s wealth of worthwhile (delight enriching) causes, please log onto https://andrewzimmern.com. 

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5 Galway Food Tours
Galway has a rich and exciting food and drink scene and this tour delivers a top-class experience including visits to artisan producers, cheesemakers, creative beer projects and artisan chocolatiers.

6 Taste & Tour Belfast Food Tours
If you’re up for a marmalade martini or some Ulster Fry pintxos, head to Belfast. The award-winning, belly-busting, four-hour Belfast Food tour includes a taste of organic smoked salmon, wonderful cheeses, incredible local gins, craft beers and speciality breads.

7 Kenmare Foodie Tours
The pretty village of Kenmare on the world-famous Ring of Kerry is home to a thriving foodie scene. Take a walking tour with television cook and Irish food blogger Karen Coakley to experience local delicacies and chat to local traders and producers.

8 Taste Wexford Food Tours
Wexford’s rich food story is told on a tour of farm shops, soft fruit farms, bakeries, cafes and restaurants enabling you to sample a range of foods from traditional freshly baked Irish soda bread using locally milled flour, to seafood chowder and the sweetest locally grown strawberries.

9 Kinsale Food Tours
The busy fishing port of Kinsale in County Cork is the perfect place to sample fresh seafood as well as a myriad of other artisan local delicacies.

10. Doolin Food Tour
Discover the best gourmet experience in County Clare on a food tour of picturesque Doolin on the Wild Atlantic Way. Stopping off at the Burren Smokehouse, famous for producing the finest smoked salmon in Ireland, it also includes tastings of locally produced cheese, craft beer and award-winning fish and chips. www.ireland.com #greenbutton

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4 Servings
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon extra virgin olive oil
4 large eggs
1⁄4 cup Wild Mushrooms “à la Grecque”
Kosher salt
Freshly ground white pepper
White truffle oil, for drizzling, optional Thinly sliced chives and fleur de sel, for garnish
1⁄4 ounce black truffle
   Heat the broiler on high. Warm the olive oil in a heatproof baking pan. Crack the eggs
into the pan and cook over medium-low heat until the whites are set, 1 to 2 minutes.
Sprinkle the mushrooms around the yolks, transfer the pan to the broiler, and cook to the desired doneness, about 30 seconds for yolks that are slightly set but still soft. Remove the pan from the broiler and season the eggs with kosher salt and pepper. Drizzle with truffle oil, if desired, and garnish with chives and fleur de sel. Shave the truffle on top and serve.
   NOTES: While Chef Pano imports truffles from Greece—yes, there are Greek truffles—black truffles and white truffle oil from France and Italy are available at specialty food shops.
   As an alternative to the black truffles and fleur de sel, black truffle sea salt is available at specialty food shops.
   Instead of 1 larger heatproof baking pan, you can use two 6-inch (15 cm) shirred-egg pans or heatproof baking pans.
   Wild Mushrooms à la Grecque is made by cooking mushrooms in olive oil, vinegar or lemon juice. He usually starts with shiitake and oyster mushrooms as a base and adds seasonal mushrooms such asa chanterelle, morel or black trumpet.
   VARIATION: In the spring, try replacing the mushrooms with fava beans or asparagus, especially the wild variety.
   Chef Pano suggests serving this with a light red with earthy aromas, such as a Kotsifali-Mandilaria blend; Syrah from Crete; or Limnio from Halkidiki.

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Think Ventura is all about that famous highway? Forget it! This is the place where the days are longer and the nights are stronger than moonshine.

And while we haven’t come across any stills lately, we have found something that’s even better: the Ventura County Wine Trail. At these family-owned wineries, many of which are located way beyond the waves on Ventura County’s scenic back roads, you can wine-taste with the owners while getting the inside scoop on how they created their stellar craft wines. As they say in Ventura, you’re gonna go I know.

And we’re not talking about just any wineries. Handpicked by Ventura County’s foremost wine snobs, they run the gamut from Strey Cellars in Oxnard, a hip, edgy winery that echoes the industrial vibe of the neighborhood to Back Patio Cellars, a micro-boutique winery whose story began with about 200 pounds of grapes on the back porch. The owners had no special equipment, so they de-stemmed and crushed the grapes the old way — with their hands and feet.

Or perhaps you’ve always wanted to make your own wine but that stuff you made in the bathtub — bleh! At Camarillo Custom Crush Winery in Camarillo, the winemakers will show you how to make wine you can actually drink; order 60 gallons (that’s 300 bottles) and they’ll even produce and bottle it for you.

Prefer to let someone else do the driving? Or maybe you wouldn’t know a merlot from a pinot noir if you fell in it? Sign on with Explore Wines Educational Wine Tours and you’ll get chauffeured to the best wineries around by those aforementioned wine snobs — the sort of people who know it all and aren’t afraid to tell you about it. Or take a Sip & Savor Wine Tour and sample local wineries, have lunch at a local bistro and stop by a local bakery for a treat.

Wine Country Weekends

Really love wine tasting? We won’t tell if you want to make an entire weekend (or a whole week) out of the Ventura County Wine Trail. Here are our fave places to stay, eat, drink, shop, walk and beach bum near the trail.

Stay

The Embassy Suites Mandalay Beach Hotel & Resort: This Spanish villa-type resort overlooks miles of totally empty beaches — try finding that in LA! Nab a gorgeous suite

with a balcony overlooking the sea and ponder your options: Build a sand castle, soak in waterfall-fed heated swimming pools, get lobsterized in the Jacuzzis, get a massage at the spa, play tennis, rent a bike or smear yourself with SPF 30 and catch some serious rays.
Prefer a beach resort that’s close to the action? The Crowne Plaza Ventura Beach overlooks Channel Islands National Park and Ventura Pier and is just two blocks from historic downtown Ventura. The hotel has an outdoor pool, fitness center, beachfront bar and NOM Tequila Grill. Book a cushy room on a top floor for panoramas of mountains tumbling to the sea. www.venturacountywest.com
www.nps.gov/chis

Eat

Hungry? You’d better be ’cause you’re surrounded: See those waves? They harbor one of the planet’s richest fisheries. See those fields and foothills? Add rain and anything grows. Rise and shine (if you sleep till 10 we’ll understand why you overslept!) to a killer brunch at The Waterside Restaurant & Wine Bar in Channel Islands Harbor.

Eggs or crab benedict? A mimosa or Bloody Mary? Have it all — we won’t tell. For lunch, pry yourself off your beach towel and head into Ventura for 4-alarm Mexican at NOM Tequila Grille — don’t miss the salmon asado. For the hippest happy hour around, slide on in to Twenty88 Restaurant & Martini Lounge in Camarillo and nibble on tuna tartare and Angus sliders between sips of a pear lavender martini. Then follow the setting sun to Ventura Harbor Village’s Rhumb Line — The Sunset Restaurant, a unique waterfront eatery/piano bar where you can watch fishermen unload their catch of the day. Order one fresh off the boat, the roasted beet salad with goat cheese (it’s almost too pretty to eat) and the crème brulee cheesecake — calories be double-damned!

Best Wine Walk in Town

After food like this, you’ll be forgiven if you want a little exercise! Ventura Off Market Street, California’s coolest downtown tasting trail, offers bumper-to-bumper wineries, breweries, roasters and more great food. Love craft beer? Coming soon is Surf Brewery, located minutes from Surfer’s Point, or try MadeWest Brewing Company, the result of two lifelong friends and California natives seeking to share quality handmade craft beer with others.

Anacapa Brewery Company has been in Ventura for over 15 years, serving beers they brew directly in their downtown restaurant, while one of the newer breweries is Topa Topa Brewing Company, with 16 rotating taps. Poseidon Brewing Company has creative brews like Blood Orange Pale Ale. For wicked wine, try Labyrinth Winery, a downtown cult fave that serves wine by the glass and bottle, or you can taste everything they have. If you want to drink and hang, try BlendZ Wines, a shagadelic hangout where you can listen to rock and roll and drink stellar wine, or Four Brix Winery, which specializes in internationally inspired wine blends from Italy, France, Spain and California. And don’t miss a slice of their gourmet pizza. Ventura Limoncello Company works directly with Ventura County growers and peels all their fruit by hand to create award-winning liqueurs. Need a buzz? Beacon Coffee sources their beans from the world’s top sustainable coffee farmers. Enjoy their java with a homemade cookie or cupcake from the I Would Rather Be Baking Company.
More info: www.venturawinetrail.com
www.offmarketstreet.com

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