For 13 seasons, Andrew Zimmern's show Bizarre Foods took viewers on a weekly journey outside
their culinary comfort zones. The chef and writer, who co-created the show for the Travel
Channel, traveled the world in search of the most unusual things that people eat. A curious
and enthusiastic eater, Zimmern gladly tucked into insect-filled nuggets in Amsterdam and
sampled stuffed lamb spleen in Jerusalem.
Zimmern was on a mission to share different cultures and appetites with the world, using
his signature slogan, "If it looks good, eat it." Then in December 2018, the show was taken
off Travel Channel's prime time roster, and parent company Discovery, Inc. moved it to
a less-viewed Saturday morning slot.
The sudden change in programming for Bizarre Foods came with speculation that Discovery
was reacting to a controversial video filmed for Fast Company and posted on November 20,
2018, in which Zimmern discusses opening a chain of Chinese restaurants throughout the
Midwest called Lucky Cricket.
"I'm saving the souls of all the people from having to dine at these horses — restaurants
masquerading as Chinese food that are in the Midwest.”
Zimmern's comments about the quality of Chinese restaurants in the Midwest received immediate
backlash. Writer Ruth Tam wrote in the Washington Post,
"[Zimmern] is trying to make money in America, except he has the noble cause of 'saving'
white people from eating bad Chinese food. When Chinese people make Americanized Chinese
food for white people, Zimmern calls it 'horses***.' But when he does it, it's 'unique.'"
Zimmern issued an apology for the interview on his Facebook page on November 26, 2018,
writing, in part,
"I am completely responsible for what I said and I want to apologize to anyone who was
offended or hurt by those sound bites. Food should be for everyone, and yet culturally
there is a terrible and centuries-old history of white people profiting off of other cultures,
in food, music, and elsewhere."
According to Eater, the flagship Lucky Cricket restaurant closed in July 2019 for renovations;
Minnesota Monthly reported that it reopened in September 2019. Though many thought that
Zimmern's controversial interview was the cause of Discovery's decision to relegate
Bizarre Foods to a less desirable time slot and ultimately cancel it a few years later,
that wasn't the case at all.
As it turned out, Discovery had a more "supernatural" reason for making the change. The Washington
Post reported that Bizarre Foods was finally canceled in 2021 when Discovery shifted Travel
Channel's programming, quote, "to focus on ghosts, monsters, and the paranormal."
"[...] an incredible stomping sound, right next to him, which is also captured on the
camera's audio. This causes Jay to fall back out of his chair […]"
The final episode of Bizarre Foods aired on March 29, 2021. Classic episodes of Bizarre
Foods can be found on the Discovery+ streaming service.
Meanwhile, Zimmern's career continues to flourish, despite the demise of Bizarre Foods. In early
2020, the chef hosted an MSNBC series called What's Eating America, which tackled subjects
such as immigration, climate change, addiction, voter suppression, and healthcare. Additionally,
during the COVID-19 lockdown, Zimmern hosted cooking tutorials on Instagram, sporting a
beard and entertaining viewers while teaching valuable skills from his home kitchen.
The demise of Bizarre Foods might not have been the worst thing ever from Zimmern's perspective.
In any case, it wasn't exactly the kind of show he would have made, as he revealed in
a 2014 interview with AsiaLife magazine.
"The idea to call the show 'Bizarre Foods' was not mine. I still don't like it. I think
it gives people the wrong impression."
After all, one person's bizarre food is another person's family dinner. Speaking of family
dinners, in March 2021, the Magnolia Network released a new Zimmern show that seems personally
meaningful to him. With Family Dinner, Zimmern is sticking to the United States — not because
he wants to sample what some Americans might label "not bizarre" foods for a change, but
because he wants to spotlight the unique and diverse family cultures that exist within
the nation's borders. In the show, Zimmern shares meals made in the Creole, Cuban, or
Italian traditions of the families he visits — just to name a few.
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