Andrew Zimmern Biography

The American television personality and chef Andrew Zimmern was born in 1961 in New York City. Zimmern started his studies in the culinary arts when he was only fourteen years old; by the time he was in his twenties he was working in some of the city’s finest restaurants as a manager or chef, and in the early 1990’s he earned critical acclaim for his menus at Café Un Deux Trois in Minneapolis.

After moving to Minneapolis, Andrew Zimmern also began to host a number of radio shows, all of them highly popular in the “twin cities” area. He also appeared on several HGTV shows and served as the food and lifestyle report for the UPN’s show Everyday Living, in addition to appearing occasionally on the local Fox 9 News with food-related features.

In 2005, Andrew Zimmern was tapped by the Travel Channel to host Bizarre Foods with Andrew Zimmern; it premiered with its first pilot episode in late 2006. The show was an enormous hit, earning multiple CableFax Awards and a James Beard Foundation Award. The show has since reached over one hundred episodes, lasting for fifteen seasons so far, and making Andrew one of the most recognizable faces on television, especially in the travel and culinary world.

Today, Andrew Zimmern is not only the host of Bizarre Foods with Andrew Zimmern, but also Bizarre Foods America, Andrew Zimmern’s Bizarre World, and Dining With Death. Zimmern is also a contributing editor to the Minneapolis St. Paul Magazine and Delta Sky Magazine. On television, Zimmern appears frequently on various Food Network programs and has appeared on NBC’s Today Show and on CNN’s Money and Health. Zimmern is also the author of two books – The Bizarre Truth: How I Walked out the Door Mouth First… and Came Back Shaking My Head (2009) and Andrew Zimmern’s Field Guide to Exceptionally Weird, Wild, and Wonderful Foods (2012.)