Why Andrew Zimmern Believes Miami Is A New Culinary Capital - Exclusive Interview

In an era where food stars emerge seemingly overnight, you'd be hard-pressed to find a more established entertainer in the industry than Andrew Zimmern. Whether you're fond of his work on "Bizarre Foods" or follow his day-to-day adventures on Instagram, it's easy to see why his celebrity status has endured the test of time. His infectious love of cooking — everything from pizza rolls to spinal cords — and impressive breadth of knowledge have made the chef a hit with fans from all walks of life.

And his passion for food doesn't stop there. Off-screen, Zimmern is a fixture of the South Beach Wine & Food Festival, Food Network's annual gathering of celebrity chefs, culinary experts, and more in Florida's unofficial culinary capital. All net proceeds from the Festival, held from February 22-25, benefit the Chaplin School of Hospitality & Tourism Management. During the four-day-long event, guests can enjoy unique events, including tastings, talks, and even live cooking demonstrations from informative hosts like Zimmern.

If you haven't gathered by now, Zimmern is a walking encyclopedia of culinary wisdom. One moment, he explains how to prepare overlooked organ meat with tantalizing flair. The next, he eloquently details an impromptu Miami restaurant roundup that would put a Fodor's guidebook to shame. In an exclusive interview with Tasting Table, Zimmern shared thoughtful suggestions of the best restaurants in South Beach — plus his personal menu plans for the February holidays and beyond.

Are there any dishes that you return to, or drinks that you really like to enjoy there?

Here's the great thing: Miami, over the last, I'll just say 20 years, has gone from being a good food town to an internationally viable culinary leader. It is the unofficial capital of South America, and there's so much influence from Central and South America in that town. Plus, it has the natural advantage. When you say the name Miami, you actually can hear a rhythm in your head.

And I don't think I'm being too cliched or awkwardly poetic here. When you have a town that literally moves to a rhythm, I think it helps the food scene, and vice versa — I think the growing food scene has helped the international music scene down there. It's just an incredible, spirited community. I think the food there reflects that, whether it's Brad Kilgore's food, or Michael Schwartz's food, or grabbing some cushaw at the Palacio de Los Jugos, or stone crab at Joe's. I'll never go to Miami and not stop at Joe's Stone Crab.

What's your go-to order at Joe's?

As much fried chicken and stone crabs as I can stuff into my face, creamed spinach, and chopped salad. Joe's does a really great Italian chopped salad there that they put crispy chickpeas and nuts and stuff into. They do a shredded coleslaw, pour a sweet dressing over, where they put the cured, sliced cabbage, squeezed dry, in the middle of a plate and put some tomato wedges and other things around it. The creamed spinach is classic 100-year-old vintage steakhouse playbook creamed spinach. Joe's has the best stone crab in the world. They have their own boats. The stuff literally is under their control from the time that the traps are set, which I think is why the quality is so good.

My family's been going there for four generations. I'm 62, and my first trip to Joe's Stone Crab was when I was in single digits with my dad. They've always served fried chicken — it was just off the menu. And that was before it was cool to have things that were off the menu; they just had things that were off the menu. Now, fried chicken's on the menu, and it makes me happy because I see it on every table, and you shouldn't keep something that good a secret.

Where's your favorite place to grab a Cuban sandwich around Miami?

Sanguich. There used to be a lot of places to grab a decent [Cuban sandwich]; nothing that was actually great. In the '70s and '80s, there were a lot of places in Little Havana and up in Hialeah that did a Cuban sandwich. I mean, the traditional Cubano Cuban sandwich, right, with pulled pork and ham and all the rest of that kind of stuff. And the pulled pork was fresh and hot, and it made the difference in the sandwich.

Then the experience became commoditized and they were pulling pork just for those sandwiches and would start out cold. And so there wound up being all these places that were famous for it that, quite honestly, had a mediocre Cuban sandwich. And Sanguich has several variations on it that are absolutely stunning. They do a steak sandwich there where the steak slices are cut super thin, and it comes with onions and a big handful of potato sticks shoved inside. Now, I've been putting homemade potato chips in salads for a long time because I love that combination.

Yeah, it's great.

When I had that steak sandwich with potato sticks in it, my toes curled. And what's really, really important there is they take everything seriously. I do not need to have Michelin-starred experiences. My favorite foods are street foods or sandwich places. But if you're going to have ham on your sandwich, why not make your own ham? They do. They even make their own mustard there.

If you're going to have a Cuban sandwich, you want to have a tropical milkshake. The other thing they have is a batido, which is different than an ice cream shake, but an actual shake that's made with fruit and a little bit of ice cream and milk, but it's a lot of fruit. They do a mamey [sapote] and banana and guanabanana and that whole thing. If you have a tropical fruit batido with that homemade Sanguich Cuban sandwich, I don't think there's a better meal to be had.

All of these great chefs who participate may not be at some of these big, over-the-top events that are dominated by those of us who also do television, but I don't know how you can talk about the modern food era and not talk about the influence of someone like Guy Fieri.

Absolutely. 

I think he's universally loved, but there are people who look at him and say, "Well, he's a guy on TV. He's a host. He's not really a chef." I don't care how you define him; he has done more for the food world in terms of giving it that sort of rockstar status than anyone that you could name. 

So he's got to be up there all the way to someone who's the exact opposite. One of the greatest chefs of all time in terms of strict skill sets in the kitchen, José Andrés, started at El Bulli with Ferran Adrià. Obviously, [Andrés] now has 36, 38 restaurants around the world, including several in Miami, that are delicious and amazing, but he also founded World Central Kitchen. He should win the Nobel Peace Prize. So how do you have a Mount Rushmore and not put him up there?

So, there are four chefs off the top of my head. I'm not sure how you take any of them off, but look at all the people from Bobby Flay to Giada De Laurentiis to any James Beard Award winner. I mean, there are 100 chefs that also have a really good argument about why they should be up there as well.

Speaking of holidays, Valentine's Day is right around the corner. What's your favorite way to prepare organ meat, like heart?

Well, interestingly enough, that's typically what I serve. I prefer if there's someone in my life, that they cook for me that night because I typically will do all the cooking in any relationship that I'm in. So can we just have one night where I don't? And I don't like to go out. Everyone says, "What's an aphrodisiac?" And I always say, "Dinner at home."

The heart is something that I'm a big fan of. One year I did chicken hearts, marinated them in soy sauce, ginger, a little bit of mirin, garlic, and put them on skewers. Then you just lay them in the fire on the hot coals, and just let them char in one side, and eat them medium rare. I happen to think eating lightly that night is more fun than creating a situation where you're comatose, but a lot of people have gotten into calves' hearts and things like that.

So, if you have a larger heart, just cut it halfway through on one side and open it up like a book. Then just trim out all those tendons there, and you'll actually have a six or eight-ounce piece of steak with some curved edges. It's got very little fat, so just sear it rare, with a hard, crusty sear, and a rare, warm, red center, and slice it thin. All it needs to be dressed with is salt, olive oil, and a little bit of lemon. I take rosemary, a few sprigs, and just char [it] in an open fire. Then, take those charred rosemary leaves, strip them off, and use them as a seasoning.

We noticed you recently tried a Wendy's Frosty for the first time. Are there any other fast food favorites that you'd like to cross off your list this year?

I don't have a lot of experience in traditional fast food places. I'm scared. I'll give you an example. I have eaten at Cane's — which people classify as fast food, right? But all they do is serve chicken tenders. There's nothing else on the menu. It's chicken tenders, they do them really well. I like Cane's and people tell me that's fast food. So I've eaten there, but I've never eaten a chicken McNugget.

Oh, wow. Never?

I'm scared. No, I've seen them, and I've broken one open.

I don't want to tell you to try one because once you do, you might not want to stop.

That's what I'm saying. I mean, let's go with the chicken McNugget. I've never had a Hardee's roast beef sandwich, but I've looked at the meat that goes on one, and it doesn't look right. But here's the thing. We've had such success [trying fast food online,] and it's been accidental. 

I'm in an airport [saying,] "Well, I've never tried that before. I should record this and put it on my social media." You've made me realize that there are people who see this, and it gives them amusement to see me try it. Well, I love food — and I'm not a food snob — but I was kind of surprised at how great the Frosty was. I thought the burger was like, eh. So we'll see.

I'm in love with Culver's. My friends have told me, "You love Culver's so much, you will not like other fast food places," because Culver's cooks everything to order. But I'm going to give some of these things a shot.

We'd definitely love to see it. There are even limited-edition flavors, so they could be fun to try if you liked the Frosty. They have strawberry that comes around once in a while.

I had this argument with someone because I said, "No, I only saw chocolate and vanilla." And they're like, "No, there's strawberry." And then someone else said that's a seasonal flavor. I love it.

Aside from the fast food videos — which we're looking forward to — we'd love to know what's next for you in 2024.

Well, we have some really incredible stuff happening. But probably the biggest thing that's going to happen for me is on June 19, 2024 — a three-part documentary series that I am executive producing airs on PBS. It's called "Hope in the Water." It's about how we can protect our oceans but at the same time produce from them, and I am so excited about it.

South Beach Wine & Food Festival runs February 22-25. You can purchase tickets here. To learn more about Andrew Zimmern's recipes and the upcoming docuseries, "Hope in the Water," visit www.andrewzimmern.com. 

This interview has been edited for clarity.