AMA: Live from Washington D.C.

Travel tips, how I learned "Bizarre Foods" was ending, my fave burgers and more

I’ve been on the road 18 of the last 19 days. Right now I’m in DC, where I just screened “Hope in the Water.”

I travel a lot. This isn’t news to you. My biggest tip for travelers? Stick with the schedule of the place you are visiting. That will help you acclimate faster. I’m a huge Marriott fan, too. Mostly because they take their culinary programs so seriously.

I get questions about “Bizarre Foods” all the time. I miss that show as much as you guys do. The way I found out it was ending still haunts me to this day—pun intended. Listen to learn about how it all went down, including the first iteration of the show. (I pitched the original as “The Wandering Spoon,” thankfully we changed the name.)

I also get questions about my favorite burger. I have several: JG Melon in NYC, the one my mom made in her cast iron skillet, and Patty & Franks in Atlanta. We’ll cover this and how chefs are nominated for awards in this week’s AMA.

As always, thank you for watching! And thank you for sending your questions.

---

---

Jared

Wow! It seems like you are traveling all the time. What are your travel tips for not getting too jet lagged, eating too much junk, etc?

Cynthia

How did you come up with the idea for Bizarre Foods? Do you miss that show? I miss watching it.

Roger

What is the best burger you've ever had (or made)? 

Mark

I love how you are so open to other cultures and foods. I've been to Spain a few times, first time when I was 15 and it opened my eyes to new foods.  Now I'm retired from the fire department I'm hoping to go back to Spain. I'll admit a lot of what you eat on your shows I'm very interested in, others are a hard no haha.  I've been curious for years. You seem to order quite a bit of food in restaurants, do  you eat it all, share with your crew or give it to locals?

Susie

I don’t know how chefs are nominated for awards. You get to so many places and events. Can you shed some light on nominations and your opinion on how important these are in the industry? Thank you!

---

---