Andrew Zimmern in trouble for comments about the authenticity of midwest "Chinese" restaurants?

[bcla]

45 for a whole roast duck is a steal, at least in USA

I can buy a whole one for $15-17 at an Asian market or a local Chinatown. Buns might be a bit more though. At a restaurant maybe $25-30. Even the most known place for Duck in San Francisco is less than $20.

I found one place in St Paul for $25. Add 10 buns and it’s $30.

http://pekinggardenmn.com/SquidDuckChicken.html

 

[ChrisFL]

also, I don't think it was mentioned here, Andrew Zimmern he was the star of the TV Show "Bizarre Foods" where he goes around the world eating weird foods, bugs, worms, eyeballs, etc.

 

[fla4fun]

Everyone is entitled to their opinion. I have just never understood why people give more weight to the opinion of a celebrity. Zimmern’s opinion of Chinese food isn’t going to affect my choices of where to eat Chinese food. If the food is good, then I will eat it. I am not going to give him a hard time for expressing an opinion though, just because I don’t agree with it.

 

[bcla]

also, I don't think it was mentioned here, Andrew Zimmern he was the star of the TV Show "Bizarre Foods" where he goes around the world eating weird foods, bugs, worms, eyeballs, etc.

Yup. So how lucky is that cricket?

 

[Domo]

Chinese is my favourite food! We have a local restaurant, The China Garden - pretty expensive, but OMG is it ever delish? Yummy!

 

[bcla]

Chinese is my favourite food! We have a local restaurant, The China Garden - pretty expensive, but OMG is it ever delish? Yummy!

I think there's a standard construction of stereotypical Chinese restaurant names in the English language.

Take:

Panda
China
Golden
Jade
Lotus
Pearl
Imperial
Hong Kong (even if the owner/chef isn't from Hong Kong)

Then add to:

Garden
Dynasty
Village
Flower
Emperor
Empress
Express
Noodle House
Lounge

https://medium.com/chinatownies/a-r...ysis-of-chinese-restaurant-names-752e78eb6f5d

 

[Domo]

I think there's a standard construction of stereotypical Chinese restaurant names in the English language.

Take:

Panda
China
Golden
Jade
Lotus
Pearl
Imperial
Hong Kong (even if the owner/chef isn't from Hong Kong)

Then add to:

Garden
Dynasty
Village
Flower
Emperor
Empress
Express
Noodle House
Lounge

https://medium.com/chinatownies/a-r...ysis-of-chinese-restaurant-names-752e78eb6f5d

Bingo!

We have something additional over here... [Insert word here] Fried Chicken. From the chain restaurant KFC (Kentucky Fried Chicken) to the one offs (for example, I live near a Golden Fried Chicken and a Happy Fried Chicken... but there are so many!)

 

[Colleen27]

Wait, you mean homogenized chains serving ethnic foods aren't particularly authentic?!? Color me shocked! And a NYC celebrity chef looks down on Midwestern dining options?!? No way! I'm sure his white-guy take will be so much better.

I do agree with his assessment of P.F. Chang, more or less. I like the place well enough, but it is extremely overpriced for what it is. We only go at lunch and not very often. But Chinese is one of the easier ethnic foods to find, IMO. There is enough of a Chinese immigrant heritage in the U.S. with a widespread enough geographic distribution that there are a ton of reasonably authentic independent/family-owned Chinese restaurants all over the place. Even in my town of 4000, we have a good one... No longer owned by the Chinese family that started it 40+ years ago, but still using the original recipes (which are a mix of more authentic foods and the marketable tempura-and-sweet-sauces that kids and the less adventurous love). And in suburbia, 45 min from me, there's a huge range of authentic Asian of all sorts as well as several fabulous Asian groceries.

 

[Colleen27]

I probably can't even quote the word he said on the DISBoards, but there is a difference between, "I want to bring a more authentic Chinese food experience to the Midwest. I don't like the fact that Chinese food has had to be so Americanized to be commercially successful. I believe that people now have the palates for a more authentic experience." or "What those Chinese Americans do is horse manure [but he used stronger language.] I, the white savior, will deliver real Chinese food to the midwest."

And the sad part is that he'll likely succeed where Chinese-Americans have failed with a similar concept, because people will step outside their comfort zone to eat in a celebrity chef's restaurant even though they'd never do so for a neighborhood Chinese place. Which he and his fans will probably take as validation of the whole idea, ignoring the fact that the mom-and-pop places *have* to be at least somewhat Americanized to turn a profit.

 

[bcla]

Bingo!

We have something additional over here... [Insert word here] Fried Chicken. From the chain restaurant KFC (Kentucky Fried Chicken) to the one offs (for example, I live near a Golden Fried Chicken and a Happy Fried Chicken... but there are so many!)

I forgot one more. Palace. There are also a large number of Chinese restaurants that only pick one word from the list. The strange thing is that a lot of my Chinese friends tell me that the name of the restaurant in Chinese would translate to something very different.

 

[bcla]

And the sad part is that he'll likely succeed where Chinese-Americans have failed with a similar concept, because people will step outside their comfort zone to eat in a celebrity chef's restaurant even though they'd never do so for a neighborhood Chinese place. Which he and his fans will probably take as validation of the whole idea, ignoring the fact that the mom-and-pop places *have* to be at least somewhat Americanized to turn a profit.

I think there is hope since several of Guy Fieri's restaurants have failed spectacularly.

And as far as "celebrity chefs" go, as much flak as Martin Yan gets for perpetuating Asian stereotypes, he's not bad at developing menus and his chain restaurant was pretty good. Well - I looked it up and it seems that his chain restaurant finally closed its last location. I'd been there once accompanying several Chinese coworkers, and they had no problem with it. This was in Silicon Valley where there's no shortage of "authentic" Chinese food. If anyone asked to go to P.F. Chang's they would have said no way.

It's not Chinese food, but I remember this no-compromise Japanese restaurant down in Silicon Valley. It was weird too - just a nondescript strip mall location, but with tons of menu items on the wall. The owner/chef was from Japan and classically trained there. This place was so authentic that every year they had fugu. They also set up a food truck and took it various locations around Silicon Valley in company parking lots. But now it's closed and it's created a lot of disappointment. But you can find this kind of place in California. I don't know about the Midwest other than maybe the biggest cities like Chicago.

 

[Colleen27]

It's not Chinese food, but I remember this no-compromise Japanese restaurant down in Silicon Valley. It was weird too - just a nondescript strip mall location, but with tons of menu items on the wall. The owner/chef was from Japan and classically trained there. This place was so authentic that every year they had fugu. They also set up a food truck and took it various locations around Silicon Valley in company parking lots. But now it's closed and it's created a lot of disappointment. But you can find this kind of place in California. I don't know about the Midwest other than maybe the biggest cities like Chicago.

You can find good, authentic Japanese in the Detroit metro area. In Boston it was trickier, which surprised me. Those are the only cities I've tried since DD got really fussy about "real" Japanese cuisine. She spent last summer in Japan and whines constantly (okay, I'm exaggerating a bit...) about how much she misses real Japanese food. I've found a couple of places relatively nearby, with an hour or so, where she can get her favorites. Like midwestern Chinese restaurants, they tend to have a fair number of Americanized Japanese dishes - mainly fancy sushi rolls - as a complement to their more authentic choices. But if you want the real thing, you can get it.

 

[bcla]

You can find good, authentic Japanese in the Detroit metro area. In Boston it was trickier, which surprised me. Those are the only cities I've tried since DD got really fussy about "real" Japanese cuisine. She spent last summer in Japan and whines constantly (okay, I'm exaggerating a bit...) about how much she misses real Japanese food. I've found a couple of places relatively nearby, with an hour or so, where she can get her favorites. Like midwestern Chinese restaurants, they tend to have a fair number of Americanized Japanese dishes - mainly fancy sushi rolls - as a complement to their more authentic choices. But if you want the real thing, you can get it.

Thinking of this, I talked to a Chinese friend of mine. She was on a road trip with her husband and parents in the US when they stopped for lunch at Panda Express since they were in a hurry. Right there her parents were looking at it and asking what kind of food was it. When their daughter said it was supposed to be Chinese American food, they said that they thought it must be Japanese since they didn't quite recognize what it was.

Also sounds a lot like some story I heard about Chinese government officials who were guests in India. They were taken to a "Chinese restaurant" in India as honored guests. The head of the delegation then asked, "What region of India is this food from?"

 

[North of Mouse]

We have lots of ethnic restaurants around, and really can't say any of them are so-called authentic! They're all Americanized to some degree. We would not like them otherwise, as evidently most other diners feel the same!!

 

[yoopermom]

This whole thread reminds me of how my DH, who loves Midwestern Mexican food (for lack of a better term) was shocked on our road trip through Texas, Northern and Southern New Mexico, etc, to find out how wide of a variation in what is considered "Mexican" food. I like to think I can enjoy all varieties of ethnic food, authentic or otherwise, since I don't have to cook it .

Terri

 

[bcla]

This whole thread reminds me of how my DH, who loves Midwestern Mexican food (for lack of a better term) was shocked on our road trip through Texas, Northern and Southern New Mexico, etc, to find out how wide of a variation in what is considered "Mexican" food. I like to think I can enjoy all varieties of ethnic food, authentic or otherwise, since I don't have to cook it .

Terri

Been there, done that. Those big honking burritos we Americans eat is really a "Mission style" creation from the Mission district in San Francisco. However, it's kind of remarkable how one can get something that's reasonably close to the style of food that would be found in Mexico. I've been to food trucks that were crowded by assorted Latinos. And I remember having a Oaxaca-style tamale at a farmers market that was wrapped in a banana leaf. And they're obviously selling them to everyone who is willing to try.

Still - authenticity is overrated. Good food doesn't need to be authentic to be good.

 

[bcla]

Reviews are in. Doesn't sound like it's that lucky.

https://www.eater.com/2018/12/7/18130579/andrew-zimmern-lucky-cricket-controversy-visit
https://twincities.eater.com/2018/12/13/18139223/lucky-cricket-food-photos-inaccurate-andrew-zimmern
https://patch.com/minnesota/stlouispark/critics-savage-andrew-zimmern-s-new-st-louis-park-restaurant

Some of the criticism is that the photos aren't anything close to the real thing. Most notably head-on shrimp, although upon close inspection it looks like the head is not connected to the body.

The actual served item had no head and the radish looked limp. Looks like they also removed the tail. It was described as "frozen cocktail shrimp". Also some iceberg lettuce.

 

[marcyleecorgan]

Wow there is a world of difference in those two shrimp salads...

 

[bcla]

Wow there is a world of difference in those two shrimp salads...

Yep. There's a two-word phrase for dressing up food photos, but I'll keep from using that term before I get in trouble.