Travel Channel's 'Bizarre Foods America' visits Lincoln Cafe in Mount Vernon

Gazette Photographer Liz Martin and I spent Friday morning at the Lincoln Cafe. Andrew Zimmern of Travel Channel's "Bizarre Foods America" was there to tape a segment at the popular Mount Vernon restaurant and we had a few minutes to talk with him about his future Iowa episode.

Talking to Chef Matt Steigerwald after taping wrapped, I asked if Zimmern or any of the TV crew took advantage of Lincoln Cafe's "Food is important" tattoo/free fries for life offer.

"One of the guys on the crew said he was going to zip down to the tattoo parlor in town," Steigerwald said. "His grandparents live nearby, so he figured he'd come back to visit them and get them free fries."

Unfortunately, taping wrapped up before he could go through with his plans. Next time!

My full story is below:

MOUNT VERNON – Forget about the market. This little pig found his himself on Andrew Zimmern's plate.

Actually, a lot of pigs made their way to Zimmern's stomach as the chef and host of Travel Channel's “Bizarre Foods America” visited several Iowa locations, including Lincoln Café in Mount Vernon, for a future episode of his popular show.

“The show actually got a hold of us last year to film in the summer of 2011 for an episode on Iowa foods, but the timing didn't work out,” said Matt Steigerwald, owner and head chef of the Lincoln Café.

It did this year, though, and the cast and crew arrived in Mount Vernon Thursday, dining at the restaurant that night.

“I think I tried everything on the menu,” Zimmern said.

He tweeted about it, too, posting photos with comments like “Roast Amish chik magic at Lincoln Café” and “Famous fries at Lincoln Café.” On Friday, the show's cast and crew spent several hours filming in the restaurant as the kitchen and wait staff served customers.

“Bizarre Foods America,” explores the bizarre foods and culture of the country. Now in its sixth season, the show recently celebrated its 100

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episode by focusing on extreme foods. Zimmern visited Las Vegas to sample the city's biggest, best and most expensive culinary offerings, including a $750 cupcake and a $5,000 hamburger.

The Iowa episode, which will air sometime in December during the show's seventh season, won't be as “in your face.”

“We're doing a look at the food scene in Iowa and one of the things that intrigued me were chefs who plunk themselves in small towns because they want to grow there, but they won't sacrifice sophisticated food to make it work,” Zimmern said.

The episode will examine the combination of good food and community in a state that Zimmern calls “in transition.”

“Every single small town I've visited, people tell me the same thing,” Zimmern said. “Thirty years ago, there were 200 family farms and a vibrant downtown. Now, downtown isn't alive there are maybe three farms, each one 10,000 acres.”

These towns are trying to figure out there future, trying to decide what they will become, he said.

“It's a fascinating place to make television,” Zimmern said. “These are fascinating stories to tell.”

The episode will include footage from Polashek's Locker Service in Protivin, Rustik Rooster Farms in Readlyn and La Quercia in Norwalk.

“I think it's great that they decided to focus on us for the Iowa show,” Steigerwald said, adding that media attention wasn't something he thought about when he opened Lincoln Café 11 years ago.

Making good food, running a successful visit and making customers happy were his highest priorities – and continue to be so even as Lincoln Café finds itself in the national spotlight more often.

“What they represent here at Lincoln Café, taking everything from the land around them and talking to their customers, is a place that is very much in the moment,” Zimmern said.