The Munchies, Andrew Zimmern's Food Awards, Announces Inaugural Winners

Just before the James Beard awards are announced on Monday, The Munchies, a new voted-by-the-people awards helmed by Andrew Zimmern and other celebrity panelists, has announced its first year of winners. Throughout April, online users of Tablespoon.com (owned by General Mills) voted on the motley crew of nominees.

“It’s been so fun to see people who are passionate about food debate and support their favorite restaurants, media, and chefs,” The Munchies lead panelist Andrew Zimmern said in a release.

Here are the winners:

Favorite Food Reality TV Show:
"Top Chef" (Bravo)

Favorite Food TV Personality
Bobby Flay, "Food Network Star" (Food Network)

Favorite Food Related Magazine
Food Network Magazine (Hearst)

Favorite Food Blog
The Pioneer Woman, Ree Drummond

Most Newsworthy Cookbook
Food52 Cookbook, Amanda Hesser & Merrill Stubbs (Harper Collins)

Best Food Podcast or Radio Show
"The Splendid Table" (American Public Media)

Best Chef
April Bloomfield, The Spotted Pig, New York, NY

Most Inspiring Food Visionary
Jamie Oliver, Food Revolution

Most Iconic Burger
Double Double Animal Style, In-N-Out Burger, Irvine, CA

Best Pizza
Grimaldi's Pizzeria, Brooklyn, NY

Best Taco
Torchy's Tacos, Austin, TX

Best Cookie
Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Chip Cookie, Levain Bakery, New York, NY

Best Ice Cream
Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams, Columbus, OH

Best Food Truck
Wafels & Dinges, New York, NY

Best Local Farmers' Market
Pike Place Market, Seattle, WA

Favorite Stadium Eats
Tony Luke's Cheesesteak, Citizen's Bank Park, Philadelphia, PA

Coolest Coffee Shop
Café Grumpy, New York, NY

Best Craft Brewery
Dogfish Head Craft Brewery, Milton, DE

Most Intriguing Cocktail Bar
Monkey Bar, New York, NY

Favorite Gluten-Free Bakery
BabyCakes NYC, New York, NY

Also on HuffPost:

Comments

[cahye123]

01:14 PM on 05/07/2012

best pizza - tony's pizza north beach SF. try it, thank me later

[cahye123]

01:13 PM on 05/07/2012

mmm double double animal style w animal style fries!!! mmmmmmmm

[MagicalPossibilities]

04:24 AM on 05/06/2012

Love me some In-N-Out! (sounds dirty... my ex who was from the East Coast and had never heard of them before coming to AZ, called them F-Burger, LOL)
I don't care for animal style. I like mine with the regular sauce, no onions, with pickles.

[The Great White Snark]

08:15 PM on 05/06/2012

I live in Philly but was in San Diego for a medical conference in 2005. Two of us took a 20-minute taxi ride to get a Double Double and shake. Never should have done it. Nothing on the East Coast compares.

I need to move.

[scottsdalebubbe]

03:05 AM on 05/06/2012

Grimaldi's Pizzeria -- overpriced, overhyped. And, excuse me, coal smoke tastes like a petroleum product.

[LibertarianCentrist]

03:23 PM on 05/05/2012

Mmmmmm Double, Double, Animal style....

[VitoIncognito]

02:41 PM on 05/05/2012

Levain Bakery FTW!

[rudy in la]

11:59 AM on 05/05/2012

I say ballot stuffing was involved here! RECOUNT!!!!!

[Karl Hildebrand]

10:20 AM on 05/05/2012

East coast biased pukes.

[The Great White Snark]

08:17 PM on 05/06/2012

In n Out Burger isn't available anywhere on the East Coast, and that is a very painful deficit.

[Karl Hildebrand]

08:40 PM on 05/06/2012

You don't get my bent clown.

[BluebirdofUnhappiness]

09:14 PM on 05/04/2012

As Jamie Oliver laughs all the way to the bank.

[Kay-B]

09:57 AM on 05/05/2012

so does Mitt Romney.

[The Great White Snark]

08:18 PM on 05/06/2012

Relevance?

[BeerLover]

07:34 PM on 05/04/2012

He picks a fast food burger as the best? Yeah, not surprised. This guy wouldn't know good food if you beat him to death with it.

Always disliked Zimmern.....he has no class...... and spreads this notion about Americans as he travels the world.

Let's hear what Anthony Bourdain has to say instead.

[xstevejx]

07:32 AM on 05/07/2012

It wasn't picked as "Best" burger, but as "Most Iconic Burger" (which implies it has to be one somewhat widely known, which in turn implies one likely from some restaurant chain).

[getoffmedz]

07:13 PM on 05/04/2012

We now have In And Out in and around Dallas. In Frisco and Allen.

Not as good as remembered from California. The fries are especially not good.

We have two Culvers, one in McKinney and another in Rockwall which beats In And Out hands down in the same price range.

Five Guys is still the champ but much more expensive.

ONCE A MONTH!

[BeerLover]

07:35 PM on 05/04/2012

Fast food is bad for you. Once a month is all.

[getoffmedz]

11:19 PM on 05/04/2012

The clown lives dangerously, once a month.

; o >

[tips8533]

03:20 PM on 05/04/2012

wow, i'm really excited dogfish won best craft brewery!!!! :)

[BeerLover]

07:36 PM on 05/04/2012

Southern Tier and Shipyard are better. Deleware water is nasty... and so is the product unfortunately.

[brw1970]

11:35 AM on 05/08/2012

Love DFH 90min and 60min IPA.

[BuckyJamesDio]

01:58 PM on 05/04/2012

Oh man, I am totally craving a Double Double now. When are they gonna make it out to Colorado?

[plasmaorb]

01:55 PM on 05/04/2012

I didnt know Bobby Flay has a personality.. unless you count his SmugFakedSmile has a personality. He needs to go away, just like Emeril did.. he is so over exposed and over rated.

[BeerLover]

07:37 PM on 05/04/2012

I am SOOOO glad you said that. I have never regained ANY respect for him after he danced on the table at the Japanese Iron Chef competition. I was so ashamed.... as a chef....and as an American. He needs to go away indeed!

[haileyschwebbs]

01:43 PM on 05/04/2012

notice how most of it is ny... ny > everything else lol

[plasmaorb]

01:57 PM on 05/04/2012

NYC is the food mecca.. next to CA.

[haileyschwebbs]

02:26 PM on 05/04/2012

hahaha in your dreams! although i do applaud their use of avocado on everything haha! Diff strokes for diff folks! lol

[BeerLover]

07:38 PM on 05/04/2012

BOTH are food meccas....... I thought California had better organic produce...but NYC is quickly getting into the grove of organic and grass fed meats. I actually met a farmer in VT that supplied milk fed veal to NYC restaurants....and it actually WAS milk fed.