Andrew Zimmern Stripped Down In Freezing Weather For A 'Video Love Letter'

When Andrew Zimmern wanted to show us fascinating foods, he traveled around the world. But if the world wants to feast its eyes on a fascinating Zimmern, it needs only to travel to his Instagram account. If you hadn't noticed, it can be a pretty wild place. Want to see Zimmern failing at gravity while spin-kicking an empty water jug? It's there. Want to see toilet paper origami in a bathroom? Got that, too. Mouthwatering recipes? Check times a thousand. There's always something new and exciting going on in the Zimm-verse. The latest development? Possible nudity for a good cause.

A new Instagram post from the celebrity chef, which has received around 9,000 likes, shows him seemingly posing naked in his yard and enduring the skin-nipping cold. Clearly giving Jamie Oliver a run for his moniker, this particular naked chef said that "it was about 5 below" outside at the time. Partially hiding him was a massive fig leaf in the form of a cardboard sign that read, "Thank You" in multiple languages. 

According to the post's caption, the photo is a still from a "video love letter" Zimmern created for his food media friends Eric and Sandra Ripert. The video aired at the recent City Harvest Gala in New York City, at which the Riperts were recognized for their more than 25 years of service to the food rescue nonprofit. Due to an injury, Zimmern was unable to attend the event.

From the sound of things, Zimmern's "video love letter" made quite a splash at the gala. Chef Melissa King, who attended the event, commented on Zimmern's Instagram post, providing some firsthand reporting: "I died when this popped up on the big screen during the gala." Hopefully, the Riperts had the same reaction.

The City Harvest Gala drew many celebrity guests – including Chrissy Teigen, John Legend, Antoni Porowski, and Slick Rick, among others – and raised over $5 million in donations. Founded in 1982, City Harvest has been supplying New York City's food pantries and soup kitchens with donations for 40 years. And for more than half of that time, the nonprofit has been supported by celebrity chef Eric Ripert and his wife Sandra. Eric sat down with Mashed in an exclusive interview to talk about being honored by City Harvest: "When you are honored, you don't take that for granted, because a lot of people have thought that you have done pretty well for something that is very worth it. I'm honored and humbled by that. It's also a great encouragement to do better next year."