Andrew Zimmern’s Business Partner Complains to Washington Post About Eggplant | Eater DC

"Opened recently outside of Minneapolis, Lucky Cricket drew controversy when Andrew Zimmern began selling a dish called “Peter Chang’s dry fried eggplant”; Gen Lee says Zimmern used Chang’s name without asking and that the kitchen’s version is a poor imitation—complaints describe the eggplant as limp, bland, and lacking Sichuan-style spice. A review in Minnesota-based magazine the Growler called pieces of the dish soggy and said none packed much spice, and critic Soleil Ho summarized her Lucky Cricket meal as “worse than food-court Chinese,” though she did single out an eggplant duo (half the fried kind cribbed from Chang, half a glazed variation referencing Happy Stony Noodle) as one of the rare “compelling” parts of the menu. Zimmern defended the naming, saying “99% of restaurants just steal ideas” and that they named the dish after Chang out of respect, while Lee insists, “If you’re going to put a name on it, you have to do it right.”" - Gabe Hiatt