Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has launched a new cooking show, and within the first minute, it teases a surprise cameo from a Michelin-star celebrity chef.
The Health Secretary, 72, released the first episode of The Real Food Show on Thursday, featuring self-described “seafood junkie” Chef Andrew Gruel, 46, as the pair prepared crispy salmon cakes with an apple, white bean and greens salad.
Yet the real surprise came before the cooking even began as the episode’s opening teaser offered a glimpse of a future installment featuring Food Network star Chef Geoffrey Zakarian, 67. Best known as a judge on Chopped, Zakarian won The Next Iron Chef: Super Chefs in 2011 before becoming an official Iron Chef.
In the fleeting clip, Kennedy appears to sample cheesecake as Zakarian talks him through the dish, a notable moment given the chef’s past clash with Kennedy’s boss, President Donald Trump.
The apparent collaboration is striking given that, in 2015, Zakarian pulled out of plans to open a restaurant at Trump International Hotel Washington, D.C., after condemning Trump’s comments on illegal immigration, saying they “do not in any way align with my personal core values.”
Trump, 80, responded by suing Zakarian and fellow chef José Andrés, 57, who also abandoned plans for the hotel project, seeking $10 million in damages. Zakarian fired back with a countersuit, arguing that Trump’s remarks represented a “breach of the covenant of good faith and fair dealing.”
The Trump Organization ultimately settled the lawsuit in 2017. Nearly a decade later, Zakarian’s appearance on Kennedy’s show suggests the old battle may have been left behind—even as the Trump immigration rhetoric he once condemned remains largely unchanged.
The renowned celebrity chef’s appearance on The Real Food Show is not his first brush with MAGA circles this year.
Earlier this month, Zakarian joined Kennedy at a news conference alongside U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary Brooke Rollins, 54, and Tampa General Hospital CEO John Couris, where they announced a push for the “Make Hospital Food Healthier” initiative.
Zakarian has spent the past three years working to improve hospital food, primarily through his efforts with the Tampa hospital, according to Fox News Digital, which interviewed the chef.
On July 6, Zakarian joined Dr. Mehmet Oz, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) administrator, for a live cooking demonstration at the Great American State Fair, promoting Kennedy’s “reverse food pyramid” principles.
The event was billed as a celebration of America’s 250th birthday, but quickly turned political after Trump opened the fair with a MAGA rally. Despite the president’s early enthusiasm, the fair became an embarrassment for Trump, plagued by sparse crowds, sweltering heat, and a lack of star power.
It remains unclear which episode of Kennedy’s cooking show will feature Zakarian or what his role on the show will be. The Daily Beast has reached out to his representatives for comment.
