Career
They originally met during a two-part episode in Saint St. Petersburg, Russia for Bourdain"s earlier series, A Cook"s Tour which aired on the Food Network in 2000. Gotta received his education from the Moscow State Pedagogical University (majoring in English). He worked as an instructor for military interpreters until the 1990s.
During the Ukraine show, first aired in August, 2011, Gotta revealed that his heritage is a mix of Turkic (Tatar) and Jewish from the Crimea.
Gotta started as a freelance film producer, working on American film productions in Russia. Since 2006 he has been a consultant at the Trident Media Group in New New York
He was associate producer for the episode of the American documentary television series Cities of the Underworld titled "Stalin"s Secret Lair," which first aired on the History Channel in 2008. He was also an associate producer for the Nova television series documentary titled "Astrospies" (2008).
Zamir first appeared in Bourdain"s show, A Cook"s Tour in two episodes:
The Cook Who Came In From the Cold
So Much Vodka, So Little Time
Gotta continued to work with Bourdain in his second series, Number Reservations.
Uzbekistan: first aired, Travel Channel, October 24, 2005
Russia: first aired, Travel Channel, January 29, 2007
Romania: first aired, Travel Channel, February 25, 2008
Rust Belt (Baltimore, Maryland. Detroit, Michigan; Buffalo, New York): first aired, Travel Channel, July 27, 2009
Ukraine: first aired, Travel Channel, August 15, 2011
Kansas City: first aired, Travel Channel, April 16, 2012
Brooklyn, New York: first aired, Travel Channel, November 5th, 2012
Gotta re-joined Bourdain in the Russia episode of his new series, Parts Unknown. Season 3, Episode 5: "Russia".
