How Janet Yellen Became an Unlikely Culinary Diplomat

There was mayonnaise mixed with ants at a gastronomic taqueria in Mexico City. The garlic at a Persian restaurant in Frankfurt was aged 25 years. And, yes, the magic mushrooms in Beijing were hallucinogenic.

This isn’t an Anthony Bourdain travel show but rather a taste of what Janet L. Yellen, the Treasury secretary, has been eating on the road over the more than 300,000 miles she has logged over the last three years as she has been grappling with inflation and devising new ways to cripple the Russian economy.

“It’s not like it’s a scheme to conduct some sort of diplomacy,” Ms. Yellen, 77, said during an interview in June over scrambled eggs with onions and home fries at Sarge’s Delicatessen and Diner in New York City. “Nevertheless, it does seem to have had that impact.”

Ms. Yellen’s food adventures have become the subject of global fascination over the past year, with local and social media lighting up about where and what she eats. The intrigue has been a surprising twist in the tenure of Ms. Yellen, an economist and former Federal Reserve chair, who unlike most previous Treasury secretaries prizes mixing in cultural experiences with the grind of government travel.

Ms. Yellen once described her family meals as too rich with economics talk to be appetizing to most, but as Treasury secretary she has been unleashing her inner Guy Fieri (she’s a fan of his show “Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives”). But beyond that, food adventures have become a way to connect with other officials, and her staff, while gaining a better understanding of local economies.