Jump to content

Anthony Bourdain (1956-2018), American Culinary TV Personality, Author, and Host of CNN's "Parts Unknown"


bnacpa

Recommended Posts

You should have heard the grandes dames behind me complain to a Smithsonian rep at the end of the talk- how next time, the audience should be advised if such profanity is to be used!
They have obviously not read Kitchen Confidential. :blink: I would have loved to have seen their faces.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I enjoyed his comment that deep inside every great chef is a little Chinese man.

He is so enjoyable to hear ranting about everything from using bacon as a "gateway meat" for vegetarian boy/girlfriends to why any chef (like Iron Chef's Cat Cora) would have a SAG card?

I liked his Nigella Lawson story about her eating a roasted aborted pig fetus in Spain.

He mentioned he quit smoking! I figured it is due to his baby daughter. He mentioned his wife, being from northern Italy, is importing Italian baby food with flavors like parmesan and proscuitto.

He gave kudos to the DC food scene and said he enjoyed his meal at Ben's Chili Bowl the night before.

Not a bad Q&A- some really good questions.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I thought he said he didn't make it to Ben's Chili Bowl on this visit, but that he liked it.

Haha the "gateway protein" thing re bacon was funny too

You are right, he said he did not make it to Ben's, he was at Ripert's Bistro two nights ago.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Spot on. Although his comment about Ina Garten was in the context of "I can't believe she's still on [Food Network]."
The fuller context sounded more positive than that to me, unless he was being obliquely sarcastic:
“She knows how to cook. Her mashed potatoes are dead-on professional. I can’t believe she’s still on [the Food Network].”

OK, re-reading that, I guess he was being sarcastic. I sometimes enjoy watching her cook on her show, though I find the dramatic pretense/narrative kind of stupid.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The fuller context sounded more positive than that to me, unless he was being obliquely sarcastic:

OK, re-reading that, I guess he was being sarcastic. I sometimes enjoy watching her cook on her show, though I find the dramatic pretense/narrative kind of stupid.

I think what he meant was that he couldn't believe she was still on the Food Network because he thinks that they are taking everyone who can actually cook and putting them out to pasture, so to speak. He mentioned that a little bit too, how slowly, one by one the network was taking them and storing them away or something. So, he was being positive, about Ina's cooking ability at least.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I think what he meant was that he couldn't believe she was still on the Food Network because he thinks that they are taking everyone who can actually cook and putting them out to pasture, so to speak. He mentioned that a little bit too, how slowly, one by one the network was taking them and storing them away or something. So, he was being positive, about Ina's cooking ability at least.
That was my initial reading, but the mashed potatoes thing had me waffling. Is it a compliment to say someone's mashed potatoes are professional?
Link to comment
Share on other sites

That was my initial reading, but the mashed potatoes thing had me waffling. Is it a compliment to say someone's mashed potatoes are professional?

Hmm I'm not sure. Maybe so, because he was specifically referring to whether she could cook or not? and professional mashed potatoes are better than triscits and cheese whiz a la Sandra Lee??

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Tony Bourdain via Rob Donoghue via kottke

"Take the city you want to go to and just google up some restaurant names that serve the dish you're after. Then got to chowhound or another foodie site, and rather than asking about restaurants, you put up an enthusiastic post talking about how you just had the best whatever you're looking for at one of these restaurants.

"At that point, [...] the nerdfury will begin. Posters will show up from nowhere to shower you with disdain, tell you how that place used to be good but has now totally sold out and -- most important to your quest -- will tell you where you would have gone if you were not some sort of mouth breathing water buffalo."

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Surprised there is not regular forum on his show, so decided to start one.

The new season started last night- Singapore -it looked pretty great.

My favorites were the Chicken and white rice preceded by the scene of the audience boo-ing him and the insane Bone soup.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Tony is a great host,was a great chef, and often flicking his finger at the general media and his distain for what the Food Network has become. It's funny, seeing his old FN show "a cook's tour" highlighted in reruns. I have enjoyed his show and will watch the new season off the TIVO tonight. If you like Tony, check out http://blog.ruhlman.com/ Ruhlman's blog, where Tony is know to leave a comment or two.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

In Dave's fantasy world, SpikeTV would produce a food show in the style of BBC's Top Gear, hosted by Anthony Bourdain in the role of Jeremy Clarkson. Chaos and brutalized housewares would fill every episode. With DanCole42 as "the Stig".

anthony_bourdain3001.jpgcelebgal_03_clarkson.jpg

:(:blink: I know my +1 and I (and a few others around here) would be regular viewers (the Caterham assembly race episode aired on Monday comes to mind as recovery from what appeared to be certain disaster/loss :( )
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Mostly he was hanging out in the 9th Ward and other destroyed districts, visting restaurants, shrimpers, telling the story of the New Orleans restaurant workers, and efforts to recover etc. I thought it was well done...no doubt this will be his "emmy nominated" episode, like Beruit last season.

He did have a good line about how he wasn't sellout by giving Emeril new-found respect, but Rachel Ray still sucks.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It's on again tonight--according to the travel channel website: 8pm.

Thanks! I am watching it now!

Just saw the segment with Chris Rose of the Times Picayune, author of 1 Dead in the Attic, recounting how everybody has a dead man story and the city is redefining what normal means for it. Then Bourdain remarks that he'd have trouble living in a city that served no tomato on the sandwich (poboy). That's good writing.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Anyone catch last night's episode on New Orleans?
Yes, and as someone who grew up in New Orleans and Baton Rouge, he did a mighty fine job.

The sequence with the shrimp fisher from St. Bernard Parish was handled exceptionally well, I thought. Very evocative.

I like watching Bourdain just for fun, always kind of wondered how close to the mark he was. If the NO show is exemplary, he (and his staff) do very well.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

No, he stayed in the lower 9th Ward and focused primarily in NO.

You might want to buy a map or consult Google before making any more "expert" comments. Saying he was mostly in the Ninth Ward was, well, slightly innaccurate.

It was a good show. The guy is a cook and a writer. He gets it. While anyone, me, him, a guy who drives a streetcar, could have put a more "positive and Tourist Commission" friendly face on it, he pretty much nailed things on the head. This isn't pretty, but, it's us. I appreciate someone coming here and doing a piece that is reasonably well balanced and, at times damned funny (though, in fairness, if you aren't from here some of the humor might have been a bit fleeting). Operating restaurants here, more than anywhere in the US at the moment, is a total crapshoot. Some nights you're picking up all of the dough and some nights-bust. And that, before you jump to conclusions, has almost nothing to do with your dining attendance.

When you are sitting there at your desks, you might want to consider a weekend down here to see for yourselves. You damned sure won't starve to death and you just might learn something. Plus, thanks to the bazillion thieving contractors and well meaning non profit workers winging it back and forth everyday, you can get direct flights cheap. I do it all of the time, though in the reverse direction.

Tonight on PBS there was an American Experience episode on New Orleans. In it, John Scott (recently deceased and a friend), a talented artist and teacher in New Orleans summed it up better than almost anyone that I have ever heard.

"In most cities, you go home in the evening and get dressed for a night of culture out on the town. In New Orleans, you wake up in the morning and you AREe in the middle of a cultural event."

We're not like you. We're ok with that.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Anyone catch the London/Scotland show last night? I thought Tony did a great job showing some off some top talent in a new way. I have been to a couple of the places he mentioned and enjoyed all the new stuff. The fried thing in Scotland has been a bit overdone by a couple of others (bizarre foods come to mine). But hey, haggis is always king in my book. St John really is a special place and the marrow bones one of my all time favorite meals.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

We're not like you. We're ok with that.
Ouch, cher. Hey, we've got culture here, too, hundreds of them. This place is like the freaking United Nations. And I'll match you the beauty of the Capitol and the Potomac for Jackson Square and the Mississippi River.

As much as I love Louisiana oysters, Virginia oysters are better, especially Chincoteagues. As much as I love Louisiana boiled crabs, I love Chesapeake crabs with Old Bay.

But it's not "either or" -- both are good.

New Orleans is still a wonderful place. I've been back home several times since Katrina. It's both painful and thrilling. I thought Bourdain did a good job of showing both.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I thought the interview with Emeril was brilliant. After bashing him so many times, he gains some respect for him. Now will Tony ever interview Rachel and Sandra Lee?
Doubt it. Emeril is a chef, and owns a restaurant. As for the other two....

This season has been the best thus far, I think. Both the NOLA and London/Scotland episodes were fantastic.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I finally got around to watching last night's No Reservations (thank you, Tivo!) - the episode where Bourdain goes back to Les Halles and does a double shift. It was hilarious and also very eye opening. It looked like the place was packed (I'm sure word got out that he and Ripert were cooking), so who knows if Carlos was telling the truth when he said it was a slow night. The show was predictably scripted and paced: Tony pulls off lunch without too much trouble, Tony goes out for beers, Tony comes back for dinner and gets slammed, Tony rides the wave and comes out on top, Tony swears he'll never do this again. But still - very enjoyable to watch.

Also, it really does make you appreciate what goes on in those kitchens. It's been 25 years since I worked in a commercial kitchen and while I never worked in anything resembling Les Halles (think checkered tablecloth Italian or 70s fern bar), I distinctly remember what it was like to get slammed and find yourself in the weeds with servers yelling at you while the orders piled up one side and dishes piled up on the other. It makes me want to take my tip personally to the guys in the kitchen and say "thanks!".

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I absolutely LOVED this week's "Into the Fire" episode. Sure, it was somewhat predictable--but I thought it was hilarious. I was literally clapping my hands and giggling like an amused toddler. And I had NO idea that Eric Ripert was going to make an appearance--swoon!

Most importantly, this episode proved to me, once and for all, that there's no frickin' way I could ever be a chef. :mellow:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

So, he'll be at the Dupont Circle farmers market, and DC Central Kitchen . He's here until Monday. Word is a few late nights in Adams Morgan and G'Town. A little time in Penn Quarter.....So if his friend Andrew Zimmerman ( the guy that eats crazy stuff) were here where would he go and what would he have?

All fun and games aside, it's nice to see DC starting to get on the culinary map, so to speak.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

So, he'll be at the Dupont Circle farmers market, and DC Central Kitchen . He's here until Monday. Word is a few late nights in Adams Morgan and G'Town. A little time in Penn Quarter.....So if his friend Andrew Zimmerman ( the guy that eats crazy stuff) were here where would he go and what would he have?

All fun and games aside, it's nice to see DC starting to get on the culinary map, so to speak.

On the culinary map? As opposed to New Jersey and Uzbeckistan?

Love Tony. Don't need his validation for our town.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

So, he'll be at the Dupont Circle farmers market, and DC Central Kitchen . He's here until Monday. Word is a few late nights in Adams Morgan and G'Town. A little time in Penn Quarter.....So if his friend Andrew Zimmerman ( the guy that eats crazy stuff) were here where would he go and what would he have?

All fun and games aside, it's nice to see DC starting to get on the culinary map, so to speak.

Wish he was going to different places than $40 a Day with Rachael Ray.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

So, he'll be at the Dupont Circle farmers market, and DC Central Kitchen . He's here until Monday. Word is a few late nights in Adams Morgan and G'Town. A little time in Penn Quarter.....So if his friend Andrew Zimmerman ( the guy that eats crazy stuff) were here where would he go and what would he have?

All fun and games aside, it's nice to see DC starting to get on the culinary map, so to speak.

Now that Spike's here, we're set!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

DCist posting says the theme of this No Reservations is the two sides of DC dining (so probably the innovative upscale fine-dining, and then the diverse ethnic foods/restaurants) and that he'll be traveling inside the beltway - not just DC. Also confirms a visit to Ben's chili bowl at some point.

http://dcist.com/2008/07/18/anthony_bourda...or_no_reser.php

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I think he was extremely impressed by the sensitiveity, compassion, and understanding that was exhibited by the Marines, not traits that you normally attribute to the Corps.

No better friend, no worse enemy than a U.S. Marine.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Also confirms a visit to Ben's chili bowl at some point.

[/url]

Wonder what other upscale places he'll be highlighting aside from Minibar? Swank hotel bar? Power lunch venues?

I'm hoping he strays from the normal media coverage routine, but in addition to Ben's I'm guessing:

Ethiopian

Eden Center maybe?

Salvadoran, maybe something from a taco truck (is there any other option for "street food"? He always seems to like hitting the street carts)

If Adams Morgan is on the schedule for this weekend I see jumbo slice in his future

Horace and Dickie's or Florida Ave Grill. Oohs and Aahs would be a good choice. H St or U St would be a good locations to show where the "two sides" of D.C. converge.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...