I don’t know where to put this half-hearted pitting of Fox News. More like just pointing out how lame they are for posting a “Let’s you and him fight!” article about a CNN regular and a Food Network star.
Anyway, Fox News headline screams, “Alton Brown slams Anthony Bourdain for his criticism of TV chefs”, then concludes the article with this:
Kind of takes the wind out of the mild criticism Brown offered up article.
Yeah, I know: “Fox News sensationalizes offhand remark.” Shocking!
This is not a Fox thing. Every news site I come across is getting more clickbaity by the day except for maybe the BBC. It is only going to get worse as the audience gets more fractured with a shorter attention span.
According to the article, Brown also said: “When was the last time you saw Anthony Bourdain actually cook anything? I’ve spent 14 years cooking my own food on television and I’ve never seen him cook a meal.” That’s at least a half a slam.
And pretty much what I feel about Bourdain. I know he used to be an executive chef but he got out of the business a long time ago. He spends his time looking down his nose at others that are still doing what he can’t or won’t do any more. And yet I still like watching his shows. I do remember on one episode he went to Vegas and he ate in one of Bobby Flay’s places. I could tell he didn’t want to do it but he begrudgingly said the food was good. I’ve only eaten at one of Flay’s places and it happened to be one of the best meals I ever had.
I don’t read Fox News. I clicked on a headline in Google News without looking where it went. Does that clear up your confusion? Or do you want to get sarcastic because I fell for clickbait?
It’s not like Bourdain is posing as a practicing chef. He’s always been very open about the fact that he’s not cooking anymore. However, he is a food writer and he has every right to criticize the Food Network. I think he truly respects Alton Brown and has never made him a target, but I suspect Brown is just sticking up for the network providing his paycheck.
I’ve watched pretty much everything Bourdain has ever done on tv and I’ve seen him cook a bunch of times. Sometimes its when they’re having a big feast type meal at one of his travel locations and he makes a dish. He’s also done a few specials about cooking and chefs. I remember one where he got Jacques Pepin to demonstrate making omelets and he (Bourdain) did a beef bourguignon recipe. He also had a special where he and his good friend, Eric Ripert, went back to his old restaurant, Les Halles, and worked a full shift, including lunch and dinner service.
Bourdain is not a great chef, and he’s never claimed to be. He’s said repeatedly that his famous chef friends would never have hired him to work their kitchens. But he worked in restaurants for thirty years and that’s something. He doesn’t do stand-and-stir type segments but trying to call him out for not being a professional, working, cook is off-base.
Fox News does not hype anything anymore than every other TV news network. Plus I think because it was an obvious light-news fluff piece it was over the top as a joke*!*
Only if it’s a weird trick for lowering my insurance rate. I live for those.
As for Bourdain: it’s perfectly possible to have useful and informative opinions about food and the food business without being a master chef.
If people don’t find his opinions to be useful or informative, that’s one thing, but to demand (whether implicitly or explicitly) that all such critics be master chefs is silly.
Bourdain is not a great chef, and he’s never claimed to be. He’s said repeatedly that his famous chef friends would never have hired him to work their kitchens. But he worked in restaurants for thirty years and that’s something. He doesn’t do stand-and-stir type segments but trying to call him out for not being a professional, working, cook is off-base.
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The only legitimate criticism of a critic is base on the quality of his or her criticism. It doesn’t matter whether Bourdain has ever seen a kitchen in his life. All that matters is whether he is good at commenting on food.