Anyone watch this show? I really like Bourdain and think he is really interesting. Some of the things he tries are really not my cup of tea but I love watching him try them. Anywho new episode of his show No Reservations are coming on The Travel Channel July 30th, can’t wait to see what he eats next.
I don’t seek it out, but if it’s on and I’m surfing I’ll stop and have a watch.
Bourdain’s a funny man.
Tony Bourdain, way before he became a celebrity, was a regular in a some of the AOL chat rooms and message boards I used to frequent. I have a couple of recipes he posted and a couple of general posts he made saved. Very non-PC and incredibly funny.
Speaking of which, he has a (fairly) new book out in which he blasts the whole Food Network/celebrity chef culture, calling out individual chefs. It was riveting and humorous.
I like him and watch the show, but think he could take some tips from Andrew Zimmern. Zimmern does the same thing, but without using the show as a forum for bashing people he doesn’t know for not being as cool as he is. Bourdain can also drop the bitter bad boy of cooking schtick now that he’s 50 and making a damn good living traveling the world.
He can also drop the “you’re a fucking idiot tourist if you go to Bangkok and eat at the hotel restaurant instead of eating chicken pancreas simmered in worm shit cooked by a shirtless barefoot guy with a wok sitting on the street in a puddle of dirty rainwater” bit as well. And the goofy staged bits he does are hacknyed, as well as his opening and closing monolgues where he summarizes the country with some deep revelation are usually silly, but hey, I’m a sucker for this type show, but think Zimmern is funnier, wittier and overall more engaging.
Just a word of warning, if he’s hanging out with some Bushmen in Namibia, don’t be eating your own lunch during the segment. When beetles are the most appetizing part of the meal, you’re in serious trouble.
The two most disugsting things on any cooking show were on that episode- eggs cooked in a layer of dirt, and the uncleaned, uncooked intestine of some large mammal- ugh!
He was in Beiruit for the bombings and wrote a very interesting blog post on what it was like.
This is one of the few shows I make a half-assed effort to catch regularly. He reminds me so much of an older version of a former friend of mine it’s uncanny. I am thoroughly entertained by the program.
The Beirut episode was great, although my favorite might be the Iceland one.
I may have a man-crush on him (also Mike Rowe).
It bothered me when he was in the Sahara and kept talking about Lawrence of ARABIA. Something about eating a whole sheep.
I don’t recall which season it was.
He’s lately taken to guest blogging in re: reality cooking shows on blog.ruhlman.com. He’s apparently managed to get addicted (shocker) to every show this season, which is surreal since he’s been a judge on at least one of them. His latest is a couple days ago. Watch it live!
I’ve seen the show a few times and enjoyed it, but my problem with Bourdain is that even though he goes on about trying the native food and seeing the real city or whatever, he never tries (not that I’ve seen, at least) the local beers. Whenever they show him, he’s always drinking a Heineken. A Heineken! Come on, there are a lot better beers than that!
So I looked it up on Google and read an interview where he was asked what beer he would drink if he could only drink one for the rest of his life. And what was his answer? Guinness. But he said it was too heavy for breakfast so he’d be happy with a lifetime supply of Heineken.
Sorry. I enjoy the show, but he lost a lot of points with me for being so skeptical of microbreweries and for not trying other (better) beers.
My favorite episode was the Bali one. God, that country looks breathtaking, especially as he stood on the verge of a rice paddy in a village and one could hear the wailing of an imam through the rain forest. It was surreal.
Their version of roasted pig also looked like the best rendition of that dish I’ve ever seen.
In new zealand he tried a local microbrewery ao not every time does he swill heinekin.
Frankly, most everybody in the world has a favorite food or drink, and if he wants to go to teh expense of only drinking a specific beer, I dont give a crap. I hate beers and like [of all godaweful beverages] yago Sant’gria on the rocks. I know it is the soda pop of wines, but I happen to like it and drink it when I allow myself to indulge [diabetic, it is way not really good nutritionally] and most people laugh when they see me drink it because i am a serious foodie and get consulted by my friends all the time for food and cooking information. I personally dont care, a wine snob wine unless it is a sweet dessert wine is so damned tannic bitter/sour it ruins the meal for me. If I want to drink vinegar, I will. I like light, sweet and fruity. I will bogart the eiswine or sauernes or german dessert wine like nobodys business…
I love the show. He’s entertaining and there’s really nothing else on at that time so he’s the best option for me. I’d love to go out and hit the bars with him, Mike Rowe and Ric Flair…just to see what happens.
I keep thinking he was set up by the Bushmen on that eppy. If you notice, they weren’t exactly joining in on chowing down the eggs encrusted with ashes or the ox anus. It was more like, “Let’s see if he’ll eat this”
I could have written this, but I do not remind anyone of him nor do I have a man-crush on him and Mike Rowe. I’m a girl, so I have regular old crushes on them.
I’d fuck him senseless if given the chance.
And I love the show.
I love the fact the guy has the balls to smoke on TV. Keep up the fight!
I’m not a ‘foodie’, I don’t cook, nor do I travel the world. However, this guy is awesome. Pub crawling with him and Mike Rowe would be kickass.