Borudain definitely was a pompous ass- his first foray in the public eye was via his book Kitchen Confidential, where he wanted to come off as the true “bad boy” of cooking, ala Donnie Walhberg of NKOTB. The book was to basically to let us know how “wild” he was during his cook phase- drinking, taking drugs, etc- IOW, no different than every other late night establishment in the world. He would even sign his name with a logo- a skull with a kitchen knife in its mouth:rolleyes:
He’s also one of the cooking assholes who believes you are a shitty lowlife American tourist if you go to Vietnam and eat at well known restaurants instead of going into the jungles and befriending a secret sect who can cook you wild porcupine- Bourdain apparently didn’t realize most tourists don’t travel with armed bodyguards and a camera crew and an unlimited money supply to be able to do this, I guess.
Really he was relatively low on the cooking show totem pole until he wrote that “poignant” piece about being five miles from where a bomb went off in Beirut (something thousands of other Beiruters experienced dozens of times), and then he became sort of a cult figure.
Well, I’ll be damned. I hadn’t heard that. Thanks.
Though in answer to your earlier post I was responding to, if Fox and NatGeo have the same corporate parent, it still explains why talent moves from one to the other, no? If he had an exclusive agreement with Fox, wouldn’t Disney now own it and decide which of its brands he could appear in? Obviously I have no idea how such an agreement would be structured, so I’m talking out of my ass.
He probably can’t see the mirror as there’s a pile of money in front of it for what he gets from all of his Vegas restaurants - who knows how long the lines can get to get into Hell’s Kitchen (and note this is not where they make the TV series) just so you can order Beef Wellington with either Scallops or Lobster Risotto (but, for some reason, not both).
Murdoch kept ownership of the Fox broadcast network, Fox News and I think the regional sports channels (but may have already sold those onto others). Disney got the movie studio, TV production studio, a controlling interest in Hulu and other stuff. So at this point the shows on Fox (like the Simpsons) are largely produced by someone else.
so have I- go back and rewatch the episode where the network forces Mr. Cool to appear on Andrew Zimmern’s show. He doesn’t even try to suppress his disgust at being forced to interact with someone so “unhip”. Every response is a mumbled two or three words, not engaging in any way, not smiling, etc.
He always mocks the American tourists for not going into the DMZ for roadkill aardvark.
Yeah, no he doesn’t. He might complain about people going to Italy and then eating at an Olive Garden, but he spends plenty of time eating at regular restaurants on his show.
I was watching his cooking videos on YouTube and here is someone who obviously enjoys cooking. It’s a shame he has to act like an idiot on Kitchen Nightmares.
Exactly. In fact when TB started his show I thought he was one of those “too cool for school” copycats. I came around, but the fact is the format isn’t owned by anyone.
If GR is not your cup of tea fine, maybe take it to the Pit?
Bourdain was a jerk. Knowledgeable, passionate, and entertaining, but still a jerk. Ramsay has the same attributes, but a different personality. Neither has a copyright on the TV food travelogue.
I watch Ramsay mostly on Masterchef. Especially on the kids’ version, he’s the sweetest, most positive and encouraging guy ever. He’ll get a little agitated when contestant tags are cooking for the public like a restaurant, but he tempers it knowing they’re not professional chefs.
His “Ultimate Cookery Course” show, available on Prime video, would be my favorite cooking show ever if the camerawork and editing weren’t so frenetic.
Here’s a video I watched a while ago that showed me the difference between UK and US Ramsey. It’s the same scene, as edited on each one. He seems so much meaner in the US version, especially with the part at the end.
(It’s not as stark as I remember, though. But that music. UGH!)
Bourdain is an interesting case. Everyone thought of him as a “celebrity chef,” except unlike most celebrity chefs, he wasn’t famous for anything he had ever cooked, he was famous because he was a writer who wrote a classic book about the restaurant industry, who also happened to be a chef. Most of his actual cooking career he was just a line cook. He had worked himself up to executive chef at Les Halles, but he never had a restaurant of his own.
He was really just a charismatic guy who wasn’t afraid to travel and meet people, knew something about food, and always had something interesting, compelling, or otherwise entertaining to say to the camera, which made him a great travel show host.
From what I gathered, Bourdain himself disliked the “celebrity chef” label. He would often self-deprecatingly call himself a “mediocre utility-grade cook” or something like that.