Past Imperfect/Future Shock
By Anthony Bourdain
There's usually a moment when we're shooting, most often near the end of a long meal. The crew has all the shots they need: plenty of "content" (meaning me, babbling about the food--and someone local, who presumably knows what we're eating, describing it), lots of long, lingering "food porn" close-ups, plenty of footage of kitchen prep (which Todd arrived hours earlier to get) and final assembly. As an exhausted silence settles over the table, well into my cups, I'll look straight at camera and sarcastically say, in my most unctuous, television "host-sums-up" voice, " So....What have we learned today?" This is a cue to producer and shooters that I'm fucking DONE. That it's time to "get some wides", meaning, the crew steps way back and shoots some generic "wide shots" from a distance. Audio is no longer a factor in these , so the mikes come off and those of us at the table can pretty much forget about the cameras, and act naturally, secure in the knowledge that the presumed "working" part of the day is almost over.
There's usually a moment when we're shooting, most often near the end of a long meal. The crew has all the shots they need: plenty of "content" (meaning me, babbling about the food--and someone local, who presumably knows what we're eating, describing it), lots of long, lingering "food porn" close-ups, plenty of footage of kitchen prep (which Todd arrived hours earlier to get) and final assembly. As an exhausted silence settles over the table, well into my cups, I'll look straight at camera and sarcastically say, in my most unctuous, television "host-sums-up" voice, " So....What have we learned today?" This is a cue to producer and shooters that I'm fucking DONE. That it's time to "get some wides", meaning, the crew steps way back and shoots some generic "wide shots" from a distance. Audio is no longer a factor in these , so the mikes come off and those of us at the table can pretty much forget about the cameras, and act naturally, secure in the knowledge that the presumed "working" part of the day is almost over.
So ... as we approach the last episode of this first half of Season 4,
one might well ask of us, the No Reservations crew--and our mammoth
post production staff back in New York, the exec producers, editors,
sound mixers, and wolverine wranglers at ZPZ: "What have we learned
this season?"
We've learned some lessons. Some of them, painfully. Among them:
A mediocre food related scene is almost always better than a well-shot bungee jumping scene (or movie extra scene, zip-line trekking, alligator wrestling or trapeze scene).
If you piss off an entire country, you'll get a lot of really wacky posts on your blog--and possibly even incite renewed hostilities with Hungary.
Apparently, I work for the KGB.( I'd forgotten!)
There is a finite appetite for hunting scenes.
When you are advised by official entities that any scene depicting ( insert ethnic or indigenous group constituting 10% or more of the population) will result in a total withdrawal of any and all assistance--including permits and permissions--it's a warning sign.
Ditto when they tell you that you can't shoot any restaurants during business hours--and that you may not show the faces of the cooks. Only hands. Maybe.
Caving scenes are funny. For people who hate you.
Dante, however, is not funny.
So ... what's next? When the machine cranks up again this summer? Where will we be putting into practice all that painstakingly acquired wisdom? Well ... rest assured; just cause they stop showing new episodes doesn't mean we get a break from making them. Oh, no. Already, we've got four in the can, currently being edited--and we're about to leave for Spain for another. With more immediately to follow. And while the order in which we shoot these things is not necessarily the order in which they'll be shown, I can tell you a little about what we've got so far--and what we're planning to get. I also thought I'd provide a few helpful advance reviews--to save food nerds time when the shows actually air.
LAOS: Do I smell ... Emmy? Probably not. But the camera people on this show, (Todd and Zach) are well within reason to hope. Zach had a blissed out expression on his face the entire time in the country. This is a country MADE for cinematographers. Laos was absolutely magical. Everywhere you pointed a camera, enchanted looking mountains loomed out of the mists. Great food. Amazing people with a dramatic, hugely tragic and complicated history. A visually striking, heartfelt journey across a hauntingly beautiful and largely unfamiliar landscape. It had all the elements to be one of the best shows we've ever done.
The verdict? " .....history, schmistory...... I wanted more food information..."
TOKYO/KYOTO: Pure crack for Foodies ! Ultra-Hot, ultra-fetishistic, hardcore food porn! No foreplay--just straight to the good stuff!! Sizzling Yakitori Action! Sultry Sobalicious Goodness, Kooky Cocktails and Kaiseki Kapers -- Sandwiched Between Pounding Steel and without a doubt, the Best Sushi Ever Seen on American Television! Bouncing around Japan with Morimoto in search of Perfection.
The verdict? "...OMG!! Best. Show.. Ever...That scene at Jiro? Made me cream!"
URUGUAY: The Bourdain brothers journey to Montevideo, Punta del Este and the surrounding countryside in search of traces of their mysterious, Uruguayan great, great grandfather. Conclusions? Among other things--that Uruguay makes Argentina look like a vegan suburb of Berkeley. That they like to cook stuff over flame. LOTS of flame. That Montevideo is probably the Next Big Thing--or should be. And that the "civito" is the Greatest Sandwich in the History of Civilization.
The verdict?: "...I found the civitos at San Marco, a tiny place next to the mercado, far superior to the place Bourdain went. And the morcillas he ate are nowhere near as good as the ones at......."
COLOMBIA: It stands to reason that Cartagena is fantastic. But Medellin? Who knew? Among other adventures, The crew heads into neighborhoods where--only a few short years ago--even the police dared not go. And finds one of the most vibrant, welcoming, hospitable and food crazy destinations yet. The surprise of the entire series. All of us on the crew were absolutely shocked and smitten by Colombia. Rarely--if ever--have we been treated so well or had so much fun making television. (And no drug jokes PLEASE. Really.). I think we're among the very first travel shows to go where we went and show who and what we're going to show--and I think people will be blown away by how things have changed from their Miami Vice era perceptions of Colombia (and Medellin in particular). This episode was a perfect example of the principle that it's far, far better for the Tourism Board people to let us do whatever the hell we want (even if they're uncomfortable with some of our destinations) than trying to stage manage or paint over the reality. Colombia Tourism were cool (if occasionally concerned); helpful when needed and hands-off when asked. And the result is one long love letter to a fantastic country, exhuberantly emerging from a long nightmare.
The verdict? " Where can I find arepas like that in Queens? And does anyone have a recipe for Sancocho?"
After an haute-heavy Spain show, Egypt, San Francisco, an investigation of the Azores/New England, Portugese nexus and Papua New Guinea follow. And a couple of Specials. Currently, wading through the submissions for the Travel With Tony thing--an often terrifying task. Just started in--but so far it's like choosing between John Wayne Gacy, Linda Kasabian or Robyn Miller. So many people seem to be videoing themselves from a cellar apartment--a suspicious-looking chest freezer in the background. Posters of Taxi Driver and multiple copies of Catcher In The Rye. Empty tubes of airplane glue. A plastic tarpaulin rolled up against wood panelling ... So many candidates seem to want to take me to rural areas in the Pacific Northwest. The words "drainage culvert" and "wooded area" keep coming up. And I'm supposed to TRAVEL with one of these people? I'm demanding a full background check, polygraph...and a Minneasota Multi-Phasic Personality test--along with the usual Rorsach. Scary!
We've learned some lessons. Some of them, painfully. Among them:
A mediocre food related scene is almost always better than a well-shot bungee jumping scene (or movie extra scene, zip-line trekking, alligator wrestling or trapeze scene).
If you piss off an entire country, you'll get a lot of really wacky posts on your blog--and possibly even incite renewed hostilities with Hungary.
Apparently, I work for the KGB.( I'd forgotten!)
There is a finite appetite for hunting scenes.
When you are advised by official entities that any scene depicting ( insert ethnic or indigenous group constituting 10% or more of the population) will result in a total withdrawal of any and all assistance--including permits and permissions--it's a warning sign.
Ditto when they tell you that you can't shoot any restaurants during business hours--and that you may not show the faces of the cooks. Only hands. Maybe.
Caving scenes are funny. For people who hate you.
Dante, however, is not funny.
So ... what's next? When the machine cranks up again this summer? Where will we be putting into practice all that painstakingly acquired wisdom? Well ... rest assured; just cause they stop showing new episodes doesn't mean we get a break from making them. Oh, no. Already, we've got four in the can, currently being edited--and we're about to leave for Spain for another. With more immediately to follow. And while the order in which we shoot these things is not necessarily the order in which they'll be shown, I can tell you a little about what we've got so far--and what we're planning to get. I also thought I'd provide a few helpful advance reviews--to save food nerds time when the shows actually air.
LAOS: Do I smell ... Emmy? Probably not. But the camera people on this show, (Todd and Zach) are well within reason to hope. Zach had a blissed out expression on his face the entire time in the country. This is a country MADE for cinematographers. Laos was absolutely magical. Everywhere you pointed a camera, enchanted looking mountains loomed out of the mists. Great food. Amazing people with a dramatic, hugely tragic and complicated history. A visually striking, heartfelt journey across a hauntingly beautiful and largely unfamiliar landscape. It had all the elements to be one of the best shows we've ever done.
The verdict? " .....history, schmistory...... I wanted more food information..."
TOKYO/KYOTO: Pure crack for Foodies ! Ultra-Hot, ultra-fetishistic, hardcore food porn! No foreplay--just straight to the good stuff!! Sizzling Yakitori Action! Sultry Sobalicious Goodness, Kooky Cocktails and Kaiseki Kapers -- Sandwiched Between Pounding Steel and without a doubt, the Best Sushi Ever Seen on American Television! Bouncing around Japan with Morimoto in search of Perfection.
The verdict? "...OMG!! Best. Show.. Ever...That scene at Jiro? Made me cream!"
URUGUAY: The Bourdain brothers journey to Montevideo, Punta del Este and the surrounding countryside in search of traces of their mysterious, Uruguayan great, great grandfather. Conclusions? Among other things--that Uruguay makes Argentina look like a vegan suburb of Berkeley. That they like to cook stuff over flame. LOTS of flame. That Montevideo is probably the Next Big Thing--or should be. And that the "civito" is the Greatest Sandwich in the History of Civilization.
The verdict?: "...I found the civitos at San Marco, a tiny place next to the mercado, far superior to the place Bourdain went. And the morcillas he ate are nowhere near as good as the ones at......."
COLOMBIA: It stands to reason that Cartagena is fantastic. But Medellin? Who knew? Among other adventures, The crew heads into neighborhoods where--only a few short years ago--even the police dared not go. And finds one of the most vibrant, welcoming, hospitable and food crazy destinations yet. The surprise of the entire series. All of us on the crew were absolutely shocked and smitten by Colombia. Rarely--if ever--have we been treated so well or had so much fun making television. (And no drug jokes PLEASE. Really.). I think we're among the very first travel shows to go where we went and show who and what we're going to show--and I think people will be blown away by how things have changed from their Miami Vice era perceptions of Colombia (and Medellin in particular). This episode was a perfect example of the principle that it's far, far better for the Tourism Board people to let us do whatever the hell we want (even if they're uncomfortable with some of our destinations) than trying to stage manage or paint over the reality. Colombia Tourism were cool (if occasionally concerned); helpful when needed and hands-off when asked. And the result is one long love letter to a fantastic country, exhuberantly emerging from a long nightmare.
The verdict? " Where can I find arepas like that in Queens? And does anyone have a recipe for Sancocho?"
After an haute-heavy Spain show, Egypt, San Francisco, an investigation of the Azores/New England, Portugese nexus and Papua New Guinea follow. And a couple of Specials. Currently, wading through the submissions for the Travel With Tony thing--an often terrifying task. Just started in--but so far it's like choosing between John Wayne Gacy, Linda Kasabian or Robyn Miller. So many people seem to be videoing themselves from a cellar apartment--a suspicious-looking chest freezer in the background. Posters of Taxi Driver and multiple copies of Catcher In The Rye. Empty tubes of airplane glue. A plastic tarpaulin rolled up against wood panelling ... So many candidates seem to want to take me to rural areas in the Pacific Northwest. The words "drainage culvert" and "wooded area" keep coming up. And I'm supposed to TRAVEL with one of these people? I'm demanding a full background check, polygraph...and a Minneasota Multi-Phasic Personality test--along with the usual Rorsach. Scary!
Hey...easy on the Pacific Northwest! You know we love food, snarky authors, body ink, and beer...we're your BASE, man! Cut us some slack - we're coming out of the long, dark, subterranean winter here, and coffee or no coffee, we're a little cranky. We wouldn't actually HURT you. Probably.
Mostly, we're looking for a free ticket to somewhere sunny and someone to pay the bar tab while there.
Besides, since when have you been afraid of twisted, idiosyncratic, epicurian deadbeats?
Looking forward to the new season...
Tony, I can't imagine that the "travel with Tony" idea is anything even remotely close to what you want to do. More likely this is a Travel Channel demand, right? Must be hard to balance the two even given the fact that you have a blessed job, more or less. Good luck with that. Hope you have good security.
Good to hear from you again, Tony. Thanks for the update. Cheers, Bonnie (artnlit)
PS. I am eager to see the new episodes this summer, especially now having read your comments.
While I'm sure there are those still wishing and planning to rip you a new one so to speak due to Romania, I think, even if you don't admit it, that you and the crew "learned" more than you are suggesting.
Continue on, my friend. The "defenders of the Bourdain" will follow...
Safe travels to all.
As for the "Travel with Tony" contest, as long as you don't hear dueling banjos and someone saying you have a "purty mouth" you'll be ok! ~Bonnie (artnlit)
Dearest Tone,
I’m excited!
Oh...I want to say that the editing is excellent on your show.
Spain... yea.
Looking forward for a great show. Long overdue Mr. Bourdain.
I love that your show actually includes the crew in the episodes. On other Travel Channel shows, ect.. they pretend the producers/photogs/mike personnel are not even there. My hubby also likes the fact that there is a reminder to viewers to "be aware" of content. Pretty funny. It' definately brought him in. Thanks to cast and crew for a great show and finally an alternative to the usual Boooo...ring travel/cooking/food show.
Tony - A trip to Medellin would have been the perfect time for a No Reservations/ Entourage crossover special!
Just imagine Bourdain v. Ari Gold in the ultimate snark fest...
"If you piss off an entire country" ... continent, planet or even galaxy ... is only fair to get a lot of "piss" back, no? However you are tough wet New York cook so do not complain about the "pissing" hungarians. They only want to keep you moist.
Filming this show sounds like a real rollercoaster ride. Fun Times. I too was gonna send in a video, and my idea woulda been to come up to Portland (great food, I swear. WAY too many beards, though!)
I hope that's where you end up. It's where I learned to cook "trial by fire" style.
I was dishwashing at a now defunct Italian ristorante when the strung-out pantry cook cut himself for the 4th time in a week and I was magically moved into my current career. 13 years later I'm still a 1/2 Guatemalan-punk-rock-lovin' s%#@y female cook. You and your show help me to be proud to have a job, where at the ripe old age of 39, I don't have to sit in a cubby staring at a computer, but instead get to lift heavy pots and burn myself! Thanks, Tony. :)
You know what would make for a real edgy "Travel With Tony?"
Tony travelling w/ a Romanian.
It would be like Anton Chigurh and Llewelyn Moss vacationing together.
I just watched your Indonesia episode and I'm going to take a nap. :)
I'm looking forward to the upcoming episodes and can't wait until you pick some lucky bourdain fanatic to be graced by your presence on what I'm sure will be the greatest trip of their life. I would submit a vid but I'm hardly interesting enough to make for good TV. Good luck Tones.
tony ur the man always saying something like IF YOU WERE REALY STONED YOUED EAT THIS even if its cold at 2 am ur a realy cool dude i say me and you should hit amsterdam and find some good eats id be like the episode when u went to mexico
At times I've been tempted to enter the "Travel with Tony" circus: I hunt! I belly dance! I'm photogenic, adventurous self depricating, sarcastic and funny... Surely I would be a great travel companion!
But then I realize I would not enjoy watching Anthony nearly as much if he was glaring and making unkind references to ME and realy what fun would the episode be if he WASN'T doing that to the adoring fan that joined him?
Already I am glad my video is not among those he is tearing into...afterall, I have two chest freezers in my basement.
Looking forward to a great season! Sounds like some amazing locations. I am happy to enjoy his personality from the sidelines - or maybe over a beer someday!
Good Luck Anthony, let me know if you need some help choosing the poor sucker.
Wow, lots to look forward to. Les Halles tonight! Lots of great locales and excellent food to be had. (Papua, New Guinea? I guess AB in a penis gourd will result in a spike in ratings among a couple of demographics.) You eventually have to make your way to Merida, Mexico. A working Hacienda, Sunday street festival, music almost every night, excellent restaurants, artistic expats. Side trip to Mayan ruins (El Castillo, Coba), spanish architecture (mainly using stones from Mayan ruins). Mayan ball courts, sacrafices.. End with the sun setting on AB atop Coba and him getting philosophical about the sun setting on the mayans..
Once again, you've made me howl with laughter. Hmmmmm, between the three I'd pick Gacy - at least he can paint ;)
Come on, Tony, you *know* you're going to end up picking some poor dishwashing joe who's just looking for his big break - who appreciates food and can cook up some mean sweetbreads, but just needs his chance to shine. So pick him already!
Dear Tony:
(1) Love your work. I first saw you on A Cook's Tour, and I've been a fan ever since.
(2) I don't have a video camera, so I can't enter your "Travel with Tony" contest. I don't particularly care to be on TV anyhow; I'd have to dangerously inebriated before I felt comfortable.
Nevertheless, I'm writing to urge you to visit Nashville at some point in your journey ... so just think about the heavenly gift that is hickory smoked country ham while I make the case for the Athens of the South:
Nashville is equal parts quaint charm and newfangled cheese.
It is a city full of character and characters, from its always irreverent dives and honky tonks, to its near-sadistic love of spicy fried chicken (Google "Prince's Hot Chicken Shack").
It is a city that charms countless wanderers with the siren song of celebrity, yet its culture is %#@aulted by the trappings of the very industry that allows it to flourish.
The city's food reflects its larger than life character, but most of what you'll find in Nashville - like all Southern cuisine - is derived from the necessities of the impoverished.
Edna Lewis once said "There is something about the South that stimulates creativity in people."
No city embodies this statement more than Nashville, Tennessee.
Except maybe New Orleans.
Sincerely,
Brandon Rios
PS - the city plays a little music, too.
PPS - please bring Nari.
Tony, I'm currently finishing reading "A Cook's Tour" and my TV is now on the Travel Channel that's broadcasting a "No Reservations" festival. Consider me a Bourdaniac! Yeah. I'll admit it: I had a tough time early on with all the animal butchering. I'm the vegetarian you hate, especially since I occasionally eat fish, so I guess that makes me the enemy and a hypocrite. But I'm offically addicted to your jaded, sarcastic world view. I can't wait to get to Les Halles and have some good seafood!
But, please, Tony. I'm looking forward to the Les Halles homecoming, but between that and the viewer contest, please don't go down the road of gimmick shows. You don't need it.
And if you ever show up on "Dancing With the Stars"...
Can't wait. But when are Nari and Ruhlman coming back for episodes??? My two favorite episodes are the Cleveland and Korea ones...
Mr. AB,
We know that you are not working for KGB. For that, you need to double the I.Q. and that is impossible. They just use you...
Don Anthony: Your preview on Medellin brought a tear to my eye. I am going back this Summer after 29 years. I am waiting with baited breath for that show. I know you will do my city justice. Arepas con queso and chocolate batido (hot chocolate) are like a hug from Mom (no food issues here right?). You should try the Arepa Lady in Jackson Heights. She has her own MySpace page and is a street vendor legend. She only goes out Friday and Saturday nights from 10pm-5am. For a kick-$#@ make-you-sweat Sancocho, come to my house in Bogota, NJ. (In my wildest, most warped dreams you will say yes)! You, Mr. Bourdain, ROCK!!
Tony.. you're the coolest and sexiest man on TV.
Carola from Santiago, Chile.
thank you tony!!! what a %$#@ty day i've had. once again i watch the show, hopping your having a super sarcastic show, and once again i'm left smiling and wanting my kids to find something to do so i can indulge with no reservations!!!!!!!!!!!! hudson. fl.
I'm so looking forward to seeing all the upcoming episodes! I've always wanted to travel to many of the places you've mentioned, so it could be a little bittersweet for this poor girl with an empty wallet.
And hopefully whoever gets chosen from the contest isn't too crazy, but a little crazy does make some good tv. Human beings are some of the oddest creatures and it always makes life a little less dull. But I'm sure you know that.
Now I'm back to watching the lovely No Reservations marathon and dreaming up some new recipes of my own to make for dinner tonight. :)
Tony, I am so glad you visited Colombia!!!
It is a beautiful country, with very nice and warm people!!
I hope you drank some aguardiente and danced to some Cumbia!!
Thanks for visiting and hope to have you soon!!
Mafe from Bogota Colombia
I'm dying to see the Colombia episode... Did you have the arepa chicharrona? An arepa with crunchy bits of pig skin... or the "marranitas"(from Cali)? Well, you have pending about 80% of the colombian cuisine...
You have to come back soon!!
Solid blog, Clare.
Some good recipe's and restaurant suggestions.
this coming from someone who has never been to any northern state other than Texas..i think the perfect idea for the fan-atic show special would be bringing someone like me to the so-called mecca of food..(with a sarcastic tone)..New York..ur stomping ground!!
Tony,
I'm not participating in the "Win a Trip with Tony" contest, not because I wouldn't mind traveling with you, but because I already told you --- to your face in Santa Cruz last year --- to visit the Philippines.
C'mon, man. Right the wrong that Andrew Zimmern did.
Also, as a flamenco dancer, I can't wait for the Spain show.
Keep up the awesome work. You rock.
When are you guys going to cut the bull & give Zamir his own show?
It'll be a hit in AA facilities nationwide.
YAY! I am so excited to hear that you are headed back to Latin America! Can't wait!
I am surprised to hear that the trip to Medellin went so well. Do not get me wrong, I am from Medellin. But I know my people’s tendency to preach about how perfect everything in our city is. Of course, 90% of those people have never set foot outside the city, there goes the irony and, to me, the sweetness of a pride that is made of pure and genuine desire. Desire to believe things can be right within so much wrong. I think that is what makes Medellin so special to the visitors: the inevitable confrontation between their expectations about a city famous for its violence and the reality of a vibrant, optimistic, hospitable and happy community. Even if the food is not so original or the architecture is nothing to die for or the aguardiente really sucks, what is memorable and touching about Medellin is the character and attitude of its people. Glad you enjoyed it!!!
It's really more of the same old, same old, isn't it? Your claim to fame was Kitchen Confidential which was so well written. More important than the 'Oh, I'm telling secrets of the trade and by the way, I was a druggie' which is so predictable.
For a middle cl%#@ guy who had an epiphany in Vietnam that led to his leaving his wife for a newer model who then has his child (how stereotypically mid life crisis), you've done quite well. Yes, it shouldn't be anybody's business but welcome to celebrityland.
OMG I want to go to Kyoto sooo badly. hehe. Yesss. Can't wait to watch!
Okay - while I usually try and refrain from posting-about-a-post, I feel the need to do this, if only because I really like AB and the show and the website, and it seems like they'd all be a great bunch of people to hang out with. And they've taken just a smidge of abuse lately.
SheRa said:"It's really more of the same old, same old, isn't it?" etc...
You know what's a really boring flavor?
BITTER.
Lord knows none of us, no matter how rabid a fan, REALLY knows Anthony Bourdain, the Real Person. So p%#@ing judgment on his personal life seems a little bit beyond the pale.
Speaking for myself (and I'm sure plenty of other readers/viewers), AB the "media-product" is a welcome break in the din of mediocrity we get %#@aulted with on a daily basis. Cut the guy a break. He never pretended to be Kofi F-ing Annon.
Now I'll hit 'ya with a quote, 'cause it's way better than my sorry scribbling:
You don’t see things are they are. You see things as you are.
(That's the Talmud, baby...eat it up! ;-))
Rock on, Tony and 0.0!
Your show on the Mexican Border was very biased. No mention of the rise to TB and other communicable diseases due to illegal immigration. No mention of the ER's on the border forced to go out of business because they must treat illegals for "free". No interview with US ranchers on the border who are being invaded. No mention of the DUI deaths due to illegals, etc. No mention that 40 percent of our prisons are filled with illegals at taxpayer expense. Want to adopt the Mexican immigration policy? Check that out. My wife is from El Salvador and can tell you that Mexican military kill or imprison Central American immigrants because as Vincente Fox said, "we do not want them contaminated our culture." What? Why don't you protest that? I don't blame them. Come to America legally. When you get here, be American. Don't import your third world %$#@ hole here. I don't want to press 2 for English.You also said, Viva La Raza, Long live the race. Would you have said this in South Louisianna with a group of white people? Oh I see, we can have, "black pride", "Latino Pride", but to express pride in a white european heritage is racist, homophobic, etc. Homework: look up the Mexican immigration policy, you'll be surprised. Why do illegals in Calif get low interest home loans and in state tuition when legal citizens get screwed? Don't get me wrong. I'd want to leave Mexico as well. But how much can the legal population take? No, I'm not a racist but simply want the US to have Borders, Language and Culture and want folks to abide by the law. Is that so
Anthony,
I come from a big Italian family in the suburbs of Chicago, Illinois. Well, at least it was a big family but as life goes on we have lost many aunts and uncles. Our most favorite was "uncle Joe" who was the heart of our family circle. He is the one we would all wish to have "one more day with". To make a long story short, you are uncle Joe's twin. At a family gathering yesterday we enjoyed talking about you and how we wish we could all have dinner with you and share our memories of our uncle. We all refer to you as our uncle Joe. Wierd but it sure feels good to make believe. Even stranger is the fact that the two of you share the same personality, stature, hair, even mannerisms. Come to Chicago and let my family cook a wonderful Italian dinner for you! We love you and you will love us too.
Tony I have said it before and I will say it again...You are a %$#@ing God! I so enjoyed your show tonight at Les Halle. It rocked and so did you. I enjoyed the show with my wife Lydia and son Torre. We are all chefs and have owned our own restaurant for a number of years. We respect, appreciate and enjoy you and your wisdom. In the words of spanish cooks...YOU DA MAN!
im waching the latest episode in the fire and i want you to know i work on a grill and i need at least 8 rags
Tony, you are just the best. Never have I seen anyone that has said the things that I most often think in my head...out loud. You rock man, love your show and look forward to the next season. I often say, you are the only celebrity I would actually want to meet, because your real! Keep it up.
Hey Tony.I can't believe how crazy that kitchen was that you were cooking in.My brother is a sous chef and I have heard many stories from him and seen the cuts and burns he endures and I don't even think the kitchen was nearly that crazy.I worked at a nice restaurant once.(My brother got me the job)I only had to make deserts(they were quite boring ones) and salads.I stayed 2 days.The second day is what ended it.I was expiditing.Coming into that with NO experience is not the thing to do. If I liked cooking back then, how I like it now, I would have staid in the desert part as I enjoy making and experimenting with deserts.
I was wondering have you been to Bhutan? It is a beautiful place with great people and good food....spicy from what I am told.At the little town here in Kentucky(originaly I am from the Chicago area missing good restaurants bad!!) at the very little museum there was a Bhutan exibit.It was amazing and there were so many write ups in all the papers from the surrounding towns.I think it would have been great if there could have been a buffet of foods from there.They only had art and historical things.From what I understand you have to have a guide to get in to Bhutan. If you need one let me know....I have someone....as long as I can travel with.I know we would get along and I would love to try the foods.It would be a good time and a great show.Anyhow...look forward to seeing the new shows.~Lauren~
Another amazing season comes to a close... I will be uploading my video this week... I want you to come to the Boston area, and let me show you around...The North End, The Union Oyster House...The Bell In Hand ( the oldest pub in america)....What a great time that would be...Hopefully you pick me..lol...I will be the bald, tattooed, musician from New Hampshire....Keep up the good work, and hopefully I will get to hang with the coolest dude on TV.... Ciao
Tony,
Your preview to the upcoming shows sound terrific keep them coming.
Be sure to stay away from caves, Romanian! (waits for the entire country to attack me.)
May the beer & liquor flow, keep showing the best places and dishes to eat from around the world, and make another guest judge appearance on the new season of Top Chef!
I'm up for the challenge! And, I do want to enter the contest. I proclaim myself a fan of your show. And, I am glad you are continuing the show with new destinations. I have to say, that you prove realism in your vocal mentality and your character. Keep it up!
Anthony,
I must thank you for your inspiration.Your book, Kitchen Confidential,has just accompanied me on a journey of healing. I,ll spare you the sob story!! Let's just say I went through some stuff,and your writing helped me laugh and learn my way back to healthy body and soul. Feeling good and inspired I went off on a food adventure,nothing of "No Res." caliber, but I ate my first of hopefully many wonderful,raw,slippery oysters!It was Awesome!!!!!! So THANK YOU!! From the pit of my stomach! RAGE ON!
Ok so Romania wasn't a good thing. That's the way it goes. Some good and some bad. Oh and BTW Tony you don't have to go to Indonesia for Rendang...come on down to my house.
Hello Chef,
My family has no idea why I won't submit a video to the contest. They think this is exactly what I should do and that somehow you and your producers would choose my hefty self in all of my portly glory. Honestly, I could use a vacation and you do seem like a real smart%#@ (always better than a dumb%#@) who could verbally give and take during travel and nap lulls: getting a good rest in between fun is important. If your back and feet and wrists ache like my old kitchen wounds, we'd even be on the same pain management schedule. However, if you don’t retreat to the vehicle, hotel room, or occasional airport terminal to catch up on sleep, I apologize for the %#@umptions.
What they don't understand is that for so many of us who did the job, lived the life, cooked the food, got in and out of the weeds without 86ing our loved ones, you are living the serious life. We don’t worship you or anything creepy like that, although I am sure that celebrity has its costs. Rather in your new life you go to great places, generally eat great food, make some great friends, and get paid to do so. This is a sweet freaking deal and one that many could only dream about.
So why can't I submit a video to get the chance to go along for the ride? No way can I peek behind that curtain. To find out you really are just like us, that you had to sell your old LP records and finally got an iPod to make room for some nice furniture, that you have accidentally in the same day said both, "those crazy kids..." and "back in my day" all the while thinking that young people today have ANY IDEA who the hell Johnny Thunders and the Heartbreakers might be, that you also have those occasional dreams where you swear you have tickets in the window and the line cooks are walking out on you...well, you get the picture.
All I can do is enjoy the show and know that one of us made it to that place that combines all the things we love without having to kill anyone. To go from sex and drugs and rock and roll and cooking as a way to eat great and still get sex and drugs and rock and roll, to food and travel and rock and roll (and why not sex?!?!) without winning the lottery or inheriting a Russian oil fortune is pure gold.
BUT, if I were to be so lucky as to hang with you (as in, that would be a hoot) I think 4 things to do would be:
1) The Lower Chesapeake Bay--stripers, crabs, oysters, and some of the tastiest “garbage fish” on earth, in the heart of tourist city USA
2) The incredibly tasty and underexplored Vietnamese and Cambodian community in Richmond, VA...I KNOW, I KNOW, WHO WOULD HAVE THOUGHT?? Fantastic Pho joints, bakeries, and cafes
3) Bourbon tasting and barbecue--they go together REAL GOOD.
4) Eat lobsters that are in excess of 7 lbs. This has nothing to with travel or the mid-atlantic or anything like that, but I have always wanted to eat a 7 lb. lobster. In fact, who wouldn’t want to eat a 7 lb. lobster who wasn’t a vegetarian? Add a half of a pound of butter and an appropriate beverage and you wouldn’t even know it was me!!
Anyhow…
I loved the show back in the Les Halles kitchen working the line. I tried a "guest chef" gig last year at 47--it DID NOT go over so well--who knew how slow I had become!?! I finally got it back , but a bit too late. Perhaps I needed to bring along Eric Ripert? Or Tony Bourdain?
As always, thanks for providing relevant entertainment to us old kitchen commandos.
aloha
chef salad
Very much look forward to your Laos show. I live in area where there is a very large Hmong immigrant population and their story, particularly of their persecution in the post-Vietnam War area, is one more Americans should know. I trust you'll do them justice -- and for their food, too.
--parkbench
Hi there Tony, loved your blog.
I just wanted to invite you back to Peru anytime, cause I personally believe you really missed out on a great deal of wonderful things here.
If you or your crew need a list of those things, you might as well contact me, a local peruvian fellow who is not a food nerd, but a food lover, along with a beer lover.
So I promise, this time there will be beer.
Keep up with the good work... and how's that "Travel with Tony" thingy? Is it a worldwide contest? Can people from Peru apply? I suppose not...
Hey Tony, great show at Les Halles! Eight years out of practice can definitely take a toll but you held your own - I especially dig how the real stress was plainly visible. %$#@ing great show dude, can't wait til next season.
Into The Fire was awesome.
You returning to the kitchen was like seeing William "Bill" Munny kill again in "Unforgiven."
Nice.
I love the show, but you were too f@ckin' nice to Hawaii. Did you go soft?
All right the Bourdain brothers together again in another NR cool. No fighting this time boys.
Looking forward to the new episodes this coming summer (another long wait, but lets cheer for the re-runs).
Tony good luck picking the fan-natic I would not want to be in your position (I wish I can send in a video, but "SNIFF" I do not have the right equipment to do it, and I would want you to go to the Czech Republic). BTW would you give the Minnesota Multi-Phasic Personality Test to a Minnesotan (LOL), hey maybe you already did Andrew Zimmern comes to mind you must have given him that test when he did the NYC episode with you.
The Into the Fire episode rocked. I hope this is put on dvd, because I will be first in line to buy it, but do your fans a favor Tony add in the bloopers of this episode in the dvd. I want to see the bloopers, ok.
Tony, I wish you and the NR Crew safe travels.
Wait until you get my video tony!!! chile, man best sandwiches ever i promise. dont get scared if you get a glipse of a copy of the catcher in the rye, im a good guy.
Don't worry, there's nothing good to eat around here, we won't make you come check out our freezers and wooded culverts!
Mr. Bourdain, For those of us who read Kitchen Confidential a hundred times, it was wonderful to finally see you in action. To put names to faces, And to really see what goes on in the kitchen at Les Halles, that only earlier, I could only envision with my imagination, was trully awesome.( To be honest Cuchundo looked a bit different than I imagined). As a pouser cook, I attempt as many meals from the Les Halles cookbook as possible ( with probably just as many failures), You still made it look easy. Not bad for an old man. Keep up the great work. Ca m'a fait tres plaisir! Cant wait for the next season!
Hey Tony:
Can't read the tickets in the kitchen? How about your blog in .0005 font size. Help a Gal out getting ready to turn 30-19, will ya ??? Great show!
You make know comments for yourself? Most of them...not all of course. Some comments are from the bottom of the hart.
But if you put your team to write for you, dear B is a cheap trick.
Do you really think those comments will erase over night all of the things and actions that you deliberately did in Romania? Do you really think that you will be better? Do you think you will feel like a king of the Chefs? King has common sense and is good in his job. You, on the other hand......
%#@!, I should have sent in a video for you to just go around the corner to Queens. Ever been to a little Cuban restaurant called R i n c o n C r i o l l o (because this dumb site thinks it's spelled wrong 'cause it's another language)? Best Cuban food you can get outside of Miami, period. It's been there for close to 50 years. Besides, us Cubans share your love affair with pork products. At least go there on your own time and give it a shot.
Here is a game show gimick for the folks at Travel Channel: how about a cage-match between the fans of AB and the persistant Romanians who contiue to infiltrate every post! Now that, I would submit a video for, I'm getting realy tired of having my morning read interuppted by these random comments.
I agree, Chesh. Enough with the Romania backlash. It's played out and boring.
Greatly enjoyed the "Fire" episode last night. Definitely a great way to end the season. My admiration for line chefs, etc. continues to grow.
It sounds like there are some great shows coming up - can't wait. I, too lack video capability, so the contest is out for me. Sad, really, since I'm a sane eater with great body ink and the ability to sniff out snack items and public toilets anywhere in the world, but there you go. I'm very likely too old to be considered...but still almost a decade younger than you!
I have a question, though. Why haven't you been to Toronto? Kensington and Lawrence Markets make Pike Place look tiny and pathetic. There's a dim sum joint that would not be out of place anywhere in China that only a few can find...and we can't forget Trevor Kitchen. Trevor is a smart young chef who is both brilliant and personable - you'd love him.
It's also the home of my favorite basement bar (C'est What), and some of the most amazing restaurants going. You can get into some major trouble there - I speak from experience - and meet a terrific bunch of people.
Sigh, oh how I miss the haunts of my misspent youth.....
Please tell me you're finally going to show the world what an excellent place the Andalusia region in Spain is.
Dear Tony,
Please bring back the earring.
Love,
Stacey
Keep up the hunting bits and killing of creatures to be prepared for the table.
Folks have lost sight of where food comes from.
It leads them to strange dietary practices and waste.
Last night, the "Into the Fire" epi. was difficult to watch I must admit. It is not that much fun to see you struggle Tony, and you my man were STRUGGLING! I prefer my "objects de fantasies" a bit more unreachable, and watching you on that line trying to read the orders made me want to give you a big hug! NOT our typical smart snarky bastard were you? It was a great show, but next season let's try to end on a high note, shall we? This morning I am left feeling all too melancholy about the brevity of youth and the truth of "you can't go home again." (even if that home was a second-hand double-wide parked beside a tractor shop in the sticks.....but that's MY baggage ;)
To: Those still stung from the Romania episode
From: Those of us who don't care any more
Last I saw there were over 1500 posts on the Romania blog. It was like an Eastern European family reunion/dating site/hate (Bourdain) center. So how about you continue to act out in reply to that blog and give Tony and the rest of us a break. Your posts aren't doing much for the Romanian Tourism industry.
Chef Salad
Good point Blackneto. When done with respect for the animal I would argue hunting is more humane than factory farming. My venison lived a much happier life than any supermarket burger. Americans are far to seperated from their food. I can understand if people don't want to see violence but it is not cruelty when shown in the context of food and culture. If that offends you - read 'The Omnivores Dillema'.
Thanks for "Into the Fire." I especially love how you called out Bobby Flay and Top Chef as prime examples of what most geeks think of the restaurant industry. Too many people have no idea (and worse, no appreciation) of what goes on in the back of the house, and thank you for showing us. Seeing Mr. 3-star Eric Ripert work the grill station was an added bonus.
I'm sure you'll be stopping by Encanto in SF, but you should also check out "Just For You" (the already heinously overpopular New Orleans style brunch in the Dog Patch -- beignets! oyster omlettes), SF standards "Ti Couz" (which can't get any more crowded anyway), and perhaps the bar/food scene -- Connecticut Yankee, SF's "Red Sox" bar (enemy territory, amirite?), Bender's Bar (go in on a Saturday afternoon, the regular bartender is a french canadian who watches iron chef on mute and brings in stinky cheese from time to time), and of course Puerto Allegre, with their pitchers of Margaritas. The gold standard, of course, would be if Zeitgeist allowed you to film in their beer garden (I'd recommend a Monday afternoon), and you happened to catch Virginia the Tamale lady. Also worthy of note: bacon wrapped hotdogs sold by latinos in the mission bar districts, late at night.
Theme of the episode: food for the SF drinking crowd. SF for the common man. SF for people who are over the hairdo and interior design jet-set of fancy shmancy restaurants (Encanto excluded).
Also, I'd love it if you got access to Rainbow Grocery, just so I could hear you say, on TV, "where's the %$#@ing meat department." Also, the hate-mail would be riotously funny.
Tony,In the fire/Les Halles show was great! In fact, I enjoyed dinner there on Sunday night. Good luck with the new season.
Dearest Tone,
Last nights "In the Fire" show was great!
The best part was when you realized you couldn't see any more.
Just the other day I took out my sewing machine after a couple of years and couldn't see to thread the needle? What is that?
Yea, the show was an eye opener!
But Tony, I loved the zip-trekking footage!
Tony-
Been a fan of your prose ever since a friend clipped "the article" out to show me and some other chefs. We loved it. We never saw our world so sardonically and lovingly portrayed for the civilians.
The show last night(Les Halles) was in that same mode, and I loved it. I really liked the John Madden style floor plan showing the "flow".
I should admit that for a while "the book" used to tree me a bit eight years ago because of all my punk twenty three year old cooks who where misusing its lessons and trying to live the life during shift. They weren't very careful readers.
Since the Cleveland show was so good I think you should do another Rust Belt city, Detroit.
Lots of good food. The Diego Rivera mural. Eastern Market, Greek town. Sausage making in the polish mafia city of Hamtramck, and so much more.
I have some good friends who play in Detroit's greatest garage band. Plus, I know an excellent mob story involving an famous incident in West Bloomfield over thirty years ago, but it's not for the public's ears. I'll hook ya up bro. Just Drop me a line.
Thanks for all the fun, and I hope the wave is ridable for as long as you like.
I have to tell you, this is the best %#@! show on television and I cannot wait until 10 PM Monday. Loved the Greek show and the Moscow show. I would like to see more of the Middle East possibly. The Middle East, in my humble opinion, has the best food.
I'm a novice chef that finds cooking therapeutic. I experiment with spices, mix and match regions, and am always looking for the perfect soup. I would like to hear your run down on the best of the best.
Finally, as my man from Motown above said, you have to come to D-Town. We have Greek, Middle Eastern, Polish, and Soul. Get it while it's hot.
Last nite's show .. you going back to Les Halles .. and somehow conning Eric Ripert to join you there.. was undoubtably THE BEST show yet .. almost made me want to go back on the line and start all over again .. thanks Tony .. you are the best ..
Anthony...fantastic show last night. Chefs, aspiring chefs, and patrons can learn alot from watching the "In The Fire" episode. I know I did, as someone who wants to get into the industry. Forget all the haters who said you couldn't do it. First thing...you did it for almost 30 years. You don't owe anybody a %#@! thing. But...you came in there last night after eight years, and although things started rocky, you did well. It's like a bike...you never forget how to ride. Great show, and I hope you eventually come to the DC Met Area, which I feel is potentially the most up and coming food scene in the United States. Take Care.
Tony,
Last night's show "Into the Fire" was the best ever.I guess we all wanted to see if you still had it. It was a bit rough but you managed! Bringing in Eric was such an added bonus! Keep up the great work!
The "Les Halles" show was brillant, Tony. When I first heard about it, I gagged, because I feared it was going to be your version of Iron Chef. But you gave an intimate look into what a cook goes through. You see, my dad was a line cook his entire adult life (now retired, though not to television). He put 3 kids through college doing what you did last night, and I don't think I ever appreciated how much work it was until I saw your show. Now, when I think back on him coming home around midnight, I can see what he went through. You also reminded me of my favorite moments while working as a busboy in a restaurant: those last few minutes at the end of a night, after an honest day's work, decompressing with your co-workers. Strange to say, but those minutes have their own moments of bliss.
I caught Bourdain's kitchen adventure last night. The master chef fumbling around, unable to read the tickets makes for good TV. And that new chef? As we like to say in Oak Cliff...AYEEE Papi!! Papilicious! I suspect he could have his very own cult following. I imagine some of the Cult of Bourdain would jump ship.
i'd like to see an episode from the Canary Islands.
Anthony! Did you receive the novel I sent you via your publishers address?
The Sushi Chef
id invite you to shoot a show in Cincinnati but theres nothing notable worth mentioning just a handful of restaurants youve been to elsewhere and two sub-par professional sports teams.
I'm glad you hit the line again I was begining to think you did "kitchen confidential" entirely in vain.
There is a chef here in Cincinnati who is now only a personality & owner...I have NEVER seen him in whites makes me really doubt his ability sometimes.
Thanks for everything Tony.
Youre one of the many reasons I still do this.
Do not worry ... Romanians do not talk about tourism in this blog ...they talk about common sense. If you think this is hate...maybe you should ask Bourdain about this matter.
I suppose hate comes from those who talk about this feeling.
Here a nice guy with an extremely good show: Andrew Zimmern
http://www.travelchannel.com/TV_Shows/Bizarre_Foods
And I do not say is only about BIZARRE foods is about how he behaves - COMMON SENSE.
TONY! You were in New England and you didn't come see me? I'm hurt...so hurt. Vermont is where it's at, man. Where what's at? Who cares! It's Vermont! If nothing else, it's better than Romania!!!
Oh, did I say that out loud? ;)
We need more rock stars in ugly sweaters. I can only guess at what 'specials' we all have in store.
Oh yeah Tony...When are you going to make a Philadelphia show? We've got a hell of a lot more to offer than a greasy cheesesteak...although Rick's Steaks in the Reading Terminal Market is fantastalicious!! Get there before THE MAN shuts them down and moves in Tony [Luke's]Puke's.
But David - Tony Luke does that incredible roastporkpepperbrocollirabeandcheese thing!
My husband and I are huge fans of your show. We have worked in restaurants forever. Although our careers have changed, we still remember the business and appreciated your show from last night. The hsutle and bustle of the business is definately over for us. But we would love to open some sort of small cafe where my husband could create his culinary masterpieces for all to share. We would love to see a show about Atlantic City since we live so close. Not the casinos and all that crap. We know where to go. Places that no one would even think of. We need to get our video in asap for the contest.
Mr. Bourdain,
Watching your show has become like a religion to me. I have my girlfriend and both of my parents hooked as well.
Thank you for bringing the world to my doorstep with your travels.
I have become hungry for more.
Long days and pleasant nights,
Ron C.
I am a law student and things can get pretty miserable (I mean, reading the tax code can only be so exciting), but at least on Monday nights I can get some peace.
You should hit Amritsar, India and the Golden Temple. There is a tradition of serving food to anyone who comes for hundreds of years.
Cheers,
Sarabjeet
Pure crack for Foodies ! Ultra-Hot, ultra-fetishistic, hardcore food porn! No foreplay--just straight to the good stuff!! Sizzling Yakitori Action! Sultry Sobalicious Goodness, Kooky Cocktails and Kaiseki Kapers...
Oh! MY! God! That has to be the best passage ever. I can see it, smell it and taste it! Talk about vibe....
Ahhh Tony, you da man!
ps..that whole mob thing in Detroit? I was AT Machus Red Fox that night-never saw a thing!
I'm weirdly thrilled Tony is watching the contest videos.
Now the question is: will he get to mine before he eventually gives up?
(Page 18, Tony!)
!Compared to Bigot Boy bobby flay?!
You must be joking! Just 'cause he makes a quesadilla and puts his name on it doesn't mean jack
I digress...
I've been a fan since your time on that other network that shall not be named (Rachel who?) and I sincerely believe your show to be destination televison.
Enjoy watching every episode (with the exception of this season's New Orleans - how is it that no one could find other than a few nameless - and silent - faces in one (1) kitchen any black people to talk to - it's NEW ORLEANS - some of its best resources - locale as well as food - past and present - involve black folks. NOTE: Producer is a dolt. Must update resume immediately. Perhaps bobby is hiring - see above).
Aside from that, you made my time in Chicago (all ego - no cuisine) bearable and gave me quite a thrill when I relocated to Seattle and realized Salumi is 5 min from my apartment.
I giggled when the ever-present cynicism I love so much was forgotten one peaceful day in Brazil (nothin' like being "mommied" by a plethora of women for an afternoon, huh?), flat-out howled as your cameraman created an international incident with his gracelessness (the man does Curling for Christ's sake - what do you expect?), have included Eat Coconut Crab on the list of Things To Do Before I Die, essentially marvel in just about every spot you've visited (for crying out loud - you made CLEVELAND interesting!), AND what is typically a hum-drum holiday a happening moment - Queens of the Stone Age - brilliant - this year, how 'bout Mars Volta?
I'm aware I may stray from your demographic (i.e. the soccer moms who watch - no disrespect - I know they eat & travel too) but I AM loyal to a fault - you keep making the shows, I'll keep watching. Faithfully. 'Cause no matter what anyone says, to me my friend, you are a rock star.
P.S. I will now remove my lips from your %#@. (smile)
I thought of sending in a tape, but realized it would come off more appropriately as a cry for help to the people behind A&E's "Intervention"...
I am not even a semi-foodie. Your daughter has a more refined palette at this point.
I don't know how to use chopsticks.
I'm not sure how to correctly pronounce Le Bernardin or Bouley.
I've never had meaty "innards".
My freezer is stocked with frozen, packaged stuff.
I can't cook...not even a little.
What the hell would we talk about? ... "Eww, that looks gross" probably would get tired after the third or fourth scene.
One of us would be dead by the end of shooting the episode, and I harbor no illusions that it won't be me. After trying to teach this girl to open her freakin' eyes and try real food, you'd just decide in the end that it's better to put my stomach out of its processed food misery and bypass "intervention" and go straight to "mercy killing."
Of course Shelby. Else where is better than in Romania. You visited Romania, you know where's on the map. I am confident that you are a great philosopher and scholar S.
I sense a little hate here about Romania???? You really know something of this country or you just babble.
Oh, did I say that out loud? ;)
We have a proverb here "the wise man decides to give up". Good bye! I have better thing to do.
Tony,
Bring back the earring and the edginess that I have seen in earlier episodes. No more shows like Romania--too silly, and you are ANYTHING but silly. I was afraid on the Hawaiian episode that you were going to put on a grass skirt and attempt the hula!
And, yes, you are the sexiest man on TV or in the movies or anywhere else. I love your words and descriptions and wit.
Georgia from New Mexico
Tony, loved last night's Les Halles show. Seeing your fans watching you through the window reminded me of the crowd gathering at the Beatles' rooftop concert at Savile Row -- a mixture of adoration and disbelief.
The show made me contemplative and wisftul - I wondered if I could revisit events of my youth? Probably not. This episode was very honest and heartwrenching. You could have ended up fallling on your $#@ like George Plimpton in "Paper Lion", or even Spencer Tracy in "Old Man and the Sea" but you pulled it off. You showed you've got guts and stamina. So screw the internet food nerds.
I hope you win an Emmy for this episode!
Last night's Into the Fire was an exciting look into kitchen life but it also disturbed me very much. Tony's conclusion was that cooking was "a young man's game". So what then of the thousands of chefs who had not written a book and became famous or rich (enough for $3000 Hawaiian shirts)? What would they be doing at 51 years old - Tony's current age? The implication from this episode is that they would be up a certain creek without a paddle. They too would be too old for working the kitchen and then what? Throw away their previous 30 years of kitchen experience? Learn a new trade? Find their own way to become famous? If I worked in the restaurant biz, I wouldn't be inspired by that episode, I would be depressed and worried.
Also, the shot of the fans watching Tony cook did smack of Beatlemania as Ken indicated above. Shame, especially, on the producers for displaying the fan note that some sycophant pasted to the glass window on the kitchen for Tony and the cameras to see. I totally understand that people would do that in the restaurant id Tony was cooking - he is a genuine food celebrity and I'd be excited and watch him in action too. But to show it on TV was a bad choice that smacked of Tony patting himself on the back by reminding the TV audience how famous he is - famous for getting the hell out of the kitchen and being a TV personality.
I have to thank you, Tony...you've basically given my husband and I our travel plans for the next decade.
Looking forward to your Azores ep...I've been dying to get over for years just for the cheese!
I ate at Les Halles about 10 yrs ago and it was fantastic and watching Tony return to the line brought back old memories. I am a little older than Tony but I can relate to his life. I've read his book 3x's and each time I find something new and enjoyable. Everytime the show is on I watch it and laugh ut loud and my wife knows what I am watching...Keep up the good work for us old farts Tony!!!!!
Very nice write-up! Got me intrigued; every time I hear Colombia- I think "tension"...gotta tune in to see.
btw- I'm sure "caving laughs" were right along with you & not at you. Right?
Keep up the good work
So when's the Israel show?
loved the show last night (as usual). i don't want to go blowing smoke up your %#@ like some goddamn fanboy, but i really do like your style. i really feel like i'm getting the "real deal" when you're on. if you taste something and you don't like it, you say so. unlike a certain "raytard" who'll take a bite of some shit sammy and squeal "yum-oh"!
wtf is this "travel with tony" deal? this can't possibly be your idea! i mean, you might as well just go all the way and call it "win a date with tony bourdain"! you impress me as a guy who's got limited patience with sniveling sycophants. and buddy, that's who you're gonna wind up with. good luck with that!
anyway, keep doin' what you do. i'll be watching.
if ever there was an online contest I would ever think of entering it would be the 1 to travel with u, yet I fear we would both be promptly shipped to rehab directly after. and thats just really a hassle right now...
Tony,
Just want to give you props for the show last night. A lot of chefs would have spun crap back at their critics, and somehow tried to evade getting back into the firing line. You, sir, did it.
You rocked, and you produced a love letter to the line cooks and everyday folks who make it all happen hour after hour, day after day. The fact you piss and moan and groan doing those deep knee bends? You've aged like a fine snake venom rotgut booze. Noisy but with the desired effect.
Peace, chef. Props to Chef Ripert as well.
Tony - hey amigo, one day you need to come back without the cameras an feast your eyes on some of the most gorgeous and feminine women in the world. This is a city where a man is still a man and the women actually act like women - unlike the USA.
So, Tony, I never had any doubt you could still cook---but I must confess, the "no glasses" part of the Les Halles show rang a little false. Dude, we know you own a pair, so @&*%* the vanity for TV, already.
I have been watching you and reading your books since the very first, and while the quality of the shows may vary, the entertainment factor is always high. Since I'm a crazy California transplant to the Pacific NW, of course I'd love you come back to Portland, Ore-gun. However, consider this: Hungary, Ukraine, Nepal, Siberia, Karelia, Solomon Islands---there are lots of choices left!
I do hope you will show us some of the videos that "didn't make the cut" for the contest---that could be a show in itself.
Naz drovye---keep it coming. You're the best part of Monday night.
I love watching your show. I can't wait for the new ones to come out. I even found your shows on the Food Network, but I like the longers ones you make now on the Travel Channel. I like seeing where you go and what people eat all over the world. You make it very interesting. Tell me though, did you really pay $3,000 for that shirt?
Just to let you know tony, i love your New Jack City reference about No Reservations Indonesia.....and i love you, seriously though, do you want a travel companion? it should be MEEEEE!
Hey Man,
I'm gonna keep thish short. I would actually like to talk to you about somthing. It's not gonna be me whining about something you said, or critasizing your methods because, I like them. It's real. Either way, I could figure out no ther way to get ahold of you. Hell, I don't even know if it's really you that awnsers, or even reads these, but I gotta give it a shot. So wether you write me the tell me to screw off, or really want to awnser my questions, please email me.
boardosslegolas@hotmail.com
Thanks man, and have a good one.
Peace Man,
Michael "Cody" Boardman
Tony-I must agree with the gal who says you are the hottest sexist guy on tv, or just about anywhere else for that matter. I put a pic of you on my phone, from the tv, and told my older brother you are my new boyfriend. (I am 53 and he's 60) He didn't know who you were. I was shocked. Now he is a fan of No Reservations and the show, of yours, on food network. He called me the other night to watch the show when you and your brother went back to France. He said,"Hey, I'm watching your boyfriend" So of course we watched it together via telephone. He's in middle Ohio & I'm in Indiana. OK, so much for the stalk-o-mania. It's just my idea of a cute joke. What I really love about you is your intelligence and sarcasm. It must drive your wife crazy, sometimes. Anyway, keep up the good work on all that you do. You are truly entertaining and refreshing among the mundane crap on tv. Mara
Can't WAIT to see the rest of the season, Tony!
Next up: Chile with a blog-fired flight attendant! :D
P.S. You seem to have a lot of fans that are either a.) creepy b.) ample-bosomed or c.) both.
Tony baby, can I have fries with that?
Tony; do you really read these comments?
Better yet, do you care? (probably not).
ps, don't forget the fries!
no PHILIPPINES still? :(
This show desperately needs a Philadelphia episode. It's a great, great eating town, and not just with the cheesesteaks.
Just discovered that you had your own blog Anthony and wanted to say THANK YOU for being part of the best show on the Travel Channel! I eagerly await every new episode. I'm a U.S. citizen and I've only had the opportunity to visit Japan and the U.K. but I really want to see more of the world and I find your show really inspiring since good food is always an important part of any good journey. You're a true traveler and I enjoy coming along with you on your own journeys!
Port Moresby: A tourist is someone who thinks about going home the moment they arrive.
Kit Moresby: Whereas a traveler might not come back at all.
- Paul Bowles, The Sheltering Sky
Please come to ATLANTA and eat the best burger in the nation - A GHETTO BURGER...that would make great television...we have incredible hot wings too!
Loved "Into the Fire" !!! Its like going back to your college campus and old hangouts. You are a little out of place and everyone looks so young. (We certainly didnt't look like those punks...did we?) You can never go back. That brief visit was fun though. Keep 'em coming...
Hey Tony,
Thank you for being probably the first succesful American TV show to have the balls to visit Colombia! ........and for not wimping out like your Travel Channel colleague Samantha Brown who excluded Colombia from her Latin America shows! (sorry for including you in the same sentence with Samantha Brown...don't want to ruin your rebel image).
Anyways, I think one reason people like your show so much, is because your show presents different perspectives (usually different to the mainstream media's perspective) of Countries. In the case of Colombia, 99% of the time the mainstream Media will focus on the monotonous / typical negative issues that have come to plague the image of Colombian (As you said in your blog entry.... no drug jokes PLEASE. Really.....it gets old).
Could that be a reason why your crew and yourself were so surprised by your visit to Medellin?......were you maybe expecting a scene from Entourage?
Yes, we Colombians are so happy when foreigners visit....and we'll go the extra mile to show them that the People are very warm & friendly, the food is great, the women are beautiful, the places to visit are megadiverse (we've got beaches on the caribbean and pacific, snow capped mountains, deserts, plains, year-round spring time climates in certain places, the Amazon jungle, big cosmopolitan cities....all within an Equatorial country) and in recent years the overall country is a lot safer (Royal Caribbean cruises has even made Cartagena one of it's Foreign Tourist Cattle Unloading stops).
Yes, of course I'm not denying that Colombia doesn't have its share of problems, but you know what, once in a while it's nice to