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Tube City

By Anthony Bourdain on February 2, 2009 9:19 AM | Permalink | 511 Comments

"There are no two finer words than 'encased meats,' my friend."
--T-shirt for sale at "Hot Doug's", Chicago

In the bad old days of the culture wars, when the "Forces of Darkness" had aligned against the "Forces of Goodness and Light," Chicago was a key battleground and an early, crucial loss for the good guys. Foie gras had been declared illegal and the ensuing ripples of fear spread cross country. Gutless, craven punks everywhere deserted their comrades like Vichy shopkeepers while animal "activists" terrorized chefs' families and children, vandalized businesses, and strong-armed retailers. But even though chefs like Wolfgang Puck -- for instance -- suddenly discovered their preference for fluffy cute ducks over their fellow chefs or their traditions and headed for the lifeboats, a few lone heroes stood tall, proudly extending a stiff middle finger at the advancing horde.

Continue Reading Tube City.

Tube City

Snarkology, The Sweet Science

By Anthony Bourdain on January 24, 2009 11:27 PM | Permalink | 178 Comments

As far back as the early days of A COOK'S TOUR, that earlier, less good show on that other, crummier network, when it was just me, Chris Collins, Lydia Tenaglia and Diane Schutz travelling around the world together, shooting and scouting, they started calling me "Vic" - short for "Vic Chanko," whenever I'd get testy. The name emanated from a prolonged, alcohol and fatigue, fueled fit of the giggles after an enormous meal of "chanko-nabe," a less-than-light hotpot dish favored by sumo wrestlers. We found ourselves in late night Tokyo, riffing on the word "chanko," conjuring the national film career of the imaginary star of spaghetti westerns, Yugoslavian-Italian co-productions, bad Filipino-Rambo knock-offs, "Vic Chanko". It seemed funny at the time.

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Snarkology, The Sweet Science

Rust Never Sleeps

By Anthony Bourdain on January 9, 2009 2:42 PM | Permalink | 177 Comments

I suspect that our President elect would have serious reservations about the cocktail that bears his name at Mo's Crab & Pasta joint in Baltimore. It's a scary blue, sickly sweet  coconut tasting concoction with a lethal kick. And yet—and yet; here we were; me, a group of white construction workers, our Iranian-American hosts and Felicia "Snoop" Pearson, a diminutive young black woman who after six years in Jessup for Murder Two, emerged to find herself playing what Steven King called "the most terrifying female villain in the history of television"—a character not too far from her former self. We were drinking our "Obamas" and laughing our asses off—at what, I don't even remember.

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Rust Never Sleeps

No Reservations: Now With 100% Less Pig!!!

By Anthony Bourdain on December 10, 2008 6:51 PM | Permalink | 233 Comments

They've broken out the Santa hats at the Majestic in Saigon—and at the Galle Face in Colombo, Sri Lanka, hotel staff in cheery red and white caps greet us in the heat whenever we come back from a day's shooting. They're a little more incongruous in Colombo, mixed in as they are with cammo fatigues and AK-47's. Things are made more odd there by an air of general goodwill and smiles — even at the checkpoints. Fingers are never far from triggers — and there's a gun crew manning what looks like a 50 caliber on the rooftop next door, but even in the armed camp that the hotel grounds have become after decades of civil war, holiday spirit is in abundance.

Continue Reading No Reservations: Now With 100% Less Pig!!!.

No Reservations: Now With 100% Less Pig!!!

Pressure Drop

By Anthony Bourdain on October 22, 2008 11:22 PM | Permalink | 362 Comments

Failure has a stench all its own. It smells like fear ... and shame. I may have been conveniently removed from the burning wreckage inspired by last week's experiment, happily narcotized in a pressurized cabin on its way to Manila, but the odor followed me just the same.

It says something when the comments about a show (on my blog and on the message boards) were smarter, more thoughtful and insightful than the show itself.

The People Have Spoken.

Continue Reading Pressure Drop.

Pressure Drop