Posts tagged 'san francisco'

The following posts are associated with the tag you have selected. You may subscribe to the RSS feed for this tag to receive future updates relevant to the topic(s) of your interest.

http://anthony-bourdain-blog.travelchannel.com/tag/san francisco.rss

I'm Not Angry

By Anthony Bourdain on August 9, 2009 11:57 AM | Permalink | 148 Comments

Let me come right out and say it. I love San Francisco. I am helpless and unwavering in my affection--in spite of every effort over the years to find fault, to dismiss, to sneer. And there's surely lots to sneer at, San Francisco and the Bay being pretty much the epicenter of so many of my most cherished aversions: political correctness, veganism, rich hippies, sanctimoniousness about food, food fetishism, animal rights terrorists, gastro-dogma, and loud locavores who actually get their produce flown in from Chino Farms in San Diego.

But at this point, I bore even myself railing against the above. Hell, I'm not even bitter about San Francisco taking the lead in banning smoking anymore. They won that battle long ago. Game over.

I guess it's like any love that's true--sooner or later you learn to accept the good, bad and silly all together. It's all part of the package when you know, without any question, that you want the package. It doesn't even matter if one's love is returned.

Okay ... it does still drive me berserko watching a blissed out St. Alice, burning up a few cords of firewood (in Berkeley no less!) to cook two eggs for an unusually credulous Lesley Stahl.

But in general, I got it all wrong, didn't I?

It may be the town of Alice Waters but it's also home to Dirty Harry. The Grateful Dead? Yes. But also the Dead Kennedys. The excrutiating and treacherous lite FM sounds of the Jefferson Starship? True enough. But also Blue Cheer, the Count Five, Big Brother, Sly and Family Stone and the greatest band that never was: the Brian Jonestown Massacre. None of these entities could have come from--or taken root--anywhere else.

Continue Reading I'm Not Angry.

I'm Not Angry

Envy

By Anthony Bourdain on August 19, 2008 12:02 AM | Permalink | 154 Comments

An interesting visual, phenomonen occurred during the editing of the Spain show. Though Albert Adria had graciously agreed to appear in a scene in the El Bulli "taller" (workshop), and another (since edited out) at a restaurant in Barcelona, like some kind of ghostly optical illusion, or a "Where's Waldo" book, he kept popping up.

The hapless, ZPZ tape-loggers, caffeine-jacked myrmidons who toil away in the filthy sub-cellar of our corporate headquarters, reviewing hour after hour of mind-numbingly repetitive and boring video tape, noticing this spectral apparition, began to lose their already tentative grips on reality. One scene after another, a glimpse here, a face in the crowd there, lurking suspiciously in the background in another scene, down the bar a few positions, pretending he doesn't know me in another -- or front and center; there he is.

It's Albert's very ubiquitousness in the raw footage, his omnipresence -- even in the scenes where the viewer won't see him, that tells you all you need to know about Spain -- and how damn good it is.

Continue Reading Envy.

Envy

Anthony Bourdain

Meet Anthony Bourdain

Anthony Bourdain is a 28-year veteran of professional kitchens, having worked as a dishwasher, line cook and chef in places good, bad and horrible -- most of them in New York City. Read Anthony Bourdain's full biography.

About No Reservations

"No Reservations" dives headfirst into life's colorful and rich pageant. Join Anthony Bourdain as he circumnavigates the globe on his conquest to discover the cities, villages and countries that provide life's truest surprises. Learn more about the show.

Subscribe via RSS

Recent Entries

Anthony Bourdain Video

Follow Anthony on Twitter or become a fan on Facebook.

Recent Comments

Visayan: Filipinos are the weirdest people. Here in the States, Filipinos distinct themselves from...
Wilma de Soto: @T Totally agree! A Dominican Republic/Haiti contrast show would be something to which only...
Ibu Oka: Anybody can roast a pig. But the Ibu Oka does it best.
Good Night Quotes: That's really a great piece of letter written by Anthony Bourdain, well this kind situations...
online games: Oh my. Tony, you rule. This is perfect. As the father of a three-year-old, this is so spot on...

Top Tags and Archives