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Dear Rachael

By Anthony Bourdain on March 28, 2009 6:20 PM | Permalink | 253 Comments

Thank you for the lovely fruit basket. My family and I arrived home very late last night to an empty refrigerator, with a jet-lagged, restive and hungry child agitating for food -- only  to find a festive and delicious assortment of fruit (from the very pricey Agata and Valentina no less).

My daughter quickly tore into the grapes, saving me from the humiliating business of doing an impromptu "Dancy Dance" from Yo Gabba Gabba (a strategy that has been known to work in situations of similar extremis). I thank you for your kindness to someone who has shown you no good reason for such a thing, your good humor -- and for appreciating the New York Dolls.

I will honor the sentiments of your note and promise to see to it that no puppies are hurt, killed or otherwise inconvenienced during my remaining time on television. Given my frequent trips to countries where the line between "pets" and "food" can become somewhat ...confusing, this is easier said than done -- and might well lead to some socially awkward moments. But one good turn, I think, deserves another.

Best,

Anthony Bourdain

How Can I Miss You, When You Won't Go Away?

By Anthony Bourdain on March 7, 2009 6:33 PM | Permalink | 256 Comments

New York to LA to Palm Springs. Palm Springs to LA, car to Santa Barbara. Back again. LA to New York. Back to Palm Springs via Chicago. Palm Springs to San Franciso to New York. New York to Santiago, Chile ... One week in the life.

There's a heartbreaking bit of business in "The Wrestler" (one of many small, sad and all-too-real touches). Mickey Rourke, playing broken down, way-past-his-prime wrestler, Randy "the Ram" Robinson, finishes up a bout, changes out of his tights and packs them away -- then toddles out of the locker room dragging a wheeled carry-on suitcase behind him. That tiny, minor note hit me hard, watching it on pay-per-view somewhere between New York and some where else, a spongy hotel bed with the climate control churning out a jet engine roar, a shaky, trilling sound as the mini-bar's compressor kicked in. That damn suitcase -- looking particularly tragic trailing behind Rourke's freakish, giant, action-figure bulk reminded me of well ...me.

Continue Reading How Can I Miss You, When You Won't Go Away?.

Not Fade Away

By Anthony Bourdain on February 22, 2009 11:26 AM | Permalink | 180 Comments

We're calling Monday night's show "DISAPPEARING MANHATTAN,, but this is not to suggest that Katz's Deli, or Keen's, or Russ & Daughters are going to fade away anytime soon (if ever). What I am saying with this "Special" episode is that these are exactly the kind of old school, hometown places I love; uniquely New York institutions who have survived the brutal caprices of style and changing tastes -- and are still worth going out of your way to patronize. Let me make this clear: "Old" does not necessarily mean "good." Just cause it's a "New York institution" doesn't mean you want to eat there. If it did, New Yorkers might actually eat at Tavern On The Green -- and Luchows would still be open.

Continue Reading Not Fade Away.

Hierarchy of Pork

By Anthony Bourdain on February 16, 2009 7:55 PM | Permalink | 586 Comments

I'm very nervous about tonight's Philippines show.

I'm all too aware of the fact that the country is made up of over seven THOUSAND islands and that I visited exactly two of them. The food is intensely regional ... I mean, even the difference between the food in Manila and Pampanga -- only a couple of hours away --is striking. So I missed ... a lot.

Continue Reading Hierarchy of Pork.

The Money

By Anthony Bourdain on February 7, 2009 7:38 PM | Permalink | 138 Comments

The Oxford English Dictionary defines the word "prurient" as "having a mental itching or an uneasy or morbid craving." Secondarily, as "having or characterized by an unhealthy concern with sexual matters" or "encouraging such a concern."

With Monday night's special, FOOD PORN, "encouraging such a concern" is exactly what we were going for. Just swap the word "food" for "sexual."

Continue Reading The Money.