Anthony Bourdain LIVE!
"Stop being so damn close-minded!"
“The perfect meal is an accident. It’s a confluence of events. What is the perfect meal? It’s driving around the Caribbean on a scooter with a loved one as the rain pours. You find a shelter, a shot gun shack, built with corrugated tin and a dirty looking guy grilling chicken legs. You run in, as the rain sounds like a machine gun and sit down on plastic patio chairs. The chicken is brought out as your favorite Bob Marley song plays in the background. You take a bite into your chicken and the taste is incredible. This the perfect meal.” – Anthony Bourdain – in SLC
This summarizes why I like Anthony Bourdain. He has an upfront honesty and candor not only about food but the culture, experience, and nostalgic nuances of his travels and what it means to eat and enjoy life. Bourdain is host of the Travel Network show No Reservations and best-selling author of Kitchen Confidential, A Cooks Tour, Medium Raw and other great cooking reads. Yet unlike some of the other condescending and shallow celebrity chefs that fill the Food Network, TLC, and Travel Channel, Bourdain seems real. This is in no way to indicate he would happily greet you if you ran into him into the street nor does it mean he’ll have the same warm grandma appeal as Paula Dean and his butter army. Instead, Bourdain is living a dream and has no qualms about showing it. He brings you into the world as unassuming as it can be. A Chef for 28 years and now a premier host of his own show, he is quite easily my food Idol (next to Martin Yan : ) ). When I heard that he was coming to visit Utah, I was ecstatic. I’ve been a fan of Bourdain’s for a few years but only seriously until this past year when I bought his recently released collection of his hit show, which takes viewers along his ride across the worldwide cuisine express and show both food and life. I’ll spare the details on the show since every episode leaves me hungry, depressed, and jealous. If you ever have a chance, check out his show. It’s 45 minutes of why your food and life can be better.
If you’re familiar with Bourdain, he’s very open and some would say opinionated. Here are some great quotes and highlights from the show:
“Green Jello? You have a lot of explaining to do.”
When remarking about Utah’s cuisine, Bourdain was equally “praising” of of Utah’s funeral potatoes, smiling as he recounted the basic potato, cream of mushroom soup and cheeze whiz ingredients.
Bourdain has never hid his dislike for Food Network chefs and his stories of a chance encounter with the butt of many jokes, Sandra Lee, demonstrated his ability to play off the awkward and hilarious situations he has had in his life. He was relatively well remarking of Ina Garten, Giada “she’s great but has a big head”, Alton Brown, “They keep him on to make [the Food Network] seem credible”, Iron Chef, “Japan is great, but America? There are judges who don’t cook such as Chris Douchebag Angel.” His own network (recently purchased by the Food Network) was not left unfree of remarks. Andrew Zimmern and Bourdain often share many similarities when traveling around the world and while Bourdain has eaten as much as Zimmern, Zimmern eats it all the time ” and doesn’t get to drink afterward.” Adam Richman, “He’s nice, bright, funny, personable, but people are waiting for him to die.”
Jokes aside, Bourdain was at his best when he gave his tips on traveling. He counseled for those making the journey across the world to make the most of it. In a reflection of his own attitude, he also suggested to respect customs and not be afraid to try new things; something that sets him apart from other hosts who play the repugnant reaction to “different” foods terribly. In an experience that I’ve seen firsthand, he also cautioned to be grateful and accept food. For many “food is giving a part of yourself, of something special.”
Bourdain’s show was simple. There were no slides, no videos or laugh track. Instead, it was just one man, his experiences, his honest opinion and a captivated crowd. My view on this world, the eats, the livelihood, and the memories has been changed. I feel a sense of urgency to experience what this world has to offer and what my palate hasn’t yet tasted. Bourdain said it best:
“We have so little time at the table”
And that reminded me exactly why I love what I love and why I started this site.
PS – There was one thing I totally disagreed with during the show: CHICAGO STYLE PIZZA OWNS NY STYLE.
Peng's Palate 