By Karen
The LA Times thinks Anthony Bourdain’s Kitchen Confidential has inspired a new generation of chefs to try topping him with their own outrageous memoirs. Sadly, they only come off as lackluster imitations of the original. As all Bourdainiacs know, Tony’s book broke that mold.
Speaking of Kitchen Confidential, journalist Carl Bernstein (Remember him? Watergate?) gives the book a belated plug at The Daily Beast.
Angela at Foodicles not only attended Bourdain’s May 28 talk at De Anza Community College in Cupertino, CA, but had a chance encounter with him in the bar (are you surprised?) at his hotel afterward. See her photographic proof and find out what he was drinking.
Cats Working reader Bob found this clip at TMZ about yak penis during Bourdain and Batali’s visit to Seattle on May 30. I’m thinking these road trips and endless repetitive and/or stupid questions are wearing thin. Obviously, the questioner trying to be cute and shocking is unfamiliar with Tony’s alter-ego, Vic Chanko.
Here’s a full account of what Tony and Mario did after their joint appearance. It comes straight from Batali’s father, Armandino. It also answers the question of whether Tony dined at the Mexican restaurant where he was spotted earlier that day.
And Toronto Life is trying to start a rumor that Bourdain “hates” cupcakes because, when inanely asked about them during an interview with the Seattle Times, he answered, “Enough.”
I see no fire under that smoke. Tony’s just not into sweets.
Cats Working reader Ayala supplied this link to Slashfood, which reported on Bourdain’s list in the June issue of Men’s Health on the “13 Places to Eat Before You Die.”
Don’t forget to cast your vote for Tony in Yumsugar’s “Love Him or Leave Him” poll.
Paperback Writer calls Bourdain a “black-hearted thug,” but actually means it in a good way.
And Malaysian blogger Ellie, who now lives in Sydney with her Dutch husband, has the audacity to call her blog Almost Bourdain. She occasionally makes recipes from the Les Halles Cookbook. Check out her poulet roti.
I haven’t found any June engagements for Tony, so I hope the Bourdains are finally enjoying some family R&R.
Cats Working 
Cupcakes are infantile. Don’t regress, grow up.
Blogging the copying of poulet roti? That’s really pathetic. I do poulet roti once a fortnight… why blog this?
Thanks for linking me! It was amazing to meet him!
Bosco, I suspect blogger “Almost Bourdain” may be angling to be the next Julie Something, the woman who spent a year cooking her way through Julia Child’s The Art of French Cooking. I can’t remember if she started out blogging or with a book, but now it’s a movie starring Meryl Streep called Julia & Julie, to be released this summer.
I’m with you on foodie blogs, particularly on home cooking. I read quite a few looking for Tony tidbits and they make me want to stick scissors in my eyes. If there’s one thing I hate, it’s gormand wannabes taking pictures of their plates, and the accompanying stultifying descriptions.
I prefer to think of cupcakes as petite gateaux. Nothing wrong with them. I suspect when Ariane starts school, Tony will find himself having to whip up a few batches for class celebrations.
Angela, I met Bourdain at a book signing in February after he gave a talk in Durham, NC. I stayed at a fleabag Days Inn a few miles away, but considered splurging on the Marriott right near the venue, just in the hopes of a chance encounter like you had. It was most likely where he stayed,
But since he comped me my ticket because his wife Ottavia had been reading Cats Working, I didn’t want to come off like a stalker.
I was glad to read that he was so gracious to you and your friend. He has seemed a little testy lately.
Loved Mario’s dad’s account of Mario and Tony’s time in Seattle. I’d love to be a fly on the wall for some of their conversations. Both Mario and Tony are really smart, have well-developed senses of irony and seem well read.
And taking pictures of poulet roti (around here, we call it roast chicken) — yecch. I made some last night, not exactly using Les Halles’ recipe, but something close. It came out great; it almost always does; it’s easy, and I’ve never once considered photographing it. I really love to cook, I love nothing more than having people around my table, enjoying good food, good wine, good conversation and good music, but you’ll never catch me photographing a plate as it goes out. The only blog on which I appreciate food photos is Michael Ruhlman’s; his wife is a wonderful photographer, and many of the photos are very creative.
Adele, I’ve got a chicken in the freezer right now that I’m contemplating cooking Tony’s way. But the last chicken I bought didn’t come with a bag of guts inside and I’m not buying a pile of rosemary for a couple of sprigs.
The blogosphere teems with amateur photography of food, but life’s too short for me to get immersed in it. Exotic food, food prepared by experts, that’s another thing. But to see that someone could get good results following a Bourdain recipe, nah. But I’m not, and probably never will be, a foodie.
This week’s culinary adventure involved a head of cabbage. I made half of it into coleslaw, thinking I could do better than that glop that comes prepared, and I was right. I had plans to turn the other half into sauerkraut, thinking it’s a boiled dish, only to discover that it’s nothing but fermented cabbage and sea salt. I would have tried it, but couldn’t find any container in the house the right size to take a weighted plate to keep the pressure on tight.
So last night I found in my Chinese cookbook a recipe for some sort of Asian cabbage that looks doable, and that’s my weekend cooking project.
Karen, I don’t bother with the guts in the chicken; I just salt and pepper the cavity and put in 1/2 a lemon, a piece of onion, and some herb — fresh if I have them, dried if I don’t. I tend not to use rosemary so much on roast chicken, preferring thyme. I then loosen the skin, so I can put a little pat of butter, a smashed garlic clove and a bay leaf on either side of the breast. I rub the outside with olive oil, salt and pepper it and put on fresh thyme, if I have it, and dried if I don’t. A little of Emeril’s essence (apply with a light hand)wont hurt either. I roast it at 400 degrees; a 3lb chicken takes about an hour, a 4 pound chicken takes about an hour and 20 minutes. Take it out, let it rest for awhile, and Bob’s your uncle. The olive oil on the skin and the little bit of butter on the breast, means that basting is not necessary. Oh, and instead of roasting on a rack, I make a rack out of carrots, onions, and stalks of celery. If you want pan juice, a little wine in the bottom of the roasting pan, mixed with the vegetable flavors makes a very good jus.
Adele, I have printed out your recipe and will follow it. You really know your way around a chicken. Sorry, Bourdain, I don’t do guts.
Emeril’s Essence, I can handle. I’ve got a pound of that stuff.
And even if it comes out perfect, I’m not making it pose for a photo op!
Who’s uncle am I ????
Geeze I wish someone would have sent me a card at least.. Dinner Invites one week and an uncle the next… You ladies move fast …
Who’s your uncle …..
Bob