Bourdain, Ray & Lee – Together Again

By Karen

Scripps Networks Interactive, owner of Anthony Bourdain’s first cruel TV master, the Food Network, bought a 65% controlling interest in the Travel Channel for $181 million, bringing Tony back into the fold. I hope all the FN butts of his jokes are kind to him.

Scripps also plans to launch a Cooking Channel, which Bourdain mocked in “Robo Chef,” the first episode of his Alternate Universe Web series.

Last week, Winnipeg Bob withheld one New York City photo from us. He snapped Tony on the wall of Katz’s Deli. Unfortunately, this was as close as they got.

(Photo - Winnipeg Bob)

On November 18, Bourdain is appearing in Denver, and Tony’s Market there is running a 50-word essay contest. The winner gets to make dinner for Bourdain meet him face-to-face.

Confirming the opinion of Cats Working’s Finnish reader, Fanfromfaraway, here’s a bit about how Bourdain wows ‘em in Helsinki.

Domestica saw Tony in Des Moines on November 5, and her husband thinks Bourdain’s a misogynist. Could it be all those Rachael Ray, Sandra Lee, and Alice Waters digs? Domestica also has something interesting to say about Andrew Zimmern.

The Michigan Daily caught up with Tony before his appearance in Ann Arbor on November 7 and had him suggest a resolution to the Pakistan/Afghanistan problem (it involves Chicken McNuggets) and name his favorite album (The Stooges’ Fun House).

Tubefilter considers Bourdain’s writing in Kitchen Confidential and Alternate Universe “overseasoned.” If it is, I like whatever spice Tony’s using.

January 14-18, 2010, marks the 3^rd annual (Grand) Cayman Cookout. Tony will be there, hosting a beachside BBQ at Calico Jacks, which Eric Ripert calls, “the best dive bar in the world.” Seems fitting.

And of course, Cats Working readers Morgan and Cindy and yours truly are having our own brush with Bourdain on November 11 when he co-hosts the Capital Food Fight in Washington, DC. Stay tuned…

Into the Belly of the Beast (Part 3)

By Winnipeg Bob

Now that you’re on the edge of your seat, drooling, I’ll finish my tale…

During dinner, we were chatting with two ladies, a native New Yorker and her friend from Texas, about the differences in Canadian and U.S. heathcare when waiter Tim tapped my shoulder and pointed to a figure leaning tiredly against the kitchen door.

Carlos.

I asked Tim if Carlos was indeed a ball-buster in the kitchen. Tim kinda dodged the question, saying only that Carlos had been pretty grumpy lately.

Just by looking at Carlos, I could tell he was beat, occasionally wiping a bead of sweat or stray hair from his face as he observed the dining room.

“Damn!” I thought. I’d hoped maybe to meet the man conducting the culinary orchestra that had produced my meal, but I returned to my conversation with the Americans, who were intrigued by Canada’s “free” healthcare, explaining that we are taxed accordingly, but otherwise quite happy with our universal system.

Then Tim tapped me again with a grin, and announced we were all invited back to the kitchen to talk to the chef briefly about our meals, and cameras were welcome.

The ladies declined, but Darlene agreed to accompany me “into the belly of the beast.”

What struck me immediately was how tiny the kitchen is. It looks like a ballroom on TV. When Tony said you have to be light on your feet not to disturb anyone, he wasn’t kidding.

As we watched the proud Mexican crew at work, Carlos seemed to pop out of nowhere, but he was probably standing right there.

I was so excited, my memory here may be fuzzy, but I remember Carlos asking what we ordered and how it was. I babbled that everything was exactly as ordered and excellent!

Then I asked about Tony and how he did filming “Into the Fire.” I’m sure I used the words ball-buster and slacker.

Carlos kinda shrugged and said, yes, he was hard on Tony that night because Tony was out of practice and slow to get up to speed.

I then asked if he kicks Tony’s ass when he shows up at the restaurant from time to time. Like Tim, Carlos replied sort of tiredly that Tony never really comes around anymore, he’s too busy for the place.

I’m sure Carlos harbored no ill will, but was merely reflecting on the life Tony now leads.

And maybe, just maybe, the staff of Les Halles gets a little tired of customers asking about Bourdain when he hasn’t worked there for nearly a decade.

Shaking Carlos’ hand, I asked if I could have a picture. Tim grabbed a server and grouped the four of us for this shot I’ll always treasure.

(L-R) Waiter Tim, Winnipeg Bob, girlfriend Darlene, Chef Carlos in the kitchen at Les Halles

My overall impression of Les Halles was as it should be. It’s all about giving its patrons an enjoyable evening. Is it Anthony Bourdain’s hangout? NO. But it never was. It was his employer when he happened to get famous.

Does Les Halles benefit from Bourdain? I have no doubt the association, however stale, attracts some wide-eyed travelers like ourselves. But at the end of the day, it’s the great food prepared by Carlos and his crew, and the friendly, attentive service of Tim and the rest of the waitstaff, that will bring you back though these warm, welcoming doors.

(All Photos - Winnipeg Bob)

Into the Belly of the Beast (Part 2)

By Winnipeg Bob

Bob’s Disclaimer: Fans of Cats Working, Bourdainiacs, Tim, Carlos, the staff at Les Halles, and Mr. Bourdain, I’m writing through the filter of my recollection, and apologize in advance if I misinterpreted anything.

Now, where was I? Ah, yes, strolling from Desmond’s to Brasserie Les Halles. Dark, welcoming wood accents, shining glass. A charming hostess seated us, to my delight, in the section where waiter Tim, from No Reservations “Into the Fire,” was working. By Winnipeg standards, the seating felt cramped, but we were told quite normal for New York.

While perusing the menu, I looked up and realized that most, if not all, of the lower-ranking wait staff were Mexican. One gentleman instantly filled our water glasses and kept them filled. They served us a basket of very tasty bread with a generous pad of rich butter.

Then a shadow fell over my menu and I glanced up to see Tim’s smiling face. He asked if we wanted something from the bar. I queried about Canadian whiskey. Darlene took Tim’s advice on a Cosmo.

When he brought our drinks, I said, “Thanks, Tim!”

He looked quizzical and asked how I knew his name. I just said I’d “seen him on TV.” That seemed to satisfy him and he left while we decided on dinner. For starters, I got escargots and Darlene ordered French onion soup.

On his return, Tim asked if we were Canadian and where we’d seen him. I told him No Reservations, and when I mentioned Winnipeg, he grinned and said, “No kidding! I grew up in North Dakota.” He regrets not mentioning it in his many TV appearances.

The ice broken, we BSed about hockey and the local Winnipeg football team, the Blue Bombers. When I mentioned we’d won our NYC trip from local radio station 92.1 Citi FM (Classic Rock, also on the Web) he couldn’t believe our luck.

He’d also appeared on Glutton for Punishment with Bob Blumer, and was trying to land other acting roles, and said we should stay on the lookout for him.

Darlene’s French onion soup was simply the finest I’ve ever tasted. Homemade broth, large chunks of sweet onion and bread, Gruyere cheese toasted to perfection over an oversized crock. My escargots were tasty, but they were simply outshone by that soup.

For entrées, Darlene chose pork tenderloin with mashed potatoes. I couldn’t decide, so Tim suggested steak aux poivre. That’s when my next simple question seemed to crack open a door to the Twilight Zone.

Darlene's Pork Tenderloin (All Photos - Winnipeg Bob)

I casually asked Tim how Anthony Bourdain performed in the kitchen when he filmed “Into the Fire,” and if he ever comes by.

Tim seemed to go quiet and replied that Tony really never comes around anymore.

It wasn’t so much what Tim said, but the way he said it. He sounded almost as if I had asked something I shouldn’t have. I may be completely off base, but something just felt wrong.

Coming up next… Into the Kitchen.

[Cats Working note: Check out Part 1 of Winnipeg Bob’s story again. New photos have been added.]

Into the Belly of the Beast (Part 1)

By Winnipeg Bob

We welcome faithful reader Bob as our first guest blogger. On October 28, he had dinner at Anthony Bourdain’s former restaurant, Les Halles, in New York City and has a story to tell…

Well, as you all know, my girlfriend Darlene and I won a trip to NYC to see the 25th Anniversary Concert Series for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame… But that is another story.

We also went to Desmond’s and Les Halles and met the characters that work within.

Our hotel was only about 4 or 5 blocks from the Park Avenue location of Les Halles (Tony’s former location), so as we walked in the glow of the Empire State Building, the objects of my desire were in sight.

Anyone who saw the “Into the Fire” episode of No Reservations knows one of Tony’s favorite haunts mid-shift was Desmond’s Bar, half a block from Les Halles. I must admit I was a little giddy walking in, but quickly regained my composure as Dar and I grabbed seats at the head of the bar.

(All Photos - Winnipeg Bob)

Our bartender was an older gentleman, very nice, and efficient with bringing icy cold beverages for weary travelers. But it was more the bar itself that I was interested in, flags on the wall, and the normal bric-a-brac that normally fills a well-loved bar. The kind of stuff all the regulars would have a story about…

One piece in particular caught my eye.

It was a napkin folded in the shape of a hat with a cross and some writing on it. Took me a minute to figure out what it said, till I got up and looked at it from across the bar. Drawn on the “Hat” was “Tony on Tour in Rome.” I asked the bartender what it meant, but in true bartender fashion, he kept whatever secrets it held, saying, “Oh, that’s just something one of the guys gave me,” then he scuttled off to serve someone else.

Glancing around more, I noticed a framed Newsweek article, signed by Bourdain. A gift to the bar, I would gather.

Our drinks finished and our reservation time approaching, we left Desmond’s and walked to Les Halles.

Stay tuned…

Another Week in the Life of Bourdain

By Karen

Wendy at Room 214 should have known some bloggers can’t keep a secret. The November 2 debut episode of Anthony Bourdain’s Alternate Universe on the Travel Channel Web site, “Robo Chef,” was on YouTube and all over the blogosphere by October 27. (Except here, where cats have honor.)

Bourdain’s posted about it the same day on his own blog, revealing that he wrote the whole series himself, so it should be good, although it’s getting mixed reviews.

Tony is appearing in Waukegan, Illinois, on November 6, and Deborah Pankey of the Daily Herald got an advance phone interview with him. Tony told her that Ariane was a fairy princess for Halloween, and when she’s old enough to trick-or-treat, Dad wants to accompany her dressed as a pirate.

Jennifer Olvera of the Vernon Hills Review also talked to Tony before Waukegan and got his take on the future of food writing for print (doomed by bloggers), social networking (“fame maintenance”), and the Chicago food scene. She also mentioned that he does have a new book coming out in 2010.

Yippee!!

I couldn’t find the complete text, so I’m not sure if Bourdain actually wrote a full book review or just did a blurb for My Bread, a cookbook by a Manhattan baker named Jim Lahey.

I just found this 41-minute audio interview of Tony with Jeremy Shapiro of Stir the Pots from April 8, 2007, the day before Ariane was born. In those days, he was very supportive of bloggers — all bloggers — and the role we play in the Information Age.

A few months ago, Shapiro traveled to Turkey, where he missed Tony filming there, but he met Zenyo Gursës, a Turkish blogger who wrote about Bourdain’s visit for the local paper. If you can read Turkish, please let us know if he had any new insights. The article crashed Google Translation.

Bob from Winnipeg hasn’t checked in yet with the scoop from his visit to Les Halles last week, but we’ll post it as soon as he does.

Junk from Bourdain’s Alternate Universe

By Karen

Wendy of Room 214 has done her job well; reaction to Robo Chef is popping up on the blogosphere, most noticeably on what is apparently Bourdain’s new favorite blog, Grub Street.

Grub Street reported on Alternate Universe yesterday — a full 9 hours after Cats Working — and I’m wondering if it’s a coincidence that they happened to use the exact same title as my post (“Anthony Bourdain Gets Animated”).

Then Bourdain himself was right there with the very first comment, and then the third.

I’m feeling miffed.

And reading other bloggers’ reaction to the show is making me wonder if we all saw the same video. Eat Me Daily mentioned seeing Andrew Zimmern in a straitjacket. I didn’t. Anybody else? But I could see Tony having that fantasy.

Creative Loafing says Bourdain eats people’s brains, but it never happened, at least in Robo Chef. I think even Tony would balk at chowing down on Sandra Lee’s gray matter, even though it could be an amuse-bouche at best.

Blogger Veronica Belmont is the only one I’ve seen so far who obviously “gets” it.

Bourdain’s Alternate Universe: More Scoop

By Karen

After yesterday’s post, I received from Room 214 an e-mail about Anthony Bourdain’s Alternate Universe, his new animated Web series. (BTW, our friend Ingrid has apparently moved on because Wendy is my new contact there.)

Wendy provided me an “exclusive” peek at the first episode, Robo Chef. Well, exclusive to me and how ever many thousands of bloggers she’s penpals with. She made us swear an oath of secrecy (yeah, let’s see how long that holds), so I can’t let you view the episode, but I wouldn’t be giving away the farm to share a few impressions.

Bourdain plays a slightly-crazed Dr. Frankenstein type, working for the Cooking Channel. He’s a bit risqué and drops lots of names, delivering jabs equally to friends and foes. He must have had fun doing the voiceover.

The episode ends on a cliffhanger with Bourdain’s hair on fire.

My reaction overall? Meh. But I thought the animation was well-done (considering no one even attempts the fluidity of Loony Tunes anymore), and the humor has potential. It will only get better if they let Bourdain’s alter-ego totally off the leash.

Robo Chef premiers Monday, November 2, on the Travel Channel’s Web site, with 5 more episodes coming monthly.

Going cartoon is a weird turn for Tony’s career to take, but maybe it’s the Ariane influence. Here’s the teaser again, in case you missed it yesterday. It hints at “plots” to come that go far beyond Robo Cop and look like fun. I’ll be watching.

Anthony Bourdain Gets Animated

By Karen

Hard-core Bourdainiacs have a treat coming in 2010. The Travel Channel has announced a new 6-part animated Web series called Anthony Bourdain’s Alternate Universe. From the promo, I don’t think Tony will be letting Ariane watch cartoon Dad. Besides Rachael Ray and Sandra Lee’s pickled brains, was that Zamir taking a stake through the heart?

(Travel Channel)

If you’ve ever wondered about Anthony Bourdain’s watch, it’s been identified as an Ernst Benz ChronoFlite World Timer, and he’s a lot smarter than I am if he’s figured out how to use it.

There’s been fallout from Bourdain’s October 13 Larry King Live appearance, where he defended meat-eaters. Fellow guest and Eating Animals author-turned-vegetarian, Jonathan Safran Foer, took exception to Bourdain’s comments, which Bourdain took exception to.

Grub Street also reported Foer’s comments. Bourdain retorts in the 7^th comment down.

If you didn’t sit through the video last week, Hanna Wallace of The Faster Times quotes Bourdain’s pithiest comments to King.

Tony’s “I Call Bullshit” session at the New York City Wine and Food Festival with David Chang also reverberated, although not for anything Tony said. Chang dissed San Francisco cuisine, so the Asia Society there canceled a signing of Chang’s new cookbook, Momofuku. Bourdain took Chang’s side, and was quick to comment (3^rd one down).

LA Eater has a bit more on Momofuku, with a photo of Tony and Chang dining on something snarly.

I went “Eek!” when I opened this page at Jaunted and saw Bourdain and Andrew Zimmern together. It’s official: they’re shills for Chase Sapphire. Whatever happened to Samantha Brown?

No surprise that Sardinia is now on Tony’s short list of favorite vacation spots. Somehow, I can totally see Zimmern loving DisneyWorld.

The Poughkeepsie Journal reports, with photo, that Tony lunched on a catfish taco at Mexicali Blue while filming his Hudson Valley installment of No Reservations.

The LA Times has the latest on the pending sale of the Travel Channel, and No Reservations is still the crown jewel.

Bourdain Bits Few & Far Between

By Karen

Anthony Bourdain is almost more intriguing when he temporarily drops off the Web’s radar, appearing only in inconsequential blog references that add nothing to our store of knowledge. One wonders what he’s doing at times like these. Working on his next book? Filming No Reservations in some far-flung place? Holing up in his apartment to watch kiddie TV and have tea parties with his daughter?

Nobody knows but Tony, and that’s OK. The guy’s certainly got a right to his privacy.

But he did talk recently to Larry King on CNN, sort of coming off as a layman among nutrition geeks. The topic was, “Does a healthy diet include meat?” and Tony was consulted about halfway through the show.

We all know where Tony stands on meat. In the face of the experts’ opinions that we should all stick to grass and acorns, Bourdain staunchly defended carnivores’ right to eat things slower and stupider than themselves and, as a consumer, excoriated American meat safety practices.

If you don’t want to sit through the video, Nikolas Kozloff quotes Bourdain’s comments more extensively, although he thinks Tony’s overall coolness is “rapidly wearing thin,” and that Bourdain would do better to rail against “corporate cattle ranching and agribusiness as opposed to vegetarians and vegans.”

The Wall Street Journal reported a bit more on Bourdain’s recent appearance with David Chang at the New York Wine and Food Festival. What got my attention was that they discussed blogs. WSJ wrote, “Having alluded to New York magazine’s Grub Street twice in the course of the evening, Bourdain seemed to look at food bloggers positively, or at least seemed to be receptive to their influence.”

Hmmm… so he likes food bloggers. I have no idea if Bourdain still checks in at Cats Working but, if he does, I can assure him of this: He’ll never find food porn here, nor catch me telling anybody where or what to eat. And I hope I get points for never referring to him as the “bad-boy chef.”

Bourdain’s Big Apple Weekend

By Karen

Anthony Bourdain was just at the New York Wine and Food Festival, teaming with David Chang. Martha Stewart’s Living Radio Blog has a brief audio clip of Bourdain talking about Chang before their event.

It sold out to a crowd that wrapped around 4 blocks and was called, I Call Bullsh—! Here’s the New York Post review.

Metromix and Grub Street revealed more of what they said.

Tony was also interviewed by restaurant reviewer Frank Bruni, author of Born Round: The Secrets of a Full-Time Eater, and The Feed, Slashfood, and the New York Post reported.

And here are some photos of Bourdain and Bruni signing books at the event.

Steve Barnes, Table Hopping for the Times Union, has written a bunch of blog posts about Bourdain, and looks forward to Tony coming to town (Schenectady, NY) on November 15.

Tony’s was widely quoted on the demise of Gourmet magazine, and credits it for giving him his first big break as a writer. I guess this means his appearance with Eric Ripert at Gourmet’s 7^th annual Gourmet Institute on October 23-25 is a no-go.

This Stop Willoughby enjoys playing a game with her son where they replace some character in a TV show with Bourdain. I could see Tony as Larry David in a traveling version of Curb Your Enthusiasm, doing a show within a show as Vic Chanko during unvarnished moments of filming No Res.

FNH (Food Network Humor) wrote a scathing — and hilarious — rebuttal to last week’s Wall Street Journal article about “rock star chefs” and personal appearances, calling it “one of the most ridiculous foodie articles in the history of the Internet.”

Also from the NY Wine and Food Fest, Jezebel posted a photo from one of Tony’s “nightmares.” Bonus: Scroll down to video of Sandra Lee making the Kwanzaa cake Bourdain can’t stop ranting about. This was the first time I’ve seen it, and must agree it’s a culinary train wreck. The finished product looks like what someone would do in a spoof of cooking shows.