Bourdain in Travel Channel Home Stretch

By Karen

I’ve lost count of No Reservations’ seasons. Some are calling the current new episodes Season 9. According to my DVD recordings, it’s part 2 of Season 8. But if you count how Travel Channel lopped Season 7 into two last year, this would be Season 10.

Anyway, in the opener, Tony visited Austin, TX, where, in addition to the world’s best barbecue, he seemed to be in search of that elusive, probably mythical, demographic — young males who prefer food porn to the usual type, enjoy hanging out with 50-something-old dudes, and who think anybody who makes noise on an instrument and screams incoherently is playing “music.”

About 10 minutes in, I found myself stealing glances at the clock to see how much longer I had to suffer (I was taping it). As it turns out, I was in good company with the New York Times.

So it didn’t float my boat to watch Bourdain play rock band groupie, eat BBQ, and deface himself again with yet another tat (not a gargoyle or a tarantula, as you might expect, but a cute little sun on his left forearm). But I still have high hopes for whatever’s left of NR.

Here are a few other things I’ve collected…

On August 15, Tony did a live “hangout” on Zagat’s Google+ page where he answered fan questions.

In November, Tony’s road show morphs into the “Guts and Glory Tour,” with supposedly fresh material. He’s even got a new logo and it has an official site.

I’m idly toying with catching it when he goes to Baltimore.

Tony’s appearances with Eric Ripert as “Good vs. Evil” also have their own site.

Now, here’s a mystery…

Some weeks ago, a blogger named Colman Andrews with The Daily Meal cruelly trashed Marilyn Hagerty in a column titled, “Does Anyone Get the Joke?” — you remember Marilyn, that nice lady from Grand Forks whose unabashed admiration for Olive Garden earned her a book deal with Bourdain’s imprint.

Bourdain quickly struck back at Andrews on Twitter, claiming that Hagerty’s book will be “an extraordinary and beautiful thing.”

I didn’t totally disagree with Andrews. Bourdain undoubtedly believes that exhuming Hagerty’s work to enlighten us all on what “the heartland” ate 30 years ago is a noble quest. His name will probably appear on the book’s cover larger than Hagerty’s to drive initial sales — and then the book will sink like a stone.

Bourdain told Zagat in August he’s perused about half of Hagerty’s oeuvre of 7,500 pages, searching for the gems he’ll publish.

Better him than me.

And finally, from the Tony’s Friends Dept…

As it turns out, Zamir’s not a shiftless deadbeat Tony found in a Russian gutter, but an accomplished documentary filmmaker. Who knew?

Eric Ripert’s latest On the Table interview featured Mario Batali.

Bourdain Gets Another Tasty Nomination

By Karen

The Tasty Awards released their last dribble of award nominees, and Anthony Bourdain’s up for “Best Male Host of a Series” category, so be sure to vote. (No Reservations also got 2 nominations). His competitors are Tom Colicchio, Eric Ripert, Andrew Zimmern (whose Bizarre Foods is nominated for “Best Comedy Series” — go figure), and just about every other guy who shares a show with food.

Top Chef’s Padma Laksmi is among the gazillion nominees for Best Female Host, so that should give you some clue as to what a distinguished honor this is.

Speaking of Top Chef, Bourdain didn’t judge week 2, when Eric Ripert’s employee, Jennifer Carroll, got sent home. I think I skipped Season 6, so I have no idea if Jen has always been so smug and arrogant, but my reaction to her elimination was, “Don’t let the door hit you in the ass,” thanks to the attitude she’s shown this season.

But in fairness, here’s her exit interview with the Chicago Tribune. I have no doubt the episode was cut to make her come off looking super-bitchy, but she did provide the footage.

With that elimination challenge, the show crossed the line into gratuitous torture. There was absolutely ZERO need to allow the cheftestants almost no sleep before they had to mass-produce breakfast at 7 a.m. for a mob of kids. It ain’t Survivor.

What’s still unclear to me is if Team T-Rex had access to any seasonings beyond salt and pepper. It was mentioned they couldn’t use herbs. So sending Jen home for under-seasoned eggs could have been bullsh*t.

Bourdain blogged his opinion. According to the promo, he should be back at the Judges’ Table this week.

Sifu Renka snapped a nice photo of Tony when he was in Toronto. (Scroll down to the bottom.)

In case you missed last week’s No Reservations holiday special with Michael Ruhlman, Eater captured the best lines. And Gawker provides this clip of what’s become the standard gratuitous raw meat scene that sent me into another room until it was over.

December 7, Tony and Ottavia attended a party in the Empire State Building to help Mario Batali launch the Culinary Council, which will help the Food Bank of New York City fight hunger there.

Eater also reports that Helen Cho is the new resident social networking guru for Zero Point Zero Production, and she actually works with the crew, which means the No Res tweets and Facebook page may actually have something other than impersonal 3^rd-party hype like we bloggers are supplied from Room 214.

Huffington Post just got around to putting up some video of Bourdain and Ripert spouting opinions while they were taping their Turn and Burn Sirius radio show.

American Thinker bemoans the “Ramsayization of Society” and uses Bourdain’s regular use of the word suck to appeal to a more youth demographic to make the tongue-in-cheek point that Jonathan Swift could have penned bestsellers  if he’d done likewise, and illustrates with a ludicrously “Bourdainized” passage from A Modest Proposal.

Bourdain & Vietnam: Together Again

By Karen

Anthony Bourdain travels to Vietnam — is this the 3^rd or 4^th time? — in a new episode of No Reservations tonight. Wendy at Room 214 didn’t mention any house-hunting in her preview e-mail, but did say that Tony noted 70% of Hanoi’s population is under age 30.

I have a sneaking suspicion he’s quietly abandoned his dream of living there, especially now that Ariane is getting older and undoubtedly growing some roots in New York.

This episode seems heavy on bugs, and Tony channels Andrew Zimmern in the promo. He’s also apparently tricked into eating Java-Mouse deer.

Hey, I just realized we haven’t seen Tony whip out his Chase Sapphire card in quite a while. Could widespread fan derision have delivered him from that silliness?

Tony and Eric Ripert have wrapped up their Sirius radio program, Turn & Burn, but bits of it are hitting YouTube. Hear what happens after Tony reads Ruth Reichl’s tweets in what was apparently a regular feature called “The Tao of Ruth.” Eric reads a few tweets by the mysterious “Ruth Bourdain.”

Here’s a video clip of Bourdain and Ripert talking about Ruth Reichl’s tweets with Mario Batali.

Bourdain’s getting closer to Richmond with an appearance at the University of Mary Washington in Fredericksburg, VA, on September 23. That’s only about 90 minutes north of here.

Entertainment Daily found out a bit about what Tony’s been up to in India. He’s got to be back in the States sometime this week because he has a speaking gig in Austin, Texas, on April 1.

Bourdain Does Kiddie TV

By Karen

Perhaps as an early birthday present to daughter Ariane, on March 10, Anthony Bourdain guests on Yo Gabba Gabba as Doctor Tony. If you needed any proof that fatherhood can unhinge a guy, watch this:

I tried to watch Yo Gabba Gabba some time ago when Bourdain first mentioned it as a favorite, and it had me screaming for mercy after about 10 minutes.

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette did a phone interview with Bourdain recently and printed the highlights, but there’s a link on the page to the whole 15-minute audio version.

Tony and Eric visited Martha Stewart’s TV show on February 16 to promote their new Sirius radio show, Turn & Burn, which premiered on the 18^th, and to prepare coq au vin.

Cats Working reader Cindy provided a link to the highlights of their first gab-fest, with guest Mario Batali. I wish I got Sirius!

Dicey Venison writes about his/her “better half’s” weird brief encounter during the Q&A at Tony’s Milwaukee appearance on January 22.

MSN TV got some good Raw Talk with Tony, and then almost ruined it with WAY too much clicking required — quelle agonie! (Sorry, I just watched Breakfast at Tiffany’s). Thanks, MSN!

Tony does mention that he likes Samantha Brown, describing her as “nice, and not painfully sweet.” I always wondered about that.

Bourdain Postponing Vietnam Again?

By Karen

Cats Working reader Cindy provided a link to this Wall Street Journal article where Anthony Bourdain said he earns the bulk of his income these days making personal appearances, and that he plans to do 40 in 2010. So if you haven’t seen him in person yet, your chance may be coming soon.

I think his next book, Cooks, is due to come out next year. Shooting No Reservations, promoting a new book, and doing his Evening with schtick doesn’t seem to leave time to move his family to Vietnam without leaving them there alone most of the time.

Dana of The Traveling McMahans had a chance encounter with Bourdain in the airport leaving Louisville after he appeared at the IdeaFestival on September 25. She got an autograph and a glimpse at what Tony can be like when he’s not “on.” Unfortunately, he didn’t fare too well in comparison to the gracious travel guru Arthur Frommer, whom Dana interviewed one-on-one before attending Bourdain’s talk.

An independent account of Bourdain at the IdeaFestival reveals that he’s apparently forgotten the fallout over his conversation about fat people with Ted Nugent because they’re now part of the act, and not in a good way, it seems.

I can’t remember if I’ve ever linked before to this interview with Chow from November 2007, but I don’t recall seeing it. In hindsight, it’s interesting to read about Tony’s decision to hang up the leather jacket (which didn’t last too long) and plans to do a Travel Channel series in Italy with Mario Batali that has yet to materialize. He also calls the Tuscany episode (where we got our first glimpses of Ottavia but didn’t know it) the “most fun show to do ever.”

Bourdain & Zamir Do the Rust Belt

By Karen

After last season’s debacle in Romania, Anthony Bourdain returns the favor by taking his pal Zamir to Baltimore, Detroit, and Buffalo in the dead of winter. In Baltimore, they feast on cheap fried fish and greens out in the cold on a roadside picnic table.

In Detroit share a Middle Eastern meal with Rashid, a man who was evacuated with Tony and his crew from Beirut. There, Tony also engages in another lame athletic endeavor (compensation for the crazy stunts he no longer does?) — feather bowling.

And in Buffalo, of course, they try – beef on weck? WTF?

Zamir’s always-entertaining presence should make this an episode not to miss.

Found this chat with Mario Batali. Bourdain had just returned from the as-yet-unaired “Meet the Fockers” episode in Sardinia, and asks for advice on how to fit in. He mentions that daughter Ariane already has dual Italian citizenship, and he wants it for himself.

Tomato offers some clips of Bourdain’s latest episode in Melbourne, and at the end provides 7 links to an interview he did with Tony there in 2005 (with some great, youthful-looking photos). Not much new, except Tony totally trashes truffle oil.

Smell My Plate weighs in on celebrity chefs, and draws an insightful conclusion on where Bourdain fits in to that category.

On an side note, way off to the side, NBC must have a death wish. They’re planning a sitcom starring Padma Lakshmi, tentatively called Single Serving. Since Padma’s acting credentials make a list as long as your pinky, Defamer offers some other series ideas for the vapid Top Chef host.

PS: Padma and Tom Colicchio were co-nominated for Emmys for best reality competition hosts. Talk about riding the bald guy’s coat tails.

Will Gwyneth Paltrow Tangle with Anthony Bourdain?

By Karen

The blogosphere is itching for a feud between Anthony Bourdain and Gwyneth Paltrow. In Seattle on May 30, Bourdain ragged on Mario Batali for making Spain…On the Road Again for PBS with Paltrow as his sidekick when she wasn’t eating a Spanish staple — meat. Paltrow hasn’t yet taken the bait, and I’m predicting she won’t.

Socialite Life also reveals that Bourdain and Batali may be cooking up a new show for the Travel Channel. Oh, please, let that rumor be true.

Mission Mission was speculating back in March on Bourdain’s still-to-be-aired San Francisco episode, which he was filming then. The comments on this post contain 2 personal encounters (as well as a link back to Cats Working, thank you), and someone mentions spotting Tony with his “Asian ‘girlfriend.” I bet that was Ottavia.

There’s a shipwreck of a Bourdain fan blog that hasn’t been updated since January. I wonder what ended the honeymoon? I didn’t sift through the old comments looking for buried treasure, but you Bourdainiacs might want to.

Sadly, I know Tony won’t be popping out of my birthday cake this year. He’ll be at the New York Wine and Food Festival October 8-11.

I still haven’t found any personal appearances for June, so I’m guessing he’s either ramping up for Season 6 of No Reservations or taking some well-deserved R&R.

Here’s an interesting online Q&A between Bourdain and fans from 2002, when A Cook’s Tour had been published, and he was still on the Food Network. He mentioned that first wife Nancy’s idea of “extreme cuisine” was meatloaf, but defended it as a good thing.

If you’d like to see a replay of Bourdain’s staged Kung Fu fighting (Can’t recall the NR episode. Hong Kong perhaps?), here’s the clip. He was still wearing the ubiquitous earring and leather jacket. It’s vintage.

And here’s Tony dissing Paris Hilton with Mario Batali, with more links to other topics they covered during that gab-fest.

Anthony Bourdain Spawns Literary Trend

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.

Tracking Tony: The Latest on Anthony Bourdain

By Karen

Anthony Bourdain spent at least 3 days last week on the West Coast, doing an appearance every night. His first stop was De Anza Community College in Cupertino, CA, and he did an advance phone interview with the San Jose Mercury from New York, revealing that a return to Beirut is definitely on tap for Season 6 of No Reservations, and his wish list includes Iran, the Congo, China, the highlands of Vietnam and Cambodia, Prague, and Rome.

Got Shares? saw Bourdain’s presentation and confirmed that Tony, so soon after his relatively cordial brush with Alice Waters, still didn’t hesitate to take his usual dump on the Queen of Organic Eating while standing virtually at her doorstep.

Blogger Brian Underwood at Bay Area Bites was also in the audience, and describes a fan who kept yelling during Tony’s talk, until Bourdain challenged him to come up on stage. The guy did, and revealed a tattoo of Bourdain’s face on his entire right thigh. Underwood said Bourdain seemed a combination of “flattered and mortified,” as he added his autograph to the young man’s leg.

I haven’t found anything noteworthy to share about Tony’s trek to Portland, OR, on May 29. Everyone must have behaved themselves.

UPDATE: I take that last paragraph back. Here’s a good account of his appearance in Portland. He gave that audience more time (2 hours total) than he usually does. And, again, he didn’t spare Alice Waters.

Tony was also interviewed by the Seattle Times by phone before his date with Mario Batali there on May 30.

And on the day of his Seattle appearance, he was seen hanging around outside a Mexican restaurant by someone who reported the sighting to My Ballard. No one seems to know if he lunched there or not.

Erin Crabb took forbidden photos in the auditorium in Seattle for Whrrl, and her punishment was that Bourdain and Batali came out as indistinguishable specks on stage. However, the poster outside the venue is definitely suitable for framing.

Aidan Brooks provides a clip of an early Bourdain special called Decoding Ferran Adrià and makes an interesting point about Tony’s writing process and how his eloquence seems to improve with time.

But the best news I heard all week was that new episodes of Season 5 of No Reservations will resume on the Travel Channel July 30.

Anthony Bourdain Heads West

By Karen

Even between seasons of No Reservations, Anthony Bourdain doesn’t seem to sleep in the same bed 2 nights in a row. On May 28, he’ll be giving one of his talks at De Anza Community College in Cupertino, California. I wonder if his recent face-to-face encounter with Alice Waters inspired any new material, and if he’ll have the nerve to unleash it on her home turf?

On May 29, he appears at the Keller Auditorium in Portland, Oregon. On May 30, he’ll be in Seattle sharing a stage with his good friend, Mario Batali, for “An Evening,” which may well prove the highlight of his week.

What a life.

Bourdain’s May 14 appearance at the Connecticut Forum with Alice Waters and Duff Goldman is still rippling throughout the blogosphere. Here’s a video clip of Alice Waters pontificating on hot dogs and Tony’s response, which brought the conversation back to earth.

Here’s another bit where they all discuss food as aphrodisiac.

Michael Costanza attended the event and dubbed Alice Waters “the new postergirl for food snobbery” and vowed to eat half a dozen hot dogs over Memorial Day weekend just to spite her. [Note to Cats Working reader Nancy (not THAT Nancy): If you click this link, brace yourself.]

Someone caught Tony standing around in Chinatown. I seem to remember him saying a while back that he intended to retire that leather jacket. I’m glad he didn’t. It’s so him.

And here’s a candid shot of Tony and Ottavia sent by Cats Working reader Linda. They’re at Bar Pitti e Da Silvano in Greenwich Village. Don’t they look like a pair of crazy kids in love?

Now we have a mystery to solve: Somebody caught Bourdain filming something in front of his home-base restaurant, Les Halles. What could he have been up to?

At Let’ Get Together Blog, Bourdain was selected as the inaugural Food Hottie of the Month, in spite of somewhat conflicted thoughts about him.

My Opera, a recently initiated Bourdainiac, wrote an interesting analysis of what Tony does on No Reservations.

If you’re a foodie wannabe, Bourdain and other chefs contributed recipes, observations, and advice to The Foodie Handbook: The (almost) Definitive Guide to Gastronomy by Pim Techamuanvivit, to be released in October.

UPDATE: Oprah’s best friend, Gayle King, interviewed Tony for Oprah Radio™ in August 2007, and I just found the first 11 minutes, thanks to a tip from Cats Working reader Bob. Gayle’s questions cover no new ground, and she has some difficulty shutting up to let Tony speak, but Bourdain’s always a good conversationalist.