I finally "get" Anthony Bourdain

last year

I never became a fan of Anthony Bourdain. He came along after I had soured on cooking and travel shows, mostly because I don't much care for eating out, no matter what the venue, and not my style of travel or in my usual budget. Also, being a vegetarian who tries to eat both tasty and healthy, most of what he was featuring did not appeal to me. I'm not anti meat, just not a fan of eating it very often for many reasons. I'm not a purist though.

Caught a segment of his show last night, he was in Charleston, and I found the discussion interesting so I stuck with it. Then they showed the documentary about his life. I watched most of it but fell asleep in the middle, only to wake at the tail end and then catch a couple of his "Parts Unknown" show, particularly in Queens and Miami, two cities I have spent some time in so could relate to.

Prior to this all I had seen was clips of him eating some kind of rich meat dish and snarking, which I didn't find appealing. Thank goodness for lethargy mixed with insomnia causing me to stick with a couple of entire episodes! I can now see why he was so beloved, he is one of the few food writers and personalities I can think of who understands the cultural importance of food at a very deep level, and also gets the intersection of food and culture, in a meaningful way. His explorations of the culture are as interesting as the food, if not more. His discussions with so many interesting people, well I wish there was more of that. To me, that's the point of cooking, to share good food, lovingly prepared as a craft, with interesting people you can share ideas with along with the food. I still think they cut out too much of the conversations in editing, and they need to make longer versions of his show available at some point, for those of us with longer attention spans!!

I also liked the theme of how commercialization is slowly squeezing the warmth and genuine human contributions out of our communities, and how some folks are trying to buck the trend. That to me is quite interesting. Buck the trend without giving in to gentrification and appropriation. That's the challenge. Sure, it's easy to find twee "local" stuff in an upscale neighborhood, but how to keep the culture viable in the less affluent situations, where folks have to ply their trade at a level of being able to survive and support families, and yet not price their own class out of the market, that's another question all together. My own home town is struggling to re-invent itself and is torn between the shrinking middle class with the money to eat and shop out, and the struggling working class interests. The two worlds seem totally foreign to each other and I love how Bourdain at least attempts to bridge the gap!

My other favorite food shows are Sara Moulton's show, she attempts to channel the technical yet accessible appeal of Julia Child. I also like Lidia Bastianich. Not snobby at all about Italian American type food, very good at bridging that gap. And last but not least, Jacques Pepin, because he just shows what a life devoted to cooking for people and appreciating the power of food, looks like. I also have caught a bit of Madhur Jaffrey for Indian culture and food. She's a great bridge builder too as far as making Indian dishes look accessible. Seems like she's more of a writer than tv personality though. I used to like Manjula's Kitchen because she cooked up all these great vegetarian dishes in her regular ol' kitchen. But I just get kind of depressed watching Indian cooking, I am not that big of a fan of the flavors and I don't love to cook it. Like but not love. Not the cuisine, it's me, just not my thing, but I appreciate what a fabulous cuisine it is. I am more of an eater than a cook. I would be happy to eat at Indian restaurants often if I lived anywhere near one, which I do not.

I've watched a lot of other shows, trying to get into the "farm to table" shows but not finding much to like about most of them, a little too twee. I did find one I liked on BritBox,"The Edible Garden" with Alys Fowler. I liked it because her garden was small and urban, like mine. She did a lot of small scale kitchen stuff which is what I often find myself doing, to present a small harvest to best advantage.

What do you like about Bourdain and your other favorites? I'm always open to new suggestions too!

Featured Answer

LoneJack Zn 6a, KC

last year

I got a chance to meet Anthony Bourdain when he was filming a No Reservations episode on Kansas City BBQ. We were tailgating before a Chief's game and he was going around the parking lot and sampling the tailgate fare (while also filming). We had chili/chili dogs that day and he polished off a CD. I got about 1.5 seconds of airtime on the episode standing in the background.

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Comments (16)

Judi
last year
I miss Anthony Bourdain.

Roadrunner was very revealing about the demons he battled.

You might be interested in this segment by Anthony Mason. It's about a biography written by Bourdain's longtime assistant and confidante. She shares memories from the people who knew Bourdain best.

https://www.cbsnews.com/video/new-biography-explores-the-journey-and-legacy-of-chef-writer-and-tv-host-anthony-bourdain/
Judi
last year
This recipe is simple and delicious.

https://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/mushroom-soup-231145
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amylou321
last year
last modified: last year
I have always liked him. His shows were so different than other travel shows, which are always kind of sickly sweet full of novelty. He focused on the true culture of the places he was traveling, both in the U.S and abroad, not the tourist stuff. It was fun for me to watch, because if I am honest, if I were traveling to some of these places I would stick to the touristy stuff, just to be safe, so it was nice to see the rest through someone else. Most other travel shows were pretty much the same IMO. They would feature the same stuff over and over, and mainly focus, IMO, of the stereotypical food of the place they were going. I mean, how many times do I need to see someone go eat a cheesesteak in Philadelphia, and exclaim exaggerated ecstasy at the sight and taste of it? How many trips to Pizzeria Uno in Chicago until we get the point? Okay, I get it, there is deep dish pizza there. If you stick to those other shows, you would think the only thing they ATE in Chicago was deep dish pizza, hot dogs and Italian beef sandwiches. Or that the only food available in the south is barbeque or something deep fried. HIS shows highlighted how people actually live and eat. And no, it wasn't always appealing to me, but it didn't matter. It was INTERESTING to see and learn about it from someone who didn't have a huge fake smile plastered on and a delighted shriek ready to go, regardless of how the food tasted.

My favorite show of his was "No Reservations, followed by "A Cooks Tour" and then "Parts Unknown" which was often too deep and dark for me. I appreciated what he was trying to do with that show though, and the message he was trying to get across.
nekotish
last year
If you like "different", I would recommend Somebody Feed Phil. I love his sense of humour and he is funny and kind.
petalique
last year
Pink, I’m glad to hear that. I really enjoy him.
petalique
last year
Judi, I recorded Roadrunner and hope to watch it soon.
Judi
last year
last modified: last year
nekotish, I love Somebody Feed Phil! Such a feel good show. Some of my favorite episodes are from the first 3 seasons.
gardengrl66 z5
last year
OK hopping in the Way-Back-Machine...anyone ever see Keith Floyd? He travelled around Europe in the 70s and 80s, cooking meals and exploring culture. Obviously not as "worldly" as Bourdain or others who to go really out-of-the-way places, but I really enjoyed his shows. This was when production methods were much more primitive, and on-screen gaffes (and getting visibly tipsy) were just rolled into the episodes. Floyd was clearly a bon vivant, and I felt like this is what Julia Child might have been like if she hit the road (and was a guy). Worth checking out on YouTube or similar...
l pinkmountain
Original Author
last year
Reminds me of watching Graham Kerr's cooking show as a kid, called "The Galloping Gourmet." He was very entertaining. Come to find out, he later admitted he was sloshed most of the time . . . I hear he has since reformed. Have not seen any of his newer stuff, but I believe by now he is retired. Emeril Lagasse reminded me of him. I like that show, find nothing wrong with it but not really my interest level at this point. My parents liked to watch it. Kind of like having a personal chef cook for you. Not the same thing as Bourdain, which was more about restaurants, travel and people. I liked the people parts of Bourdain. I'm not much into the restaurant scene and my style of cooking at home has become way dialed down due to health, time and trying to keep my weight down. But I was interested in his takes on food sourcing in particular, as well as the economic aspects of the business of preparing and selling food to people . . .
l pinkmountain
Original Author
last year
last modified: last year
So I guess instead of getting 15 min. of fame L.J., you got 1.5 seconds! ;)

All kidding aside, it sounds like a very fun experience, all the way around.

I sort of miss tailgating, I used to do it at my alma mater Michigan State, with my alumnus dad and his other alumni buddies and their families. All gone now except him at 91 way too old. And ironically, although I miss it, I could still do it but the idea of braving the weather if it was bad, and sitting for that long on a stadium bench, compared to watching it on TV . . . at this point I chose TV. Probably why I never got into AB initially. But I now I get the appeal of participating virtually, if the presenter suits your interests and style.

These days I am addicted to the British garden shows. I've read that Monty Don of "Gardener's World" shot to fame during the pandemic with everyone streaming his show and watching him literally putter in the garden. But such an interesting garden . . .

I can see why AB's death hit people so hard. They developed a sort of kinship over the years. Plus suicide is such a tragedy in general . . .
LoneJack Zn 6a, KC
last year
last modified: last year
I pinkmountain

I had Chiefs season tickets from 1984 to 2000 but gave them up when we moved from 5 miles away from Arrowhead to 30 miles and had a young son to boot. The AB episode was in 2011 when we went to a game for a friend's 50th birthday. It was fun because we were in a luxury suite.

I don't miss going to the games at all now and like you, would rather watch on the tube. Don't miss paying the $150+ price tag per seat and $60 dollar parking either!
neely
2 months ago
I began a search in Cooking to see if anyone had ever mentioned the TV programme ‘Somebody feed Phil‘ and here it was in I pinkmountan’s thread on Anthony Bourdain. Dreadful that AB took his life, I watched his shows and loved them all, read his books as well and never got an inkling that he was so terribly depressed. Just shows we never really know what’s going on for other people and certainly not those in the spotlight.

So as I mentioned I really went looking to see if anyone liked watching the Somebody feed Phil shows and I see that Judi and nekotish both say they enjoy them. Well now I add ’me too’. Last seasons 1st show on Philadelphia was an eye opener on Hoagies for me… so many amazing fillings and in general so much amazing food.
Judi
2 months ago
last modified: 2 months ago
neely, the next season of Somebody Feed Phil drops on March 1.

https://people.com/somebody-feed-phil-is-back-for-season-7-get-a-first-look-exclusive-8558218
seagrass_gw Cape Cod
2 months ago
last modified: 2 months ago
Anthony Bourdain appeared on my radar when Kitchen Confidential was published. He worked at my favorite restaurant in Provincetown (the Lobster Pot) and I enjoyed reading about his experiences in Provincetown when he was just starting out in the food world. I enjoyed all of his books, and his shows. His death was quite sad.
neely
2 months ago
Thanks Judi, looking forward to it.

I finally "get" Anthony Bourdain

LoneJack Zn 6a, KC

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