"No Reservations: An Evening with Anthony Bourdain" is scheduled for 8 p.m. Feb. 11.
In his Easton appearance, Bourdain will share the stories behind his life, books, travels and his show. And he'll take questions from the audience.
Bourdain is executive chef at New York bistro Les Halles, host of Travel Channel's "No Reservations" and the author of bestseller "Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly."
"Kitchen Confidential," published in 2001, is both memoir and tell-all of Bourdain's culinary journey. He shares anecdotes of other chefs (sometimes changing their name) and inside information on the business. The book was well received by critics and readers, and made Bourdain a celebrity.
Link to the Morning Call review here
When Anthony Bourdain, Travel Channel star
and best-selling author, rolls into Easton for his Feb. 11 appearance at
the State Theatre, he won't be cooking or passing out samples.
Bourdain will instead dish up a wide-ranging conversation flavored by
his worldwide travels and tempered by his culinary experiences in
professional kitchens.
The sharp-tongued chef who stars in "Anthony Bourdain: No
Reservations," first earned his ticket out of the kitchen and his
passport to the world by writing the best-selling "Kitchen Confidential:
Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly."
After he's talked for 45 to 50 minutes, he'll take questions from the
audience. But be warned: This chef who has gulped the still-beating
heart of a cobra and a seal's eyeball, along with other
stomach-wrenching nibbles including ants, doesn't want to be asked,
"What is the grossest thing you've ever eaten?"
His extreme-cuisine days, as the star of "A Cook's Tour" on the Food
Network, are over. "I don't miss them. I've eaten it all, been there,
done that. [Andrew] Zimmern does that now. I mean it still happens
sometimes as I travel. I'm offered things that are very different than
you are used to, and I still eat them. But I don't go out looking for
those foods," he says.
He's also tired of questions about whether those "wild side" foods ever made him sick and how he stays so thin as he eats his way around the world.
He says, "I also get cranky about anyone who abuses or belittles or
lies about food. Now that I have traveled the world and seen how proud
people are of their food, I hate bad food … fake Italian or fake Mexican
food. That makes me cranky. Olive Garden commercials make me a little
testy … I also don't like to see TV chefs abusing food. I'm not a fan of
Sandra Lee and
some of the stuff I see on the Food Network. It's debatable if some of
it should be called food or whether it should be fed to anyone you
love."
He's also tired of questions about whether those "wild side" foods ever made him sick and how he stays so thin as he eats his way around the world.
"I'd much rather be surprised by difficult, awkward or embarrassing
questions than keep answering those questions again and again," he says.
During a brief phone interview before leaving to film another episode
of "No Reservations" in Brazil, Bourdain admits he has no scripted plan
for his night onstage in Easton. "I'll talk about whatever's on my mind.
Whatever is making me angry … whatever I'm excited about," he says.
Right now, he says, "I'm pretty happy about the way the world of food
and restaurants are going, but I still get angry about some of the food
writing that's done, if it is done badly or dishonestly. I really
dislike people who claim to love food but who, in fact, hate the people
who prepare the food. It's an entitled class of food writers who make me
cranky."
Will people want to hear this culinary ramble? If their reaction to
"Kitchen Confidential" can be used as a measure, you bet! After all,
Bourdain is the guy who opened diners' eyes to restaurant realities such
as how Sunday breakfast buffets dispose of leftovers and why it's not a
good idea to order fish on Mondays.
Bourdain, once labeled the "Bad Boy of Cuisine," is tired of that
moniker, too. "I never took it too seriously. It was silly when it was
first used. I was 44 then, and hardly a boy. It's even sillier 10 years
later. I feel no obligation to live up to it or live it down."
However, he admits he's proud that network officials decided to run
discretionary advisories about the program's content. "It tells people
that my show is for adults. I'm grateful for the distinction at a time
when most television is made deliberately for idiots."
Bourdain's show really isn't your typical armchair travelogue of all
that's beautiful about a country. He often shows the seamier side of
countries riddled by poverty or war, and travels to places most people
would avoid as readily as the plague. A recent episode, for example,
shows Bourdain and his crew descending into a mucky Jamaican cave to see
2 million bats.
On the road for at least 225 days a year (175 are required just for the
show, and the others are devoted to public appearances and book tours),
he admits it is tough spending so much time away from his wife, Olivia,
and 3-year-old daughter, Ariane, and confides, "If you've noticed a
suspiciously high number of shows focused on Western Europe, it's
because I can take my wife and daughter along."
So why is he on the road for this speaking engagement? True to his
straight-shooting reputation, he says, "It is incredibly lucrative and
it's also fun. I get to make money but I also get to meet my fans and
find out what they're thinking."
Who are his fans? "That changes, depending on the day of the week.
Early in the week, viewers are younger and mostly restaurant people. On
Fridays and Saturdays, when most restaurant folks are working, it's an
ethnically diverse and older crowd. Sometimes, 40 to 50 percent of the
fans who are responding to the show and my books are Asians and Asian
Americans."
Now in his seventh season of "No Reservations," and well beyond the
100th episode, Bourdain isn't worried about running out of places to
visit.
"I could do a show in China every week and still die ignorant of all it
has to offer … I'm looking forward to another trip to Japan in a few
weeks. … We've never done a show in Burgundy. Going anywhere in Italy is
a joy. I'm still hoping governments will change in Burma and Iran so we
can shoot there … I love Copenhagen. I love going to Vietnam because
it's the perfect confluence of really proud people who are passionate
about food and great ingredients and a beautiful landscape …" his voice
trails off.
But Spain probably is his happiest destination. "It's the home of the most creative cooks in the western world," he says.
He's optimistic about the movement of eating local and producing organic and sustainable foods but adds, "The way we've been eating is killing us. It's actually a national security problem that makes me hope the government will step in and find ways to punish unhealthy eating and reward healthier eating. Of course, with the price of ingredients increasing, the ration of proteins to vegetables and starch will change. Eventually, we'll have to eat more like the Chinese because economies will demand it."
He's optimistic about the movement of eating local and producing organic and sustainable foods but adds, "The way we've been eating is killing us. It's actually a national security problem that makes me hope the government will step in and find ways to punish unhealthy eating and reward healthier eating. Of course, with the price of ingredients increasing, the ration of proteins to vegetables and starch will change. Eventually, we'll have to eat more like the Chinese because economies will demand it."
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