Theatre: Anthony Bourdain at the State Theatre

Attention all foodies: Anthony Bourdain, aka "the bad boy of cuisine," has been booked to perform at Easton's State Theatre in February.

"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.

"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."

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." 
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."




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