Now tell me, how often do you get to see a celebrity chef in the throes of an Absenthe-induced hallucination while languishing in the hotel room where Oscar Wilde died?
Yep, Anthony Bourdain is at it again with his new program “No Reservations” on the Travel channel. Clocking in at an hour long, the episodes are packed with Bourdain’s acerbic commentary as well as food commentary and interesting tidbits about the lesser-traveled areas of the country he’s visiting.
The first episode took a look at France and was titled “Why the French Don’t Suck”. Bourdain visits an absenthe bar, stays in Oscar Wilde’s last residence, refreshes his french with a tutor, and of course, tries the local food and drink with appropriate commentary. (Or inappropriate depending on your point of view).
Before leaving New York, Bourdain polishes his French with a tutor where he insists on learning such phrases as “your baguette is poking my genitals” and “I am hung over, please kill me.” He pokes fun at the whole French fries/freedom fries issue, gets lost in the catacombs and sips wine at 7 in the morning–all the while smoking like a fiend while telling you it’s bad for you.
Bourdain’s brand of humor and presentation may not be for everybody, but the bottom line is you end up learning something because you hang on every word wondering just what the heck he’ll say next.
The show is currently in reruns while they’re working on the next few episodes. In the meantime, Food Network is rerunning “A Cook’s Tour” in the 4am time slot. If you haven’t seen this series, set the Tivo. It’s worth it. “A Cook’s Tour” could be called “No Reservations” lite, but only because it’s only a half hour and Bourdain was constrained by Food Network’s love of the vapid. It focuses more exclusively on the food and you always get the sense that Bourdain has other things he wants to say but can’t. Even so, it’s an amusing and informative half hour with a one of a kind celebrity chef.
Factoid: In addition to his acclaimed “Kitchen Confidential” and “A Cooks Tour” books, Bourdain has written several crime novels with cooking themes as well as other non-fiction offerings.
