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.

Bourdain’s Books

Luckily, Food Network sees the value in having Alton host other shows besides the fabulous “Good Eats.” (If you haven’t seen this show yet, go now and watch it. You’ll have fun and learn something, too.) The most recent Alton appearance was on “All Star Kitchen Makeover”, a show which had homeowners sending in tapes for a chance to win a new kitchen. Four winners were selected and each winner was paired up with a celebrity chef: Emeril (surprise, surprise), Bobby Flay, Paula Deen, and Alton. Nic, the winner of the first episode, shot her tape in a similar style to Alton’s program, using an oven cam and quirky angles. This is a must-see for Alton fans as he actually goes into the kitchen, pokes around, cooks in it and finally ends up wandering around in a hard hat while they’re doing the demolition. There is also some background on Alton’s career, and some great pictures of him at work on TV shoots before he became a chef. Nice hair, dude. Alton had a hand in designing the kitchen, and there are scenes with him and the homeowners cooking there before and after the renovation.

Food Network is increasingly moving away from serious cooking shows into the realm of talkshow and perky (both covered by Rachel Ray). Shows like “All Star Kitchen Makeover” are just another example, but this one gets good marks simply because of Alton Brown’s appearance and involvement.

I was lucky enough to meet Alton recently and he turned out to be a lot like his television self. He’s interested in his fans, and will stand there for hours “until everyone who want’s to meet me, has.” I asked him if he could bump off Emeril because there was just too much of him floating around on Food Network. Alton’s reply: a contained grin and “Emeril is God over there.” Sad.