Q&A: Anthony Bourdain

pickypalate21 from Los Angeles, CA - April 03, 2009 at 7:08 PM

Stickyrice: Tony plans on moving his family to Vietnam soon....can't seem to get enough.

srw911 from St. Louis - April 02, 2009 at 5:47 AM

You said your brain turned to mush when you were on the Food Network. Are there any chefs you respect on the Food Network?

Stickyrice from Thailand - April 01, 2009 at 10:02 PM

Hey AB, are you ever going to stray back to South East Asia? I saw these guys from Top Gear travel the length of Vietnam in 8 days on motorbikes. It was awesome to watch and made me want to get off my damn couch and head to the nearest airport. Sound like fun? Facebook me anytime guy. Tommy P (network Thailand) Peace brudda!

RebeccaJ77 from RaleighNC - April 01, 2009 at 7:34 PM

It is so refreshing for someone to call it as they see it...thank you Mr. Bourdain! It is always a pleasure reading or hearing you speak.

FUNGImushroom from CULVER - April 01, 2009 at 5:50 AM

OLA ...I agree that the names selected by some for catching the minds eye and instant recall for return visits to eateries on any level, SHUN the intended clientele. Some catchy phrases turn off the body's auto digestive tract . OLD SPAGHETTI? ... GRILLED MACARONI? I toyed with names such as "SOUP HOUND" or "THE SOUP LINE" ...simply because of today's economy. It boasts affordability, while allowing room for the gourmet taste in even that lowly mentioned focus, SOUP. With an opportunity for bed and breakfast in COFFEEN... I anticipated having COFFEEN and CREME hanging over my doorway. LAST BUT NOT LEAST, I'm working on a FUNGI MUSHROOM. I figure it's as good as any promise of food from HALLE.

Saira from Los Angeles - March 31, 2009 at 10:37 PM

Have to try this SIngapore Style Cuisine, The Singapore Banana Leaf at Farmers Market, I'm pretty close to this place. Sounds Delicious.

sheilatago from beach - March 31, 2009 at 10:16 PM

Bourdain. Anthony Bourdain. Always more, never less. Love it!!

supernaught from duarte - March 31, 2009 at 8:43 PM

Looking forward to the L.A. show and seeing where he went. The best eateries in L.A. are in the neighborhoods (Mexican, Chinese, Thai, Korean, Lebanese, etc) and not so much the places that have become a scene for Hollywood socialites or any gentrified "ethnic" restaurants. I was in SE Asia while he was filming in L.A. and wish I've run into him (or follow in his footsteps to the same eateries) either in Vietnam and/or L.A.

daxus2 from Humboldt, California - March 31, 2009 at 7:12 PM

Just a quick 'hell yeah!' about LA doing the low end so well...

Cessa12 from Cicero - March 31, 2009 at 5:22 PM

Thanks, Tony. I love you for your work, but mainly because you tell it how it is, which for you, comes completely effortlessly. I appreciate the honesty.

carole131 from the villages, fl. - March 31, 2009 at 5:16 PM

I get a kick out of the restaurant reviews in The New Yorker magazine. The pretentiousness of some of those restaurants turns me off. Watching Tony, we learn that the simplest ingredients can cause spectacular results on your palate. We know when it's good, just watching him eat. He mentioned unfortunate names for restaurants. I think that the name, "Turkey Hill" on ice cream is awful. Poster "Park Avenue", your comment struck a chord. I have a son with that type of personality. I always said that Tony reminds me of our sons.

Chefdeb from CT - March 31, 2009 at 4:03 PM

One of the things that has made me love you over the years is your willingness to freely bash other tv personalities like Rachel Ray or Sandra Lee and I really do agree with you HOWEVER as far as Sandra Lee goes do you find no value in the fact that much of her audience wouldn't cook AT ALL--she gets them started and then hopefully some small ppercentage eventually discover a palette. The other thing in defense of Sandra Lee (I'm truly sorry I can't believe I even said "in defense of Sandra Lee")is one episode that I saw her in a white dress frost a wedding cake in one take and it was an amazing sight to see. I've been a chef for 30 years--I've had restaurants in New York & Connecticut, I've taught at The New School Culinary Institute I was Food Editor of a magazine , I'm a mother of 2 and I am an old school hard core hippie who has travelled extensively and I can really cook. I used to take my kids to Carl Schurz!! Anyway I love you.

Dvek from Unfortunatesville - March 31, 2009 at 3:01 PM

If Tony had taught EN101, I might remember some of it. Furthermore, I would have learned to loosen up and drink a little a few years sooner. Is anyone else amazed when someone doesn't know who Tony is? Like, at all? D:

Captainjeff from Meriden, Connecticut - March 31, 2009 at 2:49 PM

teaching creative writing...to 5th graders or English 101...almost the same today... however i have seen writing skills in general depreciate...so my writing skill have improved, by default... (i do not practice formal writing skills on the Internet...as most of us do not...)

eddiehdez2 from South Bend In - March 31, 2009 at 1:56 PM

well he is a legend. Eventhough his head has gotten a little big lately he still is 90% real. He does have the knowledge that a lot of us admire.

Bignorthsky from New Hampshire - March 26, 2009 at 11:19 PM

Point Blank...I get it just fine actually. And you can make all the assumptions you like about my experience working in restaurants. Fact is I have worked in high end, middle end and low end restaurants. Just about every restaurant person has. And you're being nothing more than a pompous prig by automatically making the presumption that by not wanting to work with someone who has a terrible attitude, little people skills and an overblown ego makes me somehow less knowledgable. Each persons experience is different but, I'll say it again, I do not want to work with people who have lousy attitudes...towards their employer, their co-workers and, most importantly, the customers who walk through the door each day. Just stay home. Peace

pickypalate21 from Los Angeles, CA - March 26, 2009 at 10:09 PM

Pointblank- Re: The idea that the book wasn't made for the masses. Today at his keynote speech at the UCLA Restaurants Conference, Tony said that he designed the book for people in the industry in New York. He never dreamed it would get outside of his hometown, let alone go global. There are countless chefs in the industry who approach him regularly, complimenting him on his clever account of an oft-misunderstood life in the back of the house. I agree with you. He deserves all the props he gets. The man is a legend.

Shellster from Highland Park - March 26, 2009 at 3:38 PM

Anthony Bourdain has been a fixture on both TiVo's in my house. My husband and I love his show No Reservations and my husband has read all of his books. We are fans and seeing his face on MetroMix drew me right to this excellent interview. I love learning he'd like to teach 5th graders some time.

pointblank from aspen - March 26, 2009 at 2:42 PM

Mr. Bignorthsky from New Hampshire, you just don't get it. I hardly think Mr. Bourdain intended his book for the masses in the first place. If in your 30 yrs you ever worked in a real restaurant, putting out high-end cuisine and pouring out your heart and soul in every plate, you would understand the perspective Mr. Bourdain has of the industry. I, as many others, found it to be a parallel to what I experienced in all the years I lived that same life-style. If after 30 yrs you haven't yourself developed a bit of crust from loving and living in this industry, then you must have worked 30 yrs in mid-market hash houses that have nothing but a rotating head theory as to their employees and wish nothing more than to mold their souless, empty minds into something they feel should be the standard restaurant over-positive and uterlly fake personalities we see all to often at Fridays, Houstons, and Bennigans. So keep it to yourself, and focus on your collection of FLAIR!

eddieholguin from Butte Montana - March 26, 2009 at 2:11 PM

No reservatios with Anthony Bourdain is the a great show. Hands down the only guy in the restaurant business who gives credit to the real people behind all the glitz and glamour of most fine restuarants..Thanks Tony for being real. A shot of patron' out strected to you...saludos! :)

freebeer from Fullerton - March 26, 2009 at 12:35 PM

Tony Bourdain is pimp. He's a great writer, narrator, cook and likes to drink/party. I love this guy! lol

Emilieq from Minnesota - March 26, 2009 at 11:10 AM

Could someone ask him to cut back on the booze so he could write more restaurant reviews.

bethany from los feliz - March 26, 2009 at 12:57 AM

What's not to love about Anthony Bourdain...he rocks!! I love what he said about Sandra Lee. Her cooking is an absolute joke. Cooking with processed food is something we are trying to get away from. We are in living in a nation where our president is growing a garden on the white house lawn, thanks to Alice Waters. So I applaud him for everything that he said..oh and Sandra Lee should be canned!!!

Bignorthsky from New Hampshire - March 25, 2009 at 11:49 PM

I was so angry and annoyed at his book "Kitchen Confidential" as it did little more than scare people about restaurants, and restaurant employees, unnecessarily. It was just a real hatchet job in my opinion. But his book on Typhoid Mary "Typhoid Mary: An Urban Historical" is truly a gem. WELL worth the read. I just don't feel, as a 30 plus year worker in restaurants, that anything is accomplished for anyone with a bad unpleasant unfriendly attitude. You might as well just stay home in bed because I ceretainly don't want to listen to you much less work with you OR for you. Peace

Bignorthsky from New Hampshire - March 25, 2009 at 11:48 PM

I was so angry and annoyed at his book "Kitchen Confidential" as it did little more than scare people about restaurants, and restaurant employees, unnecessarily. It was just a real hatchet job in my opinion. But his book on Typhoid Mary "Typhoid Mary: An Urban Historical" is truly a gem. WELL worth the read. I just don't feel, as a 30 plus year worker in restaurants, that anything is accomplished for anyone with a bad unpleasant unfriendly attitude. You might as well just stay home in bed because I ceretainly don't want to listen to you much less work with you OR for you. Peace

Scoob from Woodland Hills - March 25, 2009 at 3:21 PM

Great interview, anthony is just so blunt i love it

foood lova from sherman oaks - March 25, 2009 at 2:45 PM

love it!

Park Avenue from Beekman - March 25, 2009 at 10:01 AM

Tony's so funny It's rare that someone with so much anger can be so damned funny love the rage .

angelic from Miracle Mile - March 24, 2009 at 3:43 PM

great interview!