Anthony Bourdain has jumped the shark.

[youthere]

There. I said it. Last week's island expose on Jamaica was truly uninspiring, and this week..Romania is a complete sleeper. Sixty minutes of shots of Anthony sitting back, uninvolved and acting superior.
Oh Anthony, Anthony, Anthony.

[MonkeyFunk]

1. Damn!

I just started watching the show this week!

I'm almost finished reading Kitchen Confidential, and decided to check out his show. We watched the Peru episode, and I loved it, so I set a season pass for his new shows.

And now it sucks? sigh.... At least they repeat the old ones a few hundred times - I'll have to check 'em out.

[LostinVA]

9. Try to see the Beirut episode

I think his show is okay, but Haruka LOVES Bourdain, even forgiving him for his vegetarian comments. The Beirut episode was some of the best TV ever. There's a good salon.com article about it somewhere on the site.

[Shakespeare]

24. That was an outstanding episode. The Texas episode, too...

....for its focus on the immigration problem. Bourdain is much, much more than just a smart-assed foodie.

[Pithlet]

33. I saw him on a PBS on a documentary about Typhoid Mary..

He was very knowledgeable on the subject. At the time I only knew him as the occasional judge on Top Chef. I keep meaning to check out his show.

[youthere]

11. All the past episodes are fairly enjoyable...

and I can even look past his frequent jabs at vegetarians, but this season...holy crap, hold your nose.

[Connonym]

13. I'm reading Kitchen Confidential right now too

He admits to being smug and egotistical so I have to give him props for that. His comments about vegetarians ARE a bit harsh but I like the fact that wherever he goes he doesn't turn up his nose at trying the local cuisine no matter how bizarre it may seem to an American. I rather enjoy his snarky attitude in general.

[tigereye]

39. Kitchen Con was hilarious!

I haven't seen the show...

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

78. I really liked the PNW episode.

But I'm biased.

[mitchum]

2. He jumped the shark with his second book...

"Kitchen Confidential" was a truly funny and original take, but the second one ("A Cook's Tour"?) was just really mannered. Yeah, Tony, you've read Hunter S Thompson. So have a lot of us...

[flvegan]

3. Bourdain is a no-talent dipshit.

His quote, "Vegetarians, and their Hezbollah-like splinter faction, the vegans..." earned that. He couldn't launch his fat fucking ass over a shark with a catapult.

Fuck him.

[GoneOffShore]

5. ....

:eyes:

Just remember that BACON is the gateway protein for veggies.

You know you want it.

You can smell it sizzling right now.

[flvegan]

7. Don't make it personal.

It'll only make you look stupid.

Thanks.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

70. maybe you should take your own advice there.

You look a little silly.

[Rabrrrrrr]

10. I totally disagree.

He's a no-talent dipshit even without that quote, and long before he said it.

One of those guys that, for whatever reason, happens to stumble onto fame at just the right moment but who will, as soon as the media frenzy is over and he ceases to be a fad, be seen as an empty little toad showering the world with his irrelevance, and the world will sit back and sigh and say, "How could we have been so fucking stupid?" until tomorrow, when they do it with the next idiot who doesn't deserve it.

Bourdain will have no lasting value, and in a few years will be utterly forgotten, like all those one-hit wonder grammy winners that no one remembers any more.

[flvegan]

12. Rabrrrrr, I don't think I've ever been more enlightened by you in the past, but

you said it much better than I did, could, would or will.

[northzax]

19. sure, perhaps

but he will have made a lot of money, had a lot of fun and exposed a lot of people to new experiences in that time. Why does everything have to be high art?

[Crazy Dave]

22. My wife and I both think it's all about him

"I'm so cool and all these inbred, third world idiots are treating me like a king, blah, blah"

With that said we're fanatics for good scenery and usually watch with the volume turned off.

[WinkyDink]

63. I think he treats indigenous peoples with great respect.

[mondo joe]

71. Agreed. He seems, to me, to always treat the indigenous people with respect

as the people who have something to teach him. Not the reverse. And in some countries he is downright humble.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

75. He certainly treats them with more respect...

then the people who want to ban certain forms of ethnic cuisine.

[Shakespeare]

32. Ironically, Bourdain would probably heartily agree with you. But you'd both be wrong.

He's a good writer, and has shown his skills in both fiction and non-fiction (going back about 20 years). His Les Halles cookbook is right up there with Keller's (Ruhlman's) French Laundry cookbook as a primer on the basics of French cuisine, and probably a tad more approachable. His biography of Typhoid Mary is excellent, and historically significant for investigating angles on her life not previously considered.

As for his TV show, he's quite vocal about his hit-the-lottery situation, and frequently pokes fun at himself. However, the approach to the show of getting to know a culture through its cuisine is refreshing and often really revelatory. I understand that some people are put off by his irreverence, but that speaks more to personal taste and not to his talent.

[tigereye]

41. nicely said, Shakespeare...

[bicentennial_baby]

61. That Typhoid Mary bio was awesome!!

Agreed! :toast:

:loveya:

[Connonym]

15. not disputing your right to hate him over his comments re vegetarianism

but his ass most definitely is not fat. It's rather freaky, in fact, for a foodie to have an ass as skinny as Bourdain's.

[flvegan]

17. Coke, LSD and heroin might deserve an assist.

Maybe I should've taken a higher road and gone with "his nutritionally deficient ass" considering he should know better.

[Connonym]

18. that's better :)

I don't mean to be a language nanny but as a fat woman it bothers me to see the word fat used as a pejorative.

[northzax]

36. psst:

don't mean to startle you, but no one really like vegetarians.

come on, the man's life is eating and writing/talking about it, of course he thinks it is silly to voluntarily restrict what you will eat. I have a friend who won't come over for dinner (I throw dinners once a month) because I can't guarantee that the utensils have not been used on meat. are you joking? I have ones that aren't used on pork, to keep hallal for a friend, but you want me to have an entire set of utensils for you? She won't eat in restaurants that serve meat, she won't go to bars that serve meat because it makes her 'naseuous' so if any of us want to see her, we can only do it on her terms. not ours. That there is obnoxious.

[mondo joe]

42. It's funny - I have this neighbor couple - the wife is a vegetarian, the husbnd isn't -

but his diet is actually more limited than hers because he has SUCH a long list of foods he won't eat, and he has zero flexibility. No mushrooms, no eggplant, no avocado, no spinach, no sweet relish, no olives, and on and on and on.

The vegetarian wife is much easier to be with because she just takes care of herself, but the husband is a chore because he thinks his diet isn't limited - but he's such a pain to eat with.

Point being: Yeah, if you're really into food, any very limited diet in a friend can pose a problem.

[northzax]

50. and it's hard to have a chosen limited diet

and claim to be really into food. I get allergies (I am lactose intolerant myself) but to classify an entire genre of food as out makes it hard to claim a love for food. Yes, there is some very tasty vegan cuisine, but it is incredibly limited (it is a lot like eating only local stuff, come on, you want me to find a local salt producer? not use spices? bad plan. turnips all winter? yuck) there just isn't a lot of variety on tasty vegan cuisine. going vegan is a luxury granted by a wealthy lifestyle. in most of the world, people eat what they get their hands on. There is a wider variety of vegetarian cuisine, no doubt. but it is still artificially limiting.

and I get your point about picky eaters. I, personally, am pretty much omnivorous, if you take the time to make me food and offer it to me, I am going to eat it and not complain. I am lucky to not have any serious allergies to have to worry about. I have never once been in a restaurant, for instance, and complained there is nothing I can choose to eat, and I would despise myself if I got to that point.

[GoneOffShore]

52. Yay for omnivores

I have a couple of friends I can't cook for, because they're so worried that I'll use beef.

The only things I'm picky about are the things you find in the middle of the supermarket - anything with the words "Processed (fill in blank) Food". Or contains High Fructose Corn Syrup. Then I picky.

But I will eat offal, all vegetables, almost any grain and occasionally tofu (as long as there's some meat sauce).

[seemunkee]

65. I hate cooking when my BiL is coming for dinner

My Bil will not eat any fish, only chicken breasts, no lamb, no pork (except bacon), no veal(that one is OK by me), and no game of any kind. There are only a few vegetables that he finds tolerable, yet he acts like he is a gourmand that will eat anything.
I would rather cook for my vegetarian children. Their limitations are easy to understand and work around.

[northzax]

66. exactly

those are all chosen food limitations, pain in the butt

[mondo joe]

67. Oh yes. And my neighbor who won't eat like 99 ordinary things seems to take it as a personal

offense if any of his no-no list items are in a dish.

[yewberry]

76. Thanks, that's nice.

I like most omnivores, but not so much the ones who don't like me when they haven't met me, or the ones who compare me to Hezbollah.

There are obnoxious veg*ns and there are obnoxious meaters. Your 'friend' is exhibit A, and you seem to be shooting for being exhibit B.

[LSK]

55. hes fat???

:rofl:

[HEyHEY]

59. Does that make you, "Yams and Caratfat"

HIYOOO!

Actually, I haven't even seen his show. But, I must say it's been all over lately. Regarding the Vegan comment, seems to me all chefs dislike Vegans. I'm not one myself, but can only figure the reason they knock them is because Chefs are too unceative to find ways to cook without meat.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

77. The guy's an ornery french chef.

Of course he's going to disparage vegetarians. It's part of his heritage and training.

[GoneOffShore]

4. His TV show may have jumped the shark

But his thoughts in KC and The Nasty Bits are still spot on. As is his cookbook.

Don't go hating on my man Tony now.

[Ekirh]

6. I didn't particularly hate the Jamaican one . .

can't comment on the Romania one though . .

I still enjoy the show.

Never read his book though (The first one) although I've been told it's really really good.

[underpants]

20. I thought the Jamiaca one was pretty good- he went deep (literally) into their culture

and was fair at least in mentioning a lot of the problems in Jamaica and the criminal underworld.

The cave thing looked horrendous or at least like his producers didn't alert him to exactly what was coming.

He even went up into the high ground which appears to be a completely different culture

I have the Romania one on TiVo

[Swede]

8. Watching Beirut die by Anthony Bourdain.

We went to Beirut to film a TV show about the city's newly vibrant culinary and cultural scene. Then the bombs started falling, and we could only stand on the barricades of our hotel balcony and watch it all disappear -- again.

http://www.salon.com/mwt/feature/2006/07/28/bourdain_beirut/index.html

[Fox Mulder]

14. I can't stand Anthony, but I like the show.

Tony has this quality about him that he thinks he's better than everyone else, which makes him come off as a complete asshole and that takes away from the show.

I like the show's concept though.

[grasswire]

16. he took the easy way out in Romania

Halloween in Dracula's castle, where American tourists held dance contests. That was cheesy. There's so much beauty to Romania. He could have explored the Hungarian ethnic village food -- ethnic Hungarians are a discriminated minority in Romania. He could have covered the fact that the EU has banned horse drawn carts in Romanian towns, forcing the peasantry to abandon their horses to starvation because they cannot be fed; forcing a huge change of culture and more poverty for those agrarian peasants who cannot afford to buy a motorized cart.

[Shakespeare]

23. No, his producers took the easy way out. He visibly cringed throughout the show because.....

...everything they did lacked authenticity AND made for bad TV, and he couldn't really do anything about it (you could tell he HATED the Halloween schtick). It was obvious, and he knew it. He's always very respectful of other cultures in his shows, and is never shy about making sharp political comments (his comments on immigration in the Texas episode were excellent and righteously angry).

Bourdain is a good writer, a good journalist, and he suffers fools....well, not at all. He'll verbally skewer and mock himself as quickly as he does anybody else, so I've never found him to be a pompous asshole.

He's not a flash in the pan, either, as somebody else on the thread suggested. He's been a successful published author for over 20 years, a TV presence for almost 10 years, and his success doesn't seem to be flagging. He's more than just a sharp-tongued foodie, too--his book on Typhoid Mary is outstanding and significant.

[grasswire]

25. point well taken

But how much control does he have over his show? Doesn't he have the ability to refuse to do something really horrible? (And I thought that Halloween party was horrible. Even the pig killing was a lazy story -- I have a family member who does humanitarian work in Romanian villages and has been to many a pig killing to tell about.)

He is a good writer. He makes me laugh out loud, and I also find it amazing that he can just raise an eyebrow to the camera and convey infinite meaning.

Sometimes he's up, sometimes he's down. He's got a great job, so he's got my envy.

[northzax]

26. probably not much

it's all planned for him by the time he gets there. part of the show is him being suprised by what the producers come up with. sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

74. I wished he had talking about the Romanian Pig controversy.

Looked like the drunken, injured Russian was more interesting I guess.

[MissMillie]

21. I've been missing the shows this season

I just can't stay up that late.

I like Anthony. At first I just watched because of the food, but then I saw the Beruit episode and realized that Anthony was more than just a pompous gas-bag. He actually does have a soul.

I don't mind that he's imperfect. Hell, aren't we all?

[underpants]

27. The New Orleans show was really good-Emeril too!!

HE sat down with Emeril and they had a bit of a nice talk though it mostly was Bourdain-Emeril just kind of nodded in agreement.

[mtnester]

28. It is OBVIOUS when he hates where he is at

Like the Greeece episode.

However, they also replayed the China/Hong Kong episode and he was totally loving it and it was a fun show. He simply raved and bowed and applauded every place he went. We all know Tony could go bamboo on us anytime (his favorite saying)

I just think he wears his emotions raw right on his sleeve and has a hard time hiding it, even during "edits"

[mondo joe]

38. I especialy liked his Singapore show.

His interest and excitement was contagious.

[mtnester]

45. Yes, and when he goes to Thailand, you can feel it in his narrative

He definitely has favorite places. And he definitely lets his irritation with his producers shine through when he is unhappy or has been overrulled on a location. His narrtive when he started the Greece show was almost bitter.

[mondo joe]

47. I thought he handled the Vegas show well, given that it was so loathsome to him.

I think that's he thing about being a foodie - there's always something to look for no matter where you go.

[mtnester]

48. I hear you...I want a job like his for ONE year

sigh..just one year please.

[Akoto]

29. I really liked the one where he went to Japan.

You could tell that he was very into it (as was I).

[YankeyMCC]

30. I haven't watched much lately

but I worried when I heard of then saw bits and pieces of the cross-over New York episodes with the Bizarre Foods guy. Which btw is often gross not because of the foods he tries but because of the 'close up' audio of him chewing :(

Still, I'm not sure I'd say he's jumped the shark but I haven't seen that whole Jamaica episode, I did see a bit though where he seemed to be making excuses for the disparity of wealth and quality of life on the island and some amount of 'soothing' to the travel industry. But I only saw the last few minutes so I can't really say.

[youthere]

31. LOL! My husband and I said the same thing about the Bizarre Foods guy...

WHAT he eats, doesn't make us as sick as HOW he eats. Don't get me wrong...some of those things he tries are pretty gag inducing, but honestly that guy could be sitting across from me eating a Krispy Kreme donut and I'd want to hurl.

[mtnester]

46. OMG - we are the same way in our house

Zimmer simply chews with his mouth open, and after a while, it wears on you.

My hubby hates him for that reason. I don't watch him anymore either, but I do not detest him like hubby does.

If they had a different host, I would watch that show. Hell, I would do it...about the only thing I would refuse to eat is balut...plus, it has been done already anyway.

[YankeyMCC]

49. Yikes

I had to look up balut...not sure I could eat that either :)

[mtnester]

54. We saw balut for the first time on a TV show a couple of years ago, and

gagged through the entire show....NOT interested.

[MonkeyFunk]

79. ugh

I've seen many people eat balut - it was very popular at a card club I used to go to regularly.

It's as disgusting up close as you'd think it is.

[mtnester]

80. You have SEEN it up close?

yuck...I bet it smells too. And can I ask you what kind of intellectual weirdos and freaks do you play cards with? :) kidding

Gawd...I have the disgust shivers

[xchrom]

34. i've always had a love/hate thing with him.

[Bridget Burke]

35. I like some of his episodes more than others...

In fact, I haven't seen the ones you mention. (There are always re-runs.) But I doubt he's "jumped the shark." His NOLA show--this season--was pretty good.

And any shark that got near him would be in danger. Although his experiences with Iceland's famous fermented shark may have put him off that particular protein source.

[mondo joe]

37. Hm, I like him better now than I used to, as some of his edges have been worn down a bit.

I very much enjoy his frankness and his interest in foods, without the usual Travel & Tourism gloss.

[leftofthedial]

40. The New Orleans show was pretty amazing

I think he's just tired of all the traveling, the obligatory eating weird shit that isn't really food, the same old-same old . . .

[Phoonzang]

43. I thought his shows in Africa were pretty good.

I think he just looks like more of an asshole than he actually is. He seems to genuinely be interested in the foods of different nations. He also demonstrated an awareness that the people in those nations don't always eat like they do when he visits. As for comments about vegetarians...probably not a good idea to badmouth them on TV, but being a foodie who experiences a wide variety of cuisines, his attitude is understandable.

Andrew Zimmern is far superior however.... :-)

[youthere]

56. Andrew Zimmern would gain a lot of points with me if...

he could learn to chew with his mouth closed and not smack his lips. It's a HUGE pet peeve of mine.

[Phoonzang]

64. He does have that tendency

Also he kind of shoves the food in his mouth. But hey, if I was eating bear spleen I'd probably chew with my mouth open too! :-)

[Critters2]

44. Acting superior is the only thing he's good at .

With an ego that big, he's gotta be compensating for something.

[GoneOffShore]

51. Just in the interests of full disclosure

I've met Tony Bourdain twice. He's smart, opinionated and sure of himself. He's also brutally honest. In other words, he's a chef. Chefs who come up the hard way make a lot of people uncomfortable and don't always make for "warm and fuzzy" TV moments.

Too bad you think he's jumped the shark. Go watch $40 a day with Rachel Ray for warm and fuzzy.

And I have to partly agree with him that - “vegetarians are the enemy of everything good and decent in the human spirit, an affront to all I stand for, the pure enjoyment of food”. Only partly because I do know some vegs who aren't evangelical about it and condemn all of us who enjoy meat as murderers.

[youthere]

53. You read an awful lot into my short post.

I'm not at all interested in "warm and fuzzy".One of the things I LIKED about him was that he was edgy. But he's lost that (so far this season). My husband and I both have religiously watched him in the past and I'm telling you there's something missing from these new episodes. They are just FLAT.

[GoneOffShore]

57. Actually my reply was directed not so much at you

But rather at some of the other posters in the thread.

Sorry.

[GoneOffShore]

58. Dupe - delete

[Pogue.Mahone]

60. I like the fact...

that he really gets into the cuisine of the places he goes. he eats some weird stuff but nothing like that bald guy! :p i don't listen too much to most of what i hear on the boob tube. :D

[WinkyDink]

62. I agree, about the Romania episode. BORING! He seems to prefer Asian cuisines, IMHO.

But as far as "food reality"---in restaurants, in books, on TV---Tony is The Man! (With a tip of the hat to Graham Kerr!)

[Beausoir]

68. He has blogged about the Romania show. Link inside.

http://anthony-bourdain-blog.travelchannel.com/2008/02/romania-what-the-hell-happened.html

[Shakespeare]

69. Yep. You could see the scarcely contained anger throughout the entire show.

He was PISSED at the extortion bullshit they got at the statue, and just flat-out sickened by the schtick and un-authenticity of the Dracula hotel thing. He likes Zamir enough to have used him for three shows now, but I doubt they'll use him as a location "fixer" again.

[GOPisEvil]

72. I totally agree with Tony.

I thought the show was hilarious. It was just absurd.

I'd say Zamir's days are over - unless Tony goes back to Russia.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

73. I liked both episodes.

Obviously he didn't have great times in all the places.