Anthony Bourdain is exactly 1/4th as cool as he thinks he is.
I really wanna like him, but damn if he's not annoying as hell. Isn't he a little old to be bragging about getting drunk? And if you're at an age at which you need to put on reading glasses to survey a menu, don't you think you should retire the thumb ring?
the dude gets paid to fly around the world and eat food and drink alcohol. whats not cool about that?
Oh, that's very cool. But does he have to talk over the heads over his English-as-second-language hosts (so as not to be understood), floss his barbed wire tattoo at every occasion and constantly reference his "bad boy drug days of the 80s"?
For such a tall man who has achieved a high level of success in life, he sure comes across as insecure.
Having said that, I still watch his show because I'm interested in the culture and cuisine of the places he visits--and I keep hoping that I can make it through an episode without being annoyed.
He just seems like someone who would talk about the "good old days at CBGBs" even though he never went there. I'm having a hard time nailing down what it is exactly that bugs me about him. I think part of it has to do with the fact that he looks and acts like an older version of this (really tall white) guy I used to train kung fu with. An insecure know-it-all blowhard (on his best days). Dudes even look alike!
For what it's worth, I'd much rather see Shig get a show like this. Speaking of, how can you abide his oft-mentioned hatred of karaoke? He's played it up in at least two episodes.
PS Why do I feel like I'm about to get a flood of indignant PMs from Aser? Aiya!
when you been watching cooking shows for as long as i have its a breath of fresh air. and mind u i didnt have cable. so im talking bout julia childs, the frugal gourmet, and yan can mufuken cook. anythings better than that fool chinkin it up for the tv.
i did see an episode where he cowered in the norebang corner. he'll eat fermented dog dick but wont sing?!
I used to work in "italian pizza" place on Upper East Side. All kitchen stuff & pizzamans were Mexican, counter persons & waiters were Polish/Moroccan/Dominican & the owner was middle aged Irish immigrant from Cork.
From what i heard no Italians ever worked there (the company was found in early 90s) so "ethnic pizza" would be better name for that joint. (anyway, their pizza was great, very thin crust, lot of fresh veggies, tomatoes instead of sauce)
Well my point anyways wasn't that mexicans can't make sushi, because in fact for some reason mexicans make everything fantastically. My point is that the sushi joints won't put a mexican behind the counter because then it won't feel "authentic". Whats funny is that in SD 1/2 the time the sushi guys are Korean anyways, but nobody can really tell. I've actually been to very few sushi places with actual japanese dudes doing the cutting. I've seen Chinese, Korean, and shit, even a vietnamese dude! But most of them are korean as far as I can tell.
So i did a little digging and found out that Mexican sushi chefs are a "hot" topic at the moment. This was taken from LA Food Blog. Mexican Sushi Rules.
I was busted by my dining companion a few weeks ago for trying to drop some rusty nihongo on a Korean sushi chef. Somehow our drunken conversation swerved onto the topic of authentic Japanese sushi versus California sushi and then by extension we wandered into a dopey debate about Japanese versus non-Japanese sushi chefs. I???d like to thank Sapporo for the assistance.
Meantime, the Daily Bulletin actually did some authentic reporting on the topic and come up with some interesting information.
Andy Matsuda, founder of Sushi Chef Institute in Los Angeles, said about 70 percent of Japanese restaurants in Southern California are owned by non-Japanese immigrants ??? mostly with Korean, Chinese, Thai and Filipino backgrounds.
According to reporter Wendy Leung???s findings, the percentage of non-Japanese sushi chefs in SoCal is only expected to grow:
Over the past ten years the Japanese-Americans population in California dropped 8 percent. Meanwhile, the Chinese, Korean, Vietnamese and Filipino communities grew dramatically.
Leung also talks to Mexican sushi chefs and notes that in a sushi chef competition sponsored by the Japanese Restaurant Association of Southern California, winners in the past two years were of Mexican and Portuguese descent[/b] .
In Time Out NY this week they poll a bunch of top chefs about the state of restaurants in the city and one of them says "Long live badass Mexican cooks. Without them this city would fall". Amen to that.
So i did a little digging and found out that Mexican sushi chefs are a "hot" topic at the moment. This was taken from LA Food Blog. Mexican Sushi Rules.
I was busted by my dining companion a few weeks ago for trying to drop some rusty nihongo on a Korean sushi chef. Somehow our drunken conversation swerved onto the topic of authentic Japanese sushi versus California sushi and then by extension we wandered into a dopey debate about Japanese versus non-Japanese sushi chefs. I???d like to thank Sapporo for the assistance.
Meantime, the Daily Bulletin actually did some authentic reporting on the topic and come up with some interesting information.
Andy Matsuda, founder of Sushi Chef Institute in Los Angeles, said about 70 percent of Japanese restaurants in Southern California are owned by non-Japanese immigrants ??? mostly with Korean, Chinese, Thai and Filipino backgrounds.
According to reporter Wendy Leung???s findings, the percentage of non-Japanese sushi chefs in SoCal is only expected to grow:
Over the past ten years the Japanese-Americans population in California dropped 8 percent. Meanwhile, the Chinese, Korean, Vietnamese and Filipino communities grew dramatically.
Leung also talks to Mexican sushi chefs and notes that in a sushi chef competition sponsored by the Japanese Restaurant Association of Southern California, winners in the past two years were of Mexican and Portuguese descent[/b] .
So i did a little digging and found out that Mexican sushi chefs are a "hot" topic at the moment. This was taken from LA Food Blog. Mexican Sushi Rules.
I was busted by my dining companion a few weeks ago for trying to drop some rusty nihongo on a Korean sushi chef. Somehow our drunken conversation swerved onto the topic of authentic Japanese sushi versus California sushi and then by extension we wandered into a dopey debate about Japanese versus non-Japanese sushi chefs. I???d like to thank Sapporo for the assistance.
Meantime, the Daily Bulletin actually did some authentic reporting on the topic and come up with some interesting information.
Andy Matsuda, founder of Sushi Chef Institute in Los Angeles, said about 70 percent of Japanese restaurants in Southern California are owned by non-Japanese immigrants ??? mostly with Korean, Chinese, Thai and Filipino backgrounds.
According to reporter Wendy Leung???s findings, the percentage of non-Japanese sushi chefs in SoCal is only expected to grow:
Over the past ten years the Japanese-Americans population in California dropped 8 percent. Meanwhile, the Chinese, Korean, Vietnamese and Filipino communities grew dramatically.
Leung also talks to Mexican sushi chefs and notes that in a sushi chef competition sponsored by the Japanese Restaurant Association of Southern California, winners in the past two years were of Mexican and Portuguese descent[/b] .
If you get a chance to stick your head in ANY kitchen in ANY restaurant, you will find folks from Central America, They RUN shit as far as restaurant cooks in the USA. Actually chefs look for Mexican/Central American kitchen help because of their work ethic, quality control, skill....Anthony Bourdain wrote a lengthy essay on it recently....
If you buy that dog doo doo, I've got a big bag of magic beans to sell you.
Most "Chefs" are generally blowhard, egotists, and this generally is a sign of low self esteem, and insecurity. So it would make sense for some wack job, head case to have people around him who do not pose a threat to their little ego, i.e. people who are deemed inferior to themselves.......this is where the "wetbacks" come in handy. These wacko chefs also love (generally because they were fuck ups in school) drugs, so it also works for them to have people around them who can get them easily------> most drugs are smuggled in through Mexico, so a lot of illegals who end up working in kitchens usually have some access to Yayo through some other connection.
Also if the chefs champion them so much (which is really some silly ploy) why do they pay them shit wages for slave labor and no health insurance???
Most chefs use those folks as their little stepping stools, not out of some bullshit admiration. If you don't believe me, then check out their salary and they wages they pay the help.
Comments
Usually a Japanese head chef though.
Worst pizza I ever had was in Mexico City. It just didn't taste right.
That dude rocks.
I really wanna like him, but damn if he's not annoying as hell. Isn't he a little old to be bragging about getting drunk? And if you're at an age at which you need to put on reading glasses to survey a menu, don't you think you should retire the thumb ring?
Indefensible at any age.
Come on man... we aging lushes need someone to look up to!
I am saying!
Oh, that's very cool. But does he have to talk over the heads over his English-as-second-language hosts (so as not to be understood), floss his barbed wire tattoo at every occasion and constantly reference his "bad boy drug days of the 80s"?
For such a tall man who has achieved a high level of success in life, he sure comes across as insecure.
Having said that, I still watch his show because I'm interested in the culture and cuisine of the places he visits--and I keep hoping that I can make it through an episode without being annoyed.
He just seems like someone who would talk about the "good old days at CBGBs" even though he never went there. I'm having a hard time nailing down what it is exactly that bugs me about him. I think part of it has to do with the fact that he looks and acts like an older version of this (really tall white) guy I used to train kung fu with. An insecure know-it-all blowhard (on his best days). Dudes even look alike!
For what it's worth, I'd much rather see Shig get a show like this. Speaking of, how can you abide his oft-mentioned hatred of karaoke? He's played it up in at least two episodes.
PS Why do I feel like I'm about to get a flood of indignant PMs from Aser? Aiya!
The apprentice of the main place we eat sushi is Mexican and he hooks it up.
Just wanted to say my Mexican brothers and sisters can make Sushi too.
and with that, I'm out...>
i did see an episode where he cowered in the norebang corner. he'll eat fermented dog dick but wont sing?!
From what i heard no Italians ever worked there
(anyway, their pizza was great, very thin crust, lot of fresh veggies, tomatoes instead of sauce)
"Secret is a VERY SHARP KNIFE!"
WOW
wait til u try pizza in japan.
http://www.chachich.com/mdchachi/jpizza2.html
Go figure.
youre a sushi chef too?
Well my point anyways wasn't that mexicans can't make sushi, because in fact for some reason mexicans make everything fantastically. My point is that the sushi joints won't put a mexican behind the counter because then it won't feel "authentic". Whats funny is that in SD 1/2 the time the sushi guys are Korean anyways, but nobody can really tell. I've actually been to very few sushi places with actual japanese dudes doing the cutting. I've seen Chinese, Korean, and shit, even a vietnamese dude! But most of them are korean as far as I can tell.
This looks hella good:
Yeah I said "hella". And I stand by it.
i had no idea! really?
i've never read any of his books but my friend just loaned me kitchen confidential which has been hyped so much
I was busted by my dining companion a few weeks ago for trying to drop some rusty nihongo on a Korean sushi chef. Somehow our drunken conversation swerved onto the topic of authentic Japanese sushi versus California sushi and then by extension we wandered into a dopey debate about Japanese versus non-Japanese sushi chefs. I???d like to thank Sapporo for the assistance.
Meantime, the Daily Bulletin actually did some authentic reporting on the topic and come up with some interesting information.
Andy Matsuda, founder of Sushi Chef Institute in Los Angeles, said about 70 percent of Japanese restaurants in Southern California are owned by non-Japanese immigrants ??? mostly with Korean, Chinese, Thai and Filipino backgrounds.
According to reporter Wendy Leung???s findings, the percentage of non-Japanese sushi chefs in SoCal is only expected to grow:
Over the past ten years the Japanese-Americans population in California dropped 8 percent. Meanwhile, the Chinese, Korean, Vietnamese and Filipino communities grew dramatically.
Leung also talks to Mexican sushi chefs and notes that in a sushi chef competition sponsored by the Japanese Restaurant Association of Southern California, winners in the past two years were of Mexican and Portuguese descent[/b] .
whatchu know about Galloping Gourmet...that's that real old school "cooking" shit...
DAMN I CALLED THAT.
Like I said, I see this all the time.
not me
cooked in lime. doesnt count.
the spot los balcones in hollywood makes really good peruvian ceviche complete with imported andean dinosaur corn
If you buy that dog doo doo, I've got a big bag of magic beans to sell you.
Most "Chefs" are generally blowhard, egotists, and this generally is a sign of low self esteem, and insecurity. So it would make sense for some wack job, head case to have people around him who do not pose a threat to their little ego, i.e. people who are deemed inferior to themselves.......this is where the "wetbacks" come in handy. These wacko chefs also love (generally because they were fuck ups in school) drugs, so it also works for them to have people around them who can get them easily------> most drugs are smuggled in through Mexico, so a lot of illegals who end up working in kitchens usually have some access to Yayo through some other connection.
Also if the chefs champion them so much (which is really some silly ploy) why do they pay them shit wages for slave labor and no health insurance???
Most chefs use those folks as their little stepping stools, not out of some bullshit admiration.
If you don't believe me, then check out their salary and they wages they pay the help.
Graham Kerr the original OG.
Used to watch him in NY as a kid.