Irritated with Bourdain

If you know me, even slightly, you know that for the past several years i have been an extreme Anthony Bourdain fan. It all started with his edgy/low budget 30 minute segments on the food network with A Cook's Tour and went on to his many books, then to his show on the Travel Channel with No Reservations. The way he wrote, spoke, interacted with others and the world in general fascinated me. I'll be the first to admit that it sometimes that my love for his work sometimes bordered on fanaticism. If you asked me to do anything on a Monday night, forget it. My " show" was on. Even if it was a repeat and i had seen it 8 times and also had it on DVD. Monday nights at 10 were sacred. But no more.

So I awaited my no reservations last Monday night, only to find it had been substituted with a TALK SHOW. ANTHONY BOURDAIN NOW HAS A TALK SHOW. I was beyond angry. I began grumbling at the television set in the bedroom and caused the dog to bark and pace around the bed. I will mention, as an aside, that I haven't been happy with the last season of his show anyway. The content has been slow and not entertaining to me-- not the show I have been used to. He doesn't dig as deep for whatever reason. But i still tuned in... out of habit, out of hope that the show was just in a kind of slump. I thought " well, i'll try watching it... it can't be that bad. it's tony bourdain." i was very wrong. See for yourself. The format went as follows:

1. Tony is en route to a restaurant in New York. On the way over, he whines about how he isn't sure if the show was going to be a good idea. He then steps out of his limo with his giant, expensive boots and loudly saunters into the NYC sunset. ( I know those boots make a very loud sound. They have to.)

2. Tony has dinner with people I don't know. ( Except for Ted Allen. I love that guy.)

3. Tony begins the show by talking about whether or not it was morally wrong for him to drop 1900 dollars the prior evening on sushi for two.

okay. if you have to even ponder the answer to that question for longer than a second, you're an idiot. and if you have to ponder it long enough to bring it to the table on your first talk show-- the first topic, even-- makes you appear to be a true, unadulterated jack ass. i mean, the guy starts saying " i mean, i know there's so many people starving in the world"-- and i think to myself, stop right there jerko. there's your answer. no more discussion. there was no need to boast it as a topic of discussion to anyone anyway, let alone air it on national television.

Now i have to say that out of digust, i turned the television off during his moral sushi dilemma. so i didn't watch the rest of the show, which might have been witty, but from the looks of the commercials i doubt it. but even without the show, the fact that his blogs of late have been dry, his shows boring... i mean the one blog from Tuscany talks about how he's at some fancy ass resort feeding his daughter olives. please. I read somewhere a month or so ago that as far as chefs go, he's like on the top 10 list of the wealthiest.

it was like i had just been told santa wasn't real. ( but for the record, i never got a true confirmation that he wasn't real. all my mother would tell me was that the "spirit" of santa claus was real... she still stands by that statement today...)

I'm flabbergasted. Of all people.... You, Bourdain? Really? Next I'll be reading that he's having drinks and exchanging shopping spree stories with the Palins .