PrintBourdain Rants About the Food Network
"It's sort of like watching [BLEEEP BLEEEP BLEEEP]" —Anthony Bourdain on the Food Network
As part of The FN Dish, his new online video series for the Food Network, Adam "Amateur Gourmet" Roberts interviews Anthony Bourdain, who goes on an extended rant about the network.
Who should be on food television?
Dave Pasternack. Adam Perry Lang. Mario should have a show where he's actually unleashed and allowed to speak intelligently.
Do you watch any food TV?
I watch Ina Garten. She actually cooks well. I have no understanding of her alternate universe. I don't wanna stay at her house. I think her friends are creepy.... But when Ina Garten cooks mashed potatoes, those are some damn good mashed potatoes.
Link: Extended Anthony Bourdain Rant [Food Network]
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22 Comments:
Hahaha I couldn't stop laughing.
I definitely have a list of people I would love to see on food television, but that's just a who's who of culinary giants whose food or thoughts about food I admire.
I would love to see an uncensored interview.
Joseph Bayot at 2:26PM on 03/24/08
I 2nd that wish for an unedited version Joseph... that is an awesome piece of video! Tony totally rules!
jonfoxx at 2:51PM on 03/24/08
The man is honest, and he doesn't back away from his views. I respect that.
I happen to agree with him, too. The FN jumped the shark the day they published their first Sandra Lee recipe for Cool-Whip frosted store-bought Angel Food cake. They sank further into the abyss with every subsequent recipe of hers after that. And, then came Paula Deen, and her fetish for deep frying everything from butter to lasagna to pound cake. If that wasn't bad enough, they indulged her perverse love of Krispy Kremes, and gave her that awful show on Friday night. I won't even start with Rachael Ray.... ugh.
So, bless Bourdain! Lord save us from another Sandra Lee "recipe" or "tablescape", or the caricature of herself that they have allowed poor Paula Deen to become. I can't stand it! It hurts to watch, so I rarely do anymore.
Ina Garten, Giada's cooking shows, and sometimes Michael Chiarello is about all I can watch on FN. Sorry if this seems negative, but I really am on my last good nerve with FN. Aspiring to mediocrity is NOT a goo move for them.
Brownie at 2:56PM on 03/24/08
Love it! That was perhaps the least articulate I've ever seen him to be, but still made his point.
And where on earth was Adam filming that segment?! Jamie Oliver and Mario Batali chatting it up in the corner? I would like to be wherever that was!
LizNYC at 3:04PM on 03/24/08
I heart Anthony Bourdain. While I watch my fair share of FN, I have to agree that Ina cooks some really great stuff, but there is something to make fun of every food show host. The Semi-ho stuff has got to go!
Anyway, I find myself setting the DVR for all possible episodes of No Reservations!
saffron4859 at 3:19PM on 03/24/08
@LizNTC, my guess is that it is from the Divito's restaurant party during the South Beach Miami festival.
jonfoxx at 3:19PM on 03/24/08
Am I the only one who thinks that naming a show "the F-in' Dish" is pushing it a bit? Especially for a network that is "aspiring to mediocrity."
sidebernie at 3:46PM on 03/24/08
I love this guy. What you see is what you get. No phonyness, no "yummo" and the last I heard he wasn't hawking knives or cookware. I'm a major fan since "Kitchen Confidential". You either love him or hate him, there's no in-between.
RichardCrystal at 4:20PM on 03/24/08
RichardCrystal, I'm in between on Bourdain. While I think he's very smart, clever, funny and a hardworker, I also think he's not a top chef and there are some parts of his personality are too contrived. Like Poochie on "The Simpsons". Anyone else notice that "No Reservations" has become less about food and more about local crazies in foreign countries?
Chewy at 4:26PM on 03/24/08
@Chewy: "No Reservations" is, after all, on the Travel Network - I'm sure if the show didn't air on that network, it would be all food, all the time. But then again, what's food without the people?
looloopoopie at 4:35PM on 03/24/08
Is it just me, or did Bourdain seem to be seriously wasted?
sessjess at 5:53PM on 03/24/08
Bourdain is usually seriously wasted! ;-)
Curlz at 6:49PM on 03/24/08
i think bourdain is getting angrier since he quit smoking. someone refill his wine goblet.
chefman at 7:30PM on 03/24/08
I want to know what Tony thinks of The Weather Channel.
srhcb at 8:08PM on 03/24/08
Bourdain was totally wasted, wasn't he?
I know this is an old rant, but jeez, the Food Network used to actually be about food, and I miss it terribly. And regarding the few remaining actual chefs/cooks on the show, I agree wholeheartedly with AB. Ina Garten is great, and Giada DeLaurentis is annoying, but her food is good. Which gets me thinking... If I were starting my own food network, chisaiFood, who would I have on...
Not on topic, so I think I'll start a new one. Fun!
chisai at 8:23PM on 03/24/08
AB hit it out of the park... I wished it was Brooke Johnson doing the interview instead of @$$ munch. If it were up to Bourdain there would be like 3 people keeping their jobs and a whole host of good programs on FN. But FN is more like bourdain said... cheese on a triscuit. Man is he brilliant! I think it's funny to be flipping by the FN and see bourdain's old shows being played again. Maybe Brooke Johnson isn't as dumb as she was making herself out to be. You rule Tony!
Pavlov at 8:39PM on 03/24/08
Food Network gets its revenge on a drunk Bourdain.
kurteye at 12:22AM on 03/25/08
Adam needs to learn how to hold a microphone.
Spanno at 11:45AM on 03/25/08
I love Bourdain, on his show he travels to great places and doesn't wishy wash the way of life there. He finds someone who lives there and shows the best places to eat and make you want to visit there. Some of the shows on the FN are a joke, who changes all the accent colors in the kitchen depending on what you are cooking, get real.
joanpieroni2 at 9:42PM on 03/25/08
Joan....Who changes the accent colors in their kitchen depending on what they're cooking? I guess I look at the food and not the curtains over the fake window.
RichardCrystal at 10:11AM on 03/26/08
While I think Bourdain is a bit of a blowhard, his views on the FN ring true.
Have you seen the ads for their upcoming/new shows?
"He's a rock-n-roll cake baker."
"He's a male model/hockey player..."
"She's a hip-hop entreprenuer..."
It's about personalities, not food.
And don't even get me started on Guy Fieri. What a tool.
misterwrite at 4:11PM on 03/29/08
I think Bourdain was a bit lit. I dig him big time! I also think someone needs to tell Adam that banging the mic around like a rattle is disturbing. Adam get some help with that. It grinds on my last bit of humanity. The girlish sighing is equally disturbing. Someone call Al Roker and tell him to call Adam and give him pointers about interviewing big name chefs.
Giada doesn't suck that it true. I love Ina and who shouldn't the woman is fabulous to the 4th power. Where was that interview done? There was famous chefs waist deep. I agree I would have left lit Bourddain alone and went to the Batali Oliver chat. That must have been priceless.
You know what I like about Guy Fieri (aka Biker Billy cooks with jewelry)
he can shove a huge burger in his mouth and not get any on his shirt. That is about all.
JerzeeTomato at 9:28PM on 03/30/08