Already not a fan of the James Beard Foundation, Anthony Bourdain is pissed off at the plans they've made for this year's awards: This year, it has been decided that in favor of bigger and swankier accommodations for the self-congratulatory nearly all-white attendees, that the cooks can take it in their collective poop-chute. At the new venue, Avery Fisher Hall, only hot boxes, induction tops, and propane burners are allowed. Reheats only! Out of town chefs with ambitions to actually cook at some point in the prep process are invited to bunk with the locals, jamming their food and staff into New York's already too-small, too crowded kitchens. It's a breathtakingly tone-deaf, dismissive move—one that will only cement the unspoken... More

Just one week after restauranteur Jeffrey Chodorow bought a pricey full-page ad in the New York Times declaring war on food critic Frank Bruni for dissing his new steakhouse with a starless review the week before, Bruni visits Robert's Steakhouse, the restaurant of the Penthouse stripclub in Midtown and gives it a very positive one star review. Anthony Bourdain weighs in: "Maybe I'm being cynical here but the Message seems to be: "Even a freakin' strip club--where you get lap dances offered between courses is better than your soulless, overpriced meat-emporium. I'd rather spend time in a hot tub with Bob Guiccione than you!" Subtext? "Don't Fuck With Me!" Previously: Mimi Sheraton on Chodorow VS Bruni, You Win Some, You...... More

Yesterday we linked to Michael Ruhlman's response to Anthony Bourdain's Food Network rant, today we point you both to the return of serve from New York Magazine's Josh Ozersky in defense of Rachael Ray: "We don’t think this mandarin hauteur has any intellectual basis. Aside from the fact that it is unbecoming for a privileged and educated man to sneer at his own countrypeople, even by the standards of practical gastronomy his complaint doesn’t hold water. Rachael Ray and Sandra Lee are culinary lightweights, as they would be the first to admit, but they’re a product of — and engine for — people’s love for food. (...) For an amateur, taking tips from Rachael Ray is no less legitimate than... More

Michael Ruhlman discusses the online fuss generated by Anthony Bourdain's thoughts on the Food Network's hosts: "And the passion itself—over shows you don’t even have to watch. You’ve got to listen to George Bush; you don’t have to listen to Rachael. My god people care about this stuff. But will the food network listen? Not likely. They work according to their own methods, whatever those are. They’ve made their decisions based on something, and that something has resulted in the peculiar offerings addressed in Tony’s post. Clearly they know that the way to America’s vast girth is through mediocrity." (Who's your most/least favorite food personality on Food Channel? is still a hot topic in Serious Eats: Talk, go add your... More

Anthony Bourdain shares his thoughts on the Newer, Younger, More Male-Oriented, More Dumb-Ass Food Network over at Ruhlman's, a few choice bits excerpted here: On Mario Batali: "Oh, Mario! Oh great one! They shut down Molto Mario--only the smartest and best of the stand-up cooking shows." On Rachael Ray: "We KNOW she can’t cook. She shrewdly tells us so. So...what is she selling us? Really? She’s selling us satisfaction, the smug reassurance that mediocrity is quite enough." On Sandra Lee: "Pure evil." (His "IRON CHEF AMERICA match-ups I’d REALLY like to see" are pretty amazing, I'd watch them even on Pay Per View!) We've had a related question over in Talk for a few weeks, if you haven't chimed in... More

Guest-posting on food writer Michael Ruhlman's blog, Anthony Bourdain dishes up the short order on some of this season's Top Chef contestants. Of the remaining two: Marcel:Is there ANYTHING this guy doesn't want to foam? So slavishly devoted to what Ferran Adria was doing TEN YEARS AGO it's....scary and sad. Ilan: So Ilan cribs his offerings shamelessly from Andy Nusser. And he's a manipulative, conspiratorial, vindictive, weasely little shit....(Hardly impediments to a career as a chef). These are classic assets. If you need to catch up on the show, Bravo is airing all the back episodes on Wednesday, January 31, starting at 10 a.m. ET, and ending with the season finale at 10 p.m. ET.... More