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It actually sounds un-PC to me, but whatever. Since you didn't watch the whole thing, seems to me like you don't have much basis for a critique.

I am a big fan of Bourdain, love his books, his show, etc. I love his awe and appreciation for the cultures, food and people that he encounters in his travels. I do think though that he treats anything in the US as a mild
joke. There was an exception with the show in New Orleans, that was a great episode, but I guess it would be bad TV to be snarky in the wake of destruction. I'm not sure what it is, even his own hometown New Jersey or where he lives, NY, are targets of tones of disdain, with too many bad penis jokes thrown in for good measure.
The US episodes are still "good" but embarrassing at times. The SW roadtrip show would have you think that the best place in Phoenix is "Cooperstown" where you can get a two foot long hot dog called, "The Big Unit". I rest my case.

New Orleans was not the only exception by any means - he flipped out over the food in Hawai'i - deservedly so. As did he in the border region of Texas and southwest. Bourdain knows where the good food is - period.

"Anyone catch chef gloom when he went to South Carolina?"

This just tells me you don't pay attention. Bourdain has his negative opinions but his shows and his writing to be optimistic.

i'm brand new, and this is my first post. had to pop in and defend "my tony".
he can do no wrong in my book, and i have a bit of a crush on him. i don't think this episode was any more or less snarky than any other. i HAVE lived in the south and my family's roots are deeply southern, so i do agree with pumpkinbear about some people's attitudes about the south in general. for instance, a couple of years ago, i finally achieved my dream of having a flagpole installed in my front yard (in so. cal., where i've spent most of my life). my husband had to sit me down and gently explain why i couldn't fly the stars and bars, and i was shocked!
i'd suggest, max, go back and watch the whole show. tony at least beats the pants off of andrew zimmer in the table manners department, IMO.
thanks for the forum!
-buns

I like both Bourdain and The South.

(But NOT Paula Deen!)

@pointy--I really hope you're just kidding. If you're not, you will miss out on meeting some truly wonderful people, eating some great food, and seeing some really beautiful places. Remember, people tend to treat you as you treat them.

When I lived in the Midwest I would often get pissy about people making broad generalizations about where I chose to call home. But you know, there's a reason some regional stereotypes exist and goodness, maybe you deserve a lil' gold foil star on your cheek for being the Speshul Snowflake Exception... but sometimes the truth just plain hurts.

Oh here we go! It amazes me how the south gets their panties all in a bunch the minute some yankee says something snarky. Tony Disdain, as I lovingly call him, is a damn great satirist. I enjoy all his disdain north south or in another hemisphere. Try and not take it all so personally. I lived in the south and go there frequently. When yall stop the north south thing then maybe yall can be righteously indignant. Till then shove a moon pie in yer craw. I also do not like Paula Deen cuisine but think Paula is a real firecracker.
Signed the yankee dago

whatever. he's a complete jackass but his show is pretty entertaining so i watch it..not for the food, more for the travel/culture.

After 148 years of hindsight, it's obvious to me, and it might be to you, that the only real mistake Honest Abe made, was in not letting the South secede. It's been an anchor around the Union's neck all this time. The South, collectively speaking, still, after all these long years, has not learned the fundamental lesson of the Civil War. It is beyond comprehension, but there it is.

Bourdain jumped the shark a long time ago. Having recently begged and borrowed to see him lecture, I realized that his is an ego-inflated version of Larry the Cable Guy. What drew me to him, the snarky honesty and keen observation, has become a watered-down, mass-produced road show. Save your money, folks, you can see Bourdain's stand-up routine on YouTube. I think the particular nail in the coffin for me was the $3,000 Hawaiian shirt. How am I to respect his opinion of local, low-country, blue-collar fare?

did i really just read see two comments in the same post?

"As my mother taught me (we in the South are sticklers for manners)... if you don't have something nice to say, don't say anything at all. Sheesh. If you are going to present an argument at least be logical about it!!"

"Honest Abe? The bi-sexual war criminal who suspended habeas corpus?"

wow. I thought this was a food blog.

..and Serious Eats shall rise again! :)

bisbee.. you are right. I apologize for taking Summerfield's bait. The quickest way to offend someone from the south is to imply that we are all a bunch of ignorant savages. Nothing could be further from the truth! Peace out, y'all!!

Ah, but you are wrong. The fact that he hid his sexuality further illustrates his dishonesty! It directly relates to the phrase, 'honest Abe'. Sheesh... I don't care what your sexual orientation is - just be honest about it!

mature. real mature. call me when you have a real opinion or an argument that holds water. silly bobbob... did I hit a nerve?

Back on topic. I love Bourdain. He is hot as heck and I think his attitude just adds to his hotness. Anyway, as I said in my post WAYYYY back when. Who cares what people think? Those of us from the south know it's great. Those who think otherwise are entitled to their opinion.

Oh, and I adore figs! Stuffed with goat cheese and walnuts. yuummmm....

Bourdain always starts with snark, and there are very few places about which one cannot be snarky. He hits my hometown of NYC with just the same kind of snark and everyone laughs. Then Bourdain will show you the best of a place, even when that "best" isn't necessarily what the Chamber of Commerce would have you know about. He's a grump, our Tony, but honest, and that's very important.

I'm a transplanted New Englander, living in the South, and I rarely run into these absurd North vs. South problems. No one really cares.

I wonder if Abe Lincoln was also a GASTROSEXUAL. I bet he was...I just wish he would have been more honest about his gastrosexuality. It is important for me to know what my leaders do in the privacy of their own kitchen. It distracts me from silly things like the economy and oh, I don't know, slavery.

I actually really like figs stuffed with Gorgonzola.

"silly bobbob... did I hit a nerve?"

Pot calling kettle again.

Oh this is too easy and your too much fun.

Figs! Did someone mention FIGS!?

Beautiful succulent purple figs plucked warm from the sun and eaten for breakfast. THIS is what I miss from my old house in The South along with the intoxicating scent of jasmine by the pool, lemon blossoms, orange skinned and fragrant meyer lemons that I'd preserve Moroccan style, the huge angels trumpet loaded with golden blooms that smell of honey, lemon and baby powder at night, billows of magenta bougainvillea...

Now I'll just have to cry myself to sleep again. I didn't even mention 107F in the shade....

Yes, well, you know we can't all graduate from Duke with a full ride scholarship and then do a graduate fellowship with one of the SOUTH'S most respected writers. Bless your heart. So sad that you weren't smart enough to get a scholarship.

Bourdain can be as sarcastic, snarky and/or smarmy as he wants to be and I'm still going to watch No Reservations. I enjoy his brand of "humor" as it were and the way he talks about the locations, cultures and the food make me want to visit each and every place he's been to.... well, with the exception of the African deserts and the tribal food.....

I wonder how long till this post is shut down? You guys are awake tonight. :)

After watching a recent Throwdown on FN, I have to say any liking that I had for Paula Deen is gone. The contest was to cook an authentic country fried steak. Paula cooked smothered steak! And won! What really ticked me was when the "judges" stated that country fried steak was always served with brown gravy and never white gravy. They stated that white gravy was not authentic Southern. They must have been eating at different restaurants than I grew up eating in. Country fried steak is always served with white gravy. Brown gravy is for potatoes!

I'm sorry, I just don't get this thing people have for Bourdain. It feels creepy to me, this gushing over him. He's just another opinionated guy with enough smarts to put it together in an interesting way. His show is fine, for what it is, I'm not saying he doesn't have a valid point of view, or that he isn't good at what he does. It's okay. It's just this slavering fandom thing is odd. What gives?

@dianah, I'm with you on not being part of the fandom, but I think I know what at least part of it it -- he's a "bad boy." People say that they like him because he speaks his mind, he doesn't hold back, etc. There's a certain appeal for that sort of rebel/whistleblower personality. Some people admire that he says nasty things about other people, and he can get away with it, where with someone else it would just seem rude or petty or bad-mannered. He can do it in a way that says, "I'm just a little guy battling the odds and telling you about injustices that the big guys are perpetrating on the innocent people..." Not that those are his words, but that's the way he comes off. He's kind of an underdog/rebel. You shouldn't like him, but you do,

What's funny about that (to me, at least) is that on one hand he disdains people who are all "fake" on TV and they say they like things, blah blah blah, but then he admitted that when he's off somewhere eating elelphant earlobes or whatever, he has to smile for the camera and say that it's good. "I thought this would be terrible, but it's actually good. Really, really good." And then later he's in the hotel barfing it up. So he's not telling it like it is, either. He's smiling for the camera and taking direction from the producers, just like everyone else.

He's also a little bit like the schoolyard bully who gets to decide who to pick on. He mocks the TV chefs, picks on the way they do their shows, what they cook. Then he mocks the ones who don't cook but do other types of shows. He mocks the ones who have restaurants. And something inside all of us feels like we have to take his side because if we don't, we could be his next target. Not that it's possible, but it's a human reaction. He's the strong guy, no one else seems to be taking him on, and so we want to be on his team.

Funny thing is that when he actually meets one of these people he made fun of (Emeril, for example) all of a sudden he learns that this person is actually a nice guy. Or he ate at one of Bobby Flay's restaurants, and the food was good. Or, wait...was that just fake for the camera too?

And as much as he's mocking the TV chefs and celebrity chefs, he's not one of them. He's throwing rocks from the outside. Yes, he used to be a chef, but even he admits that its been a lot of years. He wrote a book, and that's really where he got his fame. The restaurant went on without him. Now he's doing a travel-and-taste show. If a person didn't know his history, (or listen to the intro on No Reservations) you'd have no idea if he ever cooked or not.

I don't hate him, I don't dislike him. I watch his show once in a while, and it's fine for what it is. When he gets to mocking other cooks and chefs, though, I want to ask him to put his own product on the table and see if he can compete instead of just critique.

I forget, what was the original subject?

I do remember that, growing up in Texas, we had Chicken Fried Steak, not Country Fried, and it had white gravy...ooo now I'm really hungry.

I missed this episode. Just out of curiousity, how many times did he use the word "unctuous" this time?

i enjoy reading his books but i think his tv shows are a total bore,also i was born and raised in New York,moved to florida when i was 20,been here 30 years an love it here......except for all the rude yankee's that think it's so much better "up north"

Fresh figs, no stuffing. Apples, peaches, strawberries and figs with goat cheese and water crackers. Perhaps some Soppressata. Wine= Cetamura from Badia al Coltibuono.

Cocktail party tomorrow for six. Bourdain has introduced me to several new cuisines. The club room above the "Bo" room in Kitchen Confidential is hilarious, and a reason I don't work in restaurants any more.

It's interesting that I grew up in the North and the Civil War was something we'd spent 1/2 hour on in History each year. Down here it's the War of Northern Aggression and is catalogued every day.

MaxCaviar,

You watched Anthony Bourdain and shocked that he had an unkind word or two to say! What the F*** did you expect

I adore Tony and have seen almost all of his shows for the last few years - from TV Food Network to Travel Channel. Yes, his attitude stinks sometimes but he is a joy to watch.

I agree with Hollene, he is just a rude New Yorker - plain & simple. He wasn't trying to be obnoxious - he IS obnoxious. I am a NYer - born and raised in Brooklyn - spent years in Manhattan - that is the attitude of most folks. He wasn't trying to diss the South, not really. He is opinionated, but in a good way. He has great taste in interesting food. He is passionate about food - in any culture. I am passionate about food too. I feel as if I'm related to him a lot of the time.

I may be a Yankee but I've spent a lot of time in the South - love it to death. I just spent 2 weeks in North Carolina. I thought the food rocked!

I would watch the whole episode next time and then state your opinion. Watching only a few minutes is not sufficient to have an opinion. Just my 2 cents.

Regardless of sociopolitical issues, the culinary history of the American South is the culinary history of America. Take away the South and you take away the nation's gastronomic Genesis. I think Tony is aware of this - his comments were born quite possibly from ignorance. The media and Hollywood have gone out of their way to portray the South as backwoods - without sufficient time spent in the South one would not know the beauty that accompanies our flaws. For instance, Southern schools were integrated during the 50's and 60's. Boston's school system remained segregated until 1971.

You know everybody is ignorant, only on different subjects.
Will Rogers

I watched the whole episode, while it's definitely not one of the better episodes of the show, its not really what you thought it was. It was actually a rather perplexing episode, and I'm not sure what the premise of it was.

I guess having Alice Cooper in the show as an amusing touch, but why would you go to his theme restaurant when there's so much more that the region must have to offer.

Nonetheless, the episode wasn't pandering OR offensive, just...meandering.

And I admit, I'm a Bourdain fan, but I think I can admit when his shtick gets old and cheesy. Refreshingly, however, he seems to be getting better with age, time, and experience (and parenthood?) and speaks and acts with a lot more humility and isn't as quick to drop a scalding quip as he used to be.

If anything, more recent episode of No Reservations seem to be even more intelligent than earlier ones, and definitely a step up from A Cook's Tour (which I liked by the way).

in the words of rodney king -- "can't we all just get along?"

anthony bourdain is snarky, and talks about his preconceived notions of each place in the beginning of each episode, and then generally through the arc of the show he realizes the beauty and uniqueness of each place. he does this in nearly every show. including the one about new jersey. and iraq. and california. that's pretty much the point of the show. it would be a lot more boring otherwise.

how this turned into a northern vs. southern thing is ridiculous.

and PS -- there is more in the north than just new york. it's funny when people are saying how ignorant people are about the south, and then act equally ignorant about the north.