The Anthony Bourdain thread

My Texan friend likes to mix a small quantity of Velveeta with real cheese just so the queso has a better consistency.

I think that's what Kenan meant -- like, you just try not eating it.

this.

wouldn't have to

I was in Russ & Daughters today getting lunch, and the folks behind the counter told me that there's a No Reservations airing tonight where he goes to Russ & Daughters. !!!!

I had a pumpernickel with plain cream cheese and Gaspe salmon. (One of the only lunches I'll willingly pay $9 for, since it's SOOOO GOOOOD. Any other lunch over $6 is mad overpriced.) We'll see what Mr Bourdain eats tonight. ;-)

No Reservations is great television. Even when it's lying it's telling the truth. The Vancouver episode was so ineptly done that it accidentally revealed the truth about the city: it's based on stock footage of people snowboarding and doing "outdoor activities," a film industry nobody really cares about, and bullshit quality of life rankings in International Magazines.

Good episode except he kept saying non-ironic over and over. WE GET IT!

That was Bourdain at his Morbsiest.

I had never thought of it, but Bourdain is pretty Morbsy every week. But almost always in a "charming curmudgeon" way.

I hug them both.

Come on! Katz's is OK but dude, SARGE'S! You'd think being a midtowner, even if all the way left instead of right, he'd know better.

I crave Sarge's so bad at all times. I make sure to go every single time in NYC.

Sarge's. 36th and Third. Sit-down. Huge menu. Flawless matzoh ball soup. Best pickles and cole slaw on earth. Best pastrami in New York. (That's from our old friend Paul Eater--does he still post?) Open 24 hours. Almost nobody I meet in New York has heard of it or been there, because it's in midtown where there is basically nothing. I want to live there. Every one of you reading this owes it to yourself.

I don't think I've ever seen him take such giddy delight in anything as he does the Chinese meal.

ooh, def. checking that out. not too far from workplace and my immediate vicinity's lunch options are kind of a culinary wasteland so this is good to hear. thx matos!

i've faulted him in the past for being too idiosyncratic in his takes on places, but a few of the recent ones feel a little too greatest hits-y. i mean, i admit i'd rather watch NY and DC than, say, Ghana and Vietnam, and i can't really fault him for knocking off an easy episode at home with the young kid over a cold winter, but it does seem like he might be getting a little too comfortable in the job.

36th and Third is what, 3-4 blocks from the 2nd Ave Deli now?

where is the outcry about the Upper East Side content in this one?

the pink press threat file, I used to work in midtown, and yes, it's pretty dire. btw, Sarge's also delivers.

maybe they just feel greatest hits-y because i know the places

I don't think I've ever seen him take such giddy delight in anything as he does the Chinese meal.

I don't think I've ever seen ME take so much delight in a meal as Chinese food in NYC, because you can't get it anywhere else.

It's one of those rare and still dirt-cheap regional cuisines, like Mexican food in Houston.

haha I now regularly go with my girlfriend's family to the Allen/Delancey Congee Village whenever I visit. It really is amazing.

(but srsly, visit one west coast)

ok ok I need a guide to the Mexican food of LA, maybe. Last time I was there I was too busy kvetching to eat much.

I'm watching his episode on Laos now, and it's kinda heartbreaking.

(but srsly, visit one west coast)

Yeah. Seattle has awesomely delicious chinese, japanese, and vietnamese. Seven Stars Peppers, for one, has the best hand shaven noodles I've ever had anywhere. My favorite dishes there from a few years ago:
chong gin chicken
house special chicken
hot pepper fish
sizzling rice shrimp special
hand shaven noodles beef chow mein
hand shaven noodles shrimp chow mein
baby bok
choy and mushrooms
mongolian beef

I ended up Tivo-ing this episode last night, so I still haven't seen it; hopefully this evening.

http://newyork.grubstreet.com/2009/10/ten_things_anthony_bourdain_an.html

awesome. Love the cupcake hatred.

I don't know who David Chang is, but I love everything about that article.

great nyer profile of chang: http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2008/03/24/080324fa_fact_macfarquhar

Hating cupcakes? What's the point of that?

there is a proliferation of cupcakeries these days

When I can get super fancy cupcakes at the small town farmer's market in northern Idaho I imagine the saturation level is probably exasperating in big cities. It doesn't mean they're not good, but still.

are ppl forgetting that cupcakes are fucking delicious?

i mean this seems like a good problem to have imo. OH NO THERE ARE TOO MANY GODDAMN CUPCAKES, WE WILL HAVE TO EAT OUR WAY OUT OF THIS.

Actually cake is fucking delicious. Cupcakes are for children's birthday parties and moments when whimsy matters more than taste or texture, because they're basically all exterior from a baking standpoint and are nearly impossible to keep from drying out.

i don't hate cupcakes, but it is a thing. also the last few weddings i've been at have had cupcakes instead of a cake.

yup. good idea, too, wedding cake is usually ass.

Wedding cake is usually ass for the exact opposite but sort of same reason that cupcakes are non-optimal: it's hard to get that enormous mass of batter cooked evenly without the edges being dry. Cakes that are made in medium-sized segments and joined together are better, cos each can be of a size and shape to bake in a sensible way (in a normal oven).

why we gotta do normal sized cake vs tiny cakes, of course regular sized cakes is better

Yeah just sain' that cupcakes are okay to hate, if you want to do that, because they put silliness over actual food quality. If you want to enjoy the silliness then go ahead, but it makes an understandable reason to hate them, if you care about a different set of priorities.

Laurel, you've been having the wrong cupcakes, I need to bake you some and fax them over.

also the last few weddings i've been at have had cupcakes instead of a cake.

Yeah, this is a thing now.

My problem with cupcakes is that I don't like buttercream frosting.

I need to bake you some and fax them over.

YSI plz!

for those who deny that the cupcake trend has gone too far:

http://www.seriouseats.com/2008/12/meatloaf-bakery-chicago-illinois.html

The hipster cupcake proliferation is kinda redic but I’ve had some damn good ones.

But, last week we finally entered the big time with Lakeview’s Meatloaf Bakery. While it sounds like the drug fueled dream of a character in some big ticket Hollywood movie, it’s the real deal here in Chicago—a storefront emporium that sells no less than eight types of gourmet meatloaf in appetizer form (aka "loafies"), full loaves, and, yes, the meat cupcake, aka "meatloaf baked in cupcake forms and piped with mashed potato frosting."

To me, the idea seemed an absurdity on every level. Why would I pay for something I could ask my mom to do for free?

"Mommmmm! I need you to whip up some meaty cakes for me!"

do you ever feel like some people are fronting with this OMG I LOVE BACON CUPCAKES shit nowadays

I was at a stand-up comedy show about a year ago, and one of the performers got a huge laugh just by saying, "So I decided to open up a hip new bakery."