Anthony Bourdain: A Foodie’s Confession of Love

Emily Kastl  

Tuesday nights are my date nights. I don’t go out to a fancy dinner, partake in engaging conversation, or even leave my house for that matter. Instead, my date arrives promptly at 8pm by way of the Travel Channel. For the next hour I look on as my foodie crush, Anthony Bourdain, explores another obscure corner of the world, eats unrecognizable parts of animals, and harasses locals, all while narrating with his exceptionally dry and usually offensive humor.
In the culinary world, few people are respected more than this Emmy Award-winning chef, author, and host. This may come as a surprise since he often gives off the “a**hole vibe,” for lack of a better term. If you wear love-tinted sunglasses while watching Bourdain’s show No Reservations like I do, his bluntness is really brutal honesty. If something tastes awful, he’ll gladly tell you and toss in some profanity while he’s at it. In my mind, this is what makes Mr. Bourdain so great. Since his remorseless delivery is so unique, he can offer a completely different perspective of a particular country. You think you’ve seen travel shows about Japan before? Not until you see Bourdain get tanked on Sake and make fun of locals singing karaoke. Can’t say I’ve ever seen Samantha Brown do that…
Beyond his career as a TV host, Bourdain’s life story is an inspiring one. His past life as a poor, drug addict line chef is one he is very open about and of which he holds no regrets. Beyond being a wise-cracking TV host who gets to travel the world and eat the best food available, Bourdain is passionate about how foreign policy affects the very places he visits. His sharp-tongued humor is perfectly woven into articulate accounts of life from the local’s perspective. The lens through which he delivers his experiences allows people like myself, sitting on their couches thousands of miles away, to smell the smells and hear the sounds of local markets. I have learned more about the world’s cultures from my Tuesday date nights than I have from any professor.
On that note—Mr. Bourdain, if you’re reading this and need a new coffee-fetcher, I’m your girl!