Claudia Greco

Thanks! ← Tony appears in the opening segment (abou 5 minutes only), with the focus more on the 'tat, naturally. (It was not as long and as Tony-centric as the tattoo-ing segement in the Malaysia NR episode, but that's only to be expected, since this was only a cross-plug for Miami Ink).Oh, by the way, since a lot of eGulleteers have been so terrific about posting AB's book signing/talk schedule (and a few, in Columbus, Peoria and Atlanta, etc., were bemoaning the fact that he didn't make it to their cities on the book-signing gig), I thought you might find some consolation in the following upcoming appearances. The one in Charlotte is a rather expensive corporate-type gig and I believe he also is scheduled to appear in Hobart, CA some time over the winter, but in accordance with my deeply held share-the-"wealth" (or info) beliefs (!): LI http://www.stonybrookalumni.com/cgi-any/ca...ay?&id=216&bid= http://events.adelphi.edu/culturalevents/coming.php Charlotte: http://www.charlottecentercity.org/nav.cfm...8&action=detail DC: http://www.capitalfoodfight.org/ Fresno: http://www.valleytownhall.com/bourdain.html SF (sold out?) http://www.cityboxoffice.com/default.asp?SearchText=bourdain (Yes, it is DEAD season at work - until after mid-September!)

Thanks, Louisa! I've been trawling for that episode for months, in frustration!Oh, and I thought I had posted this correctly, but I guess I messed up. AB, Ruhrlman, Ripert and Gabrielle Hamilton will be at the 92nd Streeet Y in NYC on 10/23: http://www.92y.org/shop/event_detail.asp?p...tid=T%2DLC5CB05

Off topic for only a second (and only as it relates to Tony's and Ruhlman's foie gras rants on megnuts.com, above), this was in today's NY Times - the Chicagoans are metaphorically flipping the City Council the bird by defying the foie ban and deliberately serving it, anyway. Ruhlman and Bourdain would be very gratified that their fellow chefs/foodies, other than Trotter, have fought on. Vive la resistance! http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/23/us/23chicago.html

"I thought the middle of the show dragged out a bit, but I suppose that's evocative of their own experience. The end of the show got really interesting and it was interesting to see his experiences after having read about them. The final monologue, however, was a bit troubling. Was that Bourdain being his melodramatic self or was there perhaps a darker streak of truth in his somewhat pessimistic voiced-over confession? Do experiences like this change one's world view that fundamentally?" In response to Bryan Z's rumination above: I don't think AB was being melodramatic. If you read his first post(s) upon getting home safe, he specifically makes that statement about not being sure if the world was as good and kind a place as he had come, despite his native pessimism, to believe. Also, if you look at the tone of his post (circa 7/21? I'll have to check), you can see he was badly rattled, drained and depressed-sounding - he might not have been scared, per se, but he certainly sounded . . . devastated, I guess. Devastated at witnessing a vibrant culture and a beautiful city get crushed by war. He sounded like a man trying to regain his inner equilibrium, and since he did those voiceovers not long after he got back, I don't believe he was being melodramatic - I think he really was wiped. Besides, as good a personality as he is on screen, I really don't believe he's THAT good an actor - I think he was being his candid self, and that came through. Does he have an operatic streak in his make-up? Probably. But I think both his feelings and his expression of them were totally honest.

http://www.megnut.com/ruhlman.htmlOn the right (in the white space), you will see (towards the bottom) Bourdain at 50. Also - Foie Gras - A Level Field.

And if you log under megnuts.com and check under archives - ruhlman, you'll see not only Ruhlman's rioutous accoount of Tony's surprise 50th birthday party, but also (under foie gras), Ruhlman's hysterical defense of foie, and Tony's equally hysterical blog in response to Ruhlman's. I think Ruhlman, the "straight man" in the relationship, brings out the best - and worst - in Tony. Which, in Tony, is frequently the same thing (!!)

Of course since the Isrealis blew all the airports apart a chartered plane would be of dubious iuse... ←

Glad to hear of your safe return, Verjuice. ← Indeed, "Verjus" - welcome back home! But, conversely, if you knew Tony and the crew were hold up at the Moevenpick, maybe camping out at the bar or pool wouldn't have been a bad alternative (!) Seriously, though - glad you got out. I read today that the U.S., Italy, etc., were trying to evacuate their citizens to Cyprus, but the sick, elderly, etc., first. So I'm guessing Tony might have a bit of a wait - unless the Travel Channel can wrangle a charter flight out for ZeroPointZero (!)

On a happier note - this posted by the irrepressible (and unrepentant!) Ruhlman: http://www.megnut.com/2006/06/bourdain-at-50

Although there might be some "video gold" in doing The Show That Never Happened - like the outtake/"nasty bits" episode, I think everyone of us could live without it if it means endangering yourself or your crew.It wouldn't surprise me, however, if Diane, Chris and Lydia are trying to figure out right now how to use whatever footage you have in the can. We wouldn't see any food or culture, but we would see the real-life danger of a TV crew caught in a war zone, and what Beirutis themselves have had to live through, periodically - and how to scrounge for supplies when there are none to be had. NONE of which, by the way, would be worth a chunk of putrefied shark if it means getting caught in crossire . . . or kidnapped. By the way, you posted that you had been planning to head to the Beka'a Valley (before the airport got bombed). The major city of the valley, Baalek, is a Hezbollah hotspot. Maybe, Tony, just this one time - eat the hotel food. Order room service and live to tell us about it (!)

I actually asked Tony Bourdain about the old-school screaming chef syndrome at his last public appearance in NYC. The most telling thing he said (and he specifically referred to Gordon, a friend of his), was that "Gordon is actually a cupcake. What you see (on Boiling Point) is GORDON DOING GORDON TEN YEARS AGO" and that anyone who got a bollocking had it coming. ("You notice none of THOSE guys are running 3-star restaurants in the UK.") (Truth be told, Gordon is famous for setting up restaurants for his best chefs to run - he is very loyal that way. And, aside from Marcus Waring who is his exec chef at Petrus, he also created a restaurant for one of the two sous chefs he was seen screaming at and abusing - I believe it is (or will be) in Scotland. So, Tony was half-right - his UK crew might have deserved the "bollockings" they got, but one or two DID go on to run 3-star restaurants (albeit, Gordon's!))Apparently, the Kitchen Nightmares Gordon is the "baseline" Gordon. As for the Hell's Kitchen cooks, AB only said THOSE people deserved being screamed at. My own thinking is that you have to factor in the truth-in-editing factor in TV "reality" shows. Not only do I suspect Gordon is doing Gordon for the camera, but the editing itself is designed to heighten the tension, craziness, stress, abuse - etc., etc. I'm not defending Gordon, by any means. I remember how he trashed an Australian food critic just because of her name, hassled her from the stage, and threw her out of a dinner - and then savaged a few other food professionals (writers, TV chefs, etc.) just within a four-day run between Brisbane and New Zealand. He was nowhere near a kitchen, and not surrounded by any under-achieving subourdinates. (Although, that, too, might have been manufactured for TV, too - as part of Gordon's football hoodlum persona.) So I believe that, yes, he sometimes certainly exude all the charm of a rabid pit bull even in situations in which it is totally uncalled for, I also believe what we are seeing a TV Gordon, to a degree. He can be awfully tender to the poor cooks and restuarant owners on the brink of losing their lives' savings and their dreams, even when they are almost as clueless as the Hell's Kitchen "beauty pageant" contestants. So . . . anyone out there NOT willing to have a pint with Gordo if the opportunity arose? (!!)

Sounds almost as much fun as your sojourn among the Cambodian party animals, when you had a gun pointed at you. I think you know how to avoid THAT kind of trouble - just try not to get kidnapped. You and your crew would certainly be worth as much to them as any other journalist, missionary, diplomat or relief worker. We'll start working on the ransom money now, in case the Travel Channel won't pony up (!)

Here is a picture of an orto in Ferla, near my cousin's house. ← Man, what an orto! Clinging to the hillside, right above the road! Reminds me of the terraced rice paddies in Nepal, where every bit of arable land was cultivated, no matter how precariously perched on a hill or mountain. And the layers upon layers of the same paddies in Hong Kong, where I was raised. Amazing what human resourcefulness and ingenuity is born out of need!

Fennel, orange and a splash of a liqueur - Campari? Or fennel, orange, fig/raisin?Crazy from the heat (and all those beautiful pictures of everyone's food), Claudia

Yowza! You've been busy! Right now, I'm trying to make a (very untraditional) Meyer lemon limoncello, only because I can't get a hold of any cedro (Italian citron) or the Amalfi lemons - sfusati. I love Italian liquors. I think your wild berry one should be marketed!

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Where is this place? Someone tried to auction a reservation on e Bay starting at $1000. ← Actually there's a thread on the "auction" here: CLICK! ← I thought a 32-course tasting menu would HAVE to start at $1,000, minimum, considering there are 55 chefs - for a 55-seat restaurant, if I heard Tony correctly. The fact that it's somewhat cheaper is amazing - and somewhat gratifying. Now you just need to get a reservation (assuming you didn't win the auction), tack on the airfare, book some digs - but anyone of us would do it! Hey, just remember that AB produced the original show on his own dime, just so the rest of us could get a grasp on what Ferran is all about. Thanks, AB!

For those interested in the original documentary Tony undewrote and produced on Ferran, El Bulli and and Adria's "taller", here's the DVD. The Food Network refused to produce it for him as part of A Cook's Tour, so Tony took his "pirate crew" (who eventually became Zero Point Zero) and shot it themselves - out of Tony's pocket. It's about time we all got a chance to see this:http://www.ecookbooks.com/index.html

Those were some impressive stats - and I did my best to contribute to them by eating as much - and as widely - as I could!

And just to keep us all going while through a 2-week "dry" (i.e., Bourdain-less) period: http://www.salon.com/mwt/feature/2006/06/26/bourdain_QA/ Click on the sponsor/Honda logo, watch the ad, and then hit enter - it's the only way to get the whole article.

Actually, I think AB is holding out for Rosario Dawson (!) I think he was more bemused that this pretty, bouyant, funny and DETERMINED little dynamo could charm, drag and beguile a strong, dark, occasionally grouchy and cynical soul as himself into doing things he normally would not do. Keep in mind that all the shows are story-boarded before AB gets to the country, so he does know what he's doing (mostly) before he gets there. And he certainly knew how sweetly persistent Nari could be - he went to Korea because of her persistence and enthusiasm. Having said that, of course he didn't know he was going to be so badly jetlagged - which just made Nari's sweet strongheadedness even funnier.I think you we saw AB for the first time (on camera) in the company of someone he's genuinely fond of, as a person, and works with - and very bemused by. (And who wouldn't be? I think Nari is a riot!) And let's not forget that AB is instinctually good enough in front of a camera to know when to look like he's at the mercy of his tour guide, fixer, host, strange locals - and, occasionally, his producers (!) I don't think anyone could have convinced AB to have that Uzbeki massage OR venture into a karoake joint for onscreen embarassment if he himself didn't have a sense of humor about himself, and was willing to submit to it. He was very willing to look like an older, world-weary man being relentlessly dragged in the wake of a chirpy, sweetly steely little dynamo (and perhaps being charmed by it) - he's good at being an Everyman in occasionally exotic or culturally bizarre situations. It's the flip side of his "bad boy" appeal, I think. PS: Keep in mind that, for many years, AB admits he was totally "bossed" (as most cat lovers are) by his six pound cat - so, theoretically, I think another sweet but steely-willed petite little person could charm and strong-arm him at the same time (!!)

The white sauce was VERY available, for purchase and for sandwich decorating, but there was no chicken, so most people I saw went for the championship red sauce. (I was very democratic - I had red sauce on on half and the tangy mustard sauce on the other, but sensed that the white was for chicken - I was trying to read the label from the line). While on line, the videotron ran a segment on Big Bob's in which the dip-the-chicken-in-the-white-sauce concept was explained, so, yes, us Yankees KNEW what the white sauce was for. But no chicken, so no white saucing. White on beef would, we assumed, be as outrageous to a Southerner as mayo on a Reuben sandwich would be to a New Yorker. Heretical. Obscene. Ungodly. Against the laws of man and nature (!!)

Nari was adorable - and a perfect foil for AB's occasional world-weary cynicism. But I think her chirpiness as a foil to Tony's snarkiness ONLY works in Korea, since she was obviously stoked to be home, and on very strong ground. Tony could not refute her homegrown credentials or her enthusiasm and energy at being in HER homeland. I don't know that she'd necessarily be as bouyant - or adamant! - anywhere else, but man, did she crack me up every time she (sweetly) put her little size 5(?) foot down and said, "To-NY!" Tony was right - a tiny little 5 foot dynamo pulled all 6'4" of hisdark cynicism along in her irrestible wake. We will NEVER see Tony in a karoake joint - HOLDING A TEDDY BEAR - ever again. Remember that visual, folks!

The whole event was a blast! I got to the Cue at 11:40 am, and had my first plate (Bob Gibson's) at 11:55 - no BubbaPass. Bob's was the best, in my opinion, although I enjoyed Ed Mitchell's a lot, too. I was a bit bummed out, though - saw one person leave with a chunk of crackly skin in their order, and I asked the pitmaster for some - just got a terse, grumpy "NO!" Hmmmm. Granted, these guys were up for the better part of two days, but I wonder why someone else could get crackly skin, and I couldn't? After they pulled the pork from the crispy carcass, they put the half-pig carcasses back on the smokers, but I don't know how they were "recycling" them. Boo-hoo. Made me think of the porchetta they sell at street fairs in Italy - roast suckling pig, real crispy/crackly skin (like it's shellac'ed, almost). However, you get over these things with enough 'cue . . .