Claudia Greco

And that's why I'm a fan. ← Me, too. (OK, because of the wit and the snark and excruciating candor, too.)

Purity shmurity - it's about accuracy. And just as Bourdain doesn't owe his fans "purity", he likewise doesn't owe them - or anyone else, for that matter - an explanation, either.

← 1. The question of integrity remark was not directed at you, personally, PDC, but at the blog en masse. 2. Since the Top Chef blog was NOT previously sponsored over last season when Tony was blogging it, and since he was likewise not receiving any compensation from Bravo or anyone else for his blogging, then, yes, he had a reasonable expectation that the blog he was invited to write was to continue "commercial-free" - hence Tony's reaction to discovering that, in fact, it would not be. 3. Partly answered above. Yes, Tony knows that his TC blog, carried by the TC network, would have sponsorship/advertising - but he knew THAT from the get-go, and, like cross-plugging Zimmern's show or appearing on Miami Ink (when Discovery was still a sister network), that that was part of the whole package of being a TC celeb. (Although he still, personally, does not endorse any of the stuff plugged on the TC blog). Tony stull does not have control over whatever advertising, etc., TC puts up on the blog pages, but given that he is under contract to TC, it is, unfortunately, part of the package. Does he get paid an additional sum for blogging about his show? I don't know. But it IS part of the promotion of the show, regardless, ans he understands he must support/promote the show, just as he supports/promotes his own books. The thing with Bravo is that is was a free blog he was doing, and unsponsored, and that they THEN decided to have it sponsored. I don't know that the decision was a "business decision" not to give away free content. He WAS giving away free content (by not being paid for the Top Chef blog) right up until Bravo decided to have it sponsored. I think it was an ethical decision, a refusal to have something he was doing for free, for fun (for both himself and the fans) commercialized - that was NOT part of the original deal with Bravo. And, as it isn't a product that Tony uses, so he seems to feel, in all good conscience, that he cannot be seen to be associated with that product. It's not because Tony is not getting paid (by Bravo OR by Michelob).

← In terms of how Bourdain saw his previously uncommercialized, unsponsored blog now suddenly being sponsored by Michelob, yes, that would be "a threat". As for NR, the situation is entirely different. A production company produces a show, under contract, for a network. Even though for-profit networks derive most of their income from advertising, at that point, the people producing the show are paid by the NETWORK - not a specific sponsor. When NR airs, blocks of air time are bought by individual companies selling a product - again, there is no one sponsor, and neither Tony nor, say, Zimmern, are required to endorse or do any shilling for a particular company. Further, when a show is bought by a commercial TV network to be aired, it is with the full understanding that there will be commercials run through it at the breaks - a full understanding reached ages before the show goes into production, naturally. That is the business of for-profit TV.What Tony is ticked off about, as I understand it, is that (1) a blog that he writes for free, for fun, is now being sponsored by a corporate entity, and (2) Bravo did so without a heads-up to him. Since Tony had no say in what was going to be done to his blog once he sent it in, and being associated with the commercial sponsorship of it - even passively - is anathema to him, Tony is therefore NOT going to write the blog any more (see the last comment from Bourdain, above). Neither with NR - nor with the blog - does a corporate entity come running up to Tony with buckets of filthy lucre and drop it in his lap, screaming, "Here! NOW would you please let us plaster your dark visage all over our Pilsner glasses! Let us start mass-producing the Bourdain Ginzu 8" hollow ground Santoku knife!" But he does get paid through his contract with The Travel Channel to produce NR, he does get paid for his speaking engagements and appearances (though not for plain old book signings, which are promotional), and he does get paid from his book royalties (which the book signings pump up). I'm sure Bourdain HAS had offers to endorse plenty of stuff, BTW, or for merchandizing - but the very fact that we haven't SEEN any endorsements, merchandizing, etc., etc., with Bourdain's face on it should tell you right there he isn't doing any. And now, as he's just said, he won't write the sponsored Top Chef blog. That should settle the integrity question right there, don't you think?

No, a sponsored blogger can, naturally, use his or her own CPU to blog. But once the marterial leaves his or her hands, the blogger/writer does not necessarily have full control about how it's formatted, packaged, edited, etc. So if Tony, working on his laptop or Blackberry, blogs a piece and sends it into Bravo, he's just sending typed words - like these, like yours - to the Bravo blog editors. Since, for the past season, Tony has been blogging Top Chef (for free just because it amuses him), and there's been no sponsorship, banner pages, ads on the side of HIS blog, etc., I'm sure he did not see foresee any changes coming - until Bravo announced that his blog was going to be sponsored by Michelob. Well, now that he KNOWS Michelob is slated to sponsor his blog, that ads, banner pages and whatever other promotional/advertising BS is going to be added to his written words, Tony is objecting. And for those of you who think he's selling out or about to, let's just see if you see Tony blog Top Chef this season, as long as there is the threat of sponsorship on his blogs. Bets, anyone?

Actually I think Andrews close-to exact words were, "mayo is oil and egg yolks, I didn't know that, so he gave me a recipe" are you serious? this guy is supposed to be a sous at Le Cirque by the way..Amazing, AND he wins the next challenge. I have never worked in any restaurant that hasn't had some form of house aioli in the food. ←

No, YOUR logic is wrong. I once gave a lecture (unpaid), only to find, when I got to the venue, that the organization which asked me to talk got sponsorship - for the entire lecture series. It was for a good cause and I didn't particularly care, but at no time was I paid by the sponsor, or asked to endorse anything, or pose next to anything, or do ANYTHING. Sponsorship and endorsement are two different things. Second, the term "pitchman" means someone who PITCHES a product, service, etc., for money, which, again, Tony is not doing. And, third, asTony already stated, he doesn't get paid to write the Bravo blog, so no money from ANY source is going to him. His blog is being underwritten by Michelob, and he is neither receiving any money from Michelob or Bravo for it, nor is he "pitching" any good, product or service in connection with it.

The only things missing for me is Bourdain's blog, and ALL of the recipes in an episode. Bravo's only posting a few - and none from the quick-fire challenges.PS: I like the Kiwi, as well - but Richard is no slouch!

Ahh, Hawaiian diners! Reminds me fondly of all the Drive-Inns (not Ins) I saw all over the Big Island!

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I'm drawing a blank on farm stands and food stands on the west side of O'ahu - although, if you're more northwest (up towards Kahuku) the shrimp trucks are great. I saw corn, shrimp and other veggie stands and trucks from there headed back down towards the west side. You might also want to check the Hawaiian Farmers Market schedule. Oh - and sometimes, if you see a big silver paneled truck parked by the side of the road, you can get a plate lunch from them - plate, loco moco, or steak teriyaki, etc.

And I'll bet he'd make it into a darn tasty fish too... ← That's why he's "the Ripper" - poissoneur extraordinaire! (haha!)

Fortunately for Tony (I guess), he was in the back third of the kitchen, and might only have seen the occasional fan (or flash go off). Ripert, however, saw EVERYONE - up close and personal. (I tried to shoot from the corner of the partition, no flash, so I wasn't all up in his grill (pun intended), but the Tony shots required a brief stance in the dead center of the window, hopefully as inconspicuously as possible. Since I was trying to catch him candidly, not looking directly at the camera, I think I might have pulled that off.)Ripert was pretty funny. He took it all in stride - I think I mentioned earlier that when one slim blonde forgot to take her camera off flash, he just stuck his tongue at her (playfully), grinned and wet right back to his grilling (!)

Thanks to a few good friends - and Tony being a sport! Blow by blow, this is how the evening shaped up:http://profumoprofondo.com/2007/12/20/bour...es-joyeux-noel/

No, not at all. No, not by invite at all. Tony briefly mentioned a week or so beforehand in a New York Magazine interview that he would be shooting at LH for an upcoming NR ep. A friend of a friend spotted it, called our mutual friend, who then implored me to ask him at his upcoming booksigning on 12/15. So I did, he told me, and we immediately made reservations, right outside the booksigning. It was not a mob scene at all - the restaurant looked pretty full, but between 6p and 7:30, only a few fans came up to the window. It wasn't until 9:30-ish that there were a full partition of fans, but even then, they were not stationary - the glass partition is separated from the first table by only a narrow gap, and the restaurant is divided down its length by a long partition, too, meaning the floor staff has to use that top-of-a-T 2' gap repeatedly, so you could NOT stand there all day. That final sequence of shots of fans at the window represented only maybe 7 minutes of the total dinner service. My table was in front of the partition, slightly to the right, so I saw Ripert most of the night without having to get up (as well as all the action - and non-action - in front of the partition). Contrary to popular belief, the dining population of LH was very well-behaved that night - there was no stampede, no mosh pit. Just a lot of people having dinner and popping up with a camera phone at window occasionally. Those with books to sign were doomed for disappointment. Tony could not come out - way too busy. He briefly darted out of the kitchen round about 8 or so to confer with either one of producers or his assistant, Beth Aretsky (who just dropped by for a visit), then darted right back in. There was no promotion per se, although the promotional value to LH for having its superstar ex- exec chef cooking - with Ripert, no less! - for a night, and shown worldwide, has got to be pretty damn golden. Nobody won anything - not a visit back to the kitchen, not an autograph, not being allowed to set Todd on fire (although my crepe came the closest!) And even though you saw Tim tell numerous people that Bourdain was in the house, there were a lot of people who did not realize anything was going on until they saw pictures being shot - and Todd come out into the front of house with his camera. Then a few older ladies spotted Ripert, and excitedly told me about it ("yes, ma'am. Thank you!)" while I was up at the window trying to shoot Bourdain (way in the back third of the kitchen). Loved the lady in the Chanel double knit with the pearls. She was thrilled to see Ripert (!)

← Philippe (the owner) and Tony are good friends, and yes, the publicity for LH would have been terrific to have Tony on the line again. But I'm sure Philippe was understably cautious about having a 51 year-old rejoin the line after 5 years' absence - the potential for bringing the busiest line in the kitchen down, or getting it backed up, at least, was quite real. Which is why he assigned both Eric and Tony a babysitter each, to leap in there, if necessary. Happily, neither babysitter was necessary; however slammed Tony might have been, the line kept moving. And Ripert never missed a beat.However delighted he might be to have his superstar ex-exec chef and Ripert working his line, Philippe still had to keep his eye on the bottom line. To allow two chefs to come in and take over two stations with which they are either totally unfamiliar (Ripert) or not quite as familiar as they once were (Ripert) WITH a production crew (two cameras and at least one producer, maybe two, in a very long, narrow kitchen) is being kind of warm, trusting and supportive, I think (!)

Correct. The final count for Tony that night - just for dinner - was 315. His best (before the restaurant expanded to do 600-700 covers a night) was 365, so even though he got slammed during service, it's still a pretty solid stat - pretty much in line with what he was doing 5 years ago (or 8 years, since he was cooking full-time.)

Eric was so cool, serene and chillaxing all throughout service. He didn't even lose it when a fan's flash went off in his face. Just stuck his tongue out at her, grinned and kept grilling. He is a Buddhist, and his Zen-like serenity shows. Gotta love the guy.

Do you have a working relationship with AB, or do you just stalk him?! ← Neither! I just called Les Halles!

Yep, 700! When Tony was Exec Chef, LH had about 80, 86 tables and did about 350 covers a night - Tony's personal best was 365 (I called. I checked). Now, LH has 140? seats, and does 650-700 covers A NIGHT - Oy! And his stats for tthat night, 12/18, was 315. Which was pretty damn decent for a 51 year-old chef who hasn't been on a line even part-time for 5 years (or full-time, for 8).

I think it's because that particular scallop dish wasn't part of the Les Halles repetoire a few years ago - not because Tony doesn't know how to cook scallops or had a meez problem. He needed to see the dish prepared once. On the ticket, it would just say "1 scallop", with no other indication of preparation.

Tony DOES use reading glasses. I suspect he forgot to bring them with him because most of what he had to do would not require their use - EXCEPT, of course, reading the itsy small print on the tickets (!)

Yep, especially as I was there that night: http://profumoprofondo.com/2007/12/20/bour...es-joyeux-noel/ I think my crepes suzette made the final cut (don't think I did, though).

← I DID think Tony's position was one of ironic detachment on the Zimmern show, but I did read in an interview somewhere that Tony "liked him". Hey, maybe he does, maybe he doesn't. Maybe he likes Zimmern, but doesn't like his shtik. Maybe he likes both. I don't know. I'm just saying that, whatever opinion he might have about Zimmern or his show, Tony still cross-plugged and promo'ed Zimmerns's show for the network, like a good team player would. TC has been very good to him, and he's been very good for TC. So - nothing but love. So then you go out and sprinkle some of your world-wide fame, popularity and TV lustre dust on a lesser network host and do your bit for your network. It's standard practice at ANY network. Just business - nothing personal.

Yep. Zimmern's shtick is seeking out and eating the most bizarre foods he can find - I think it's more a gross-out factor thing. There is no context provided for what he goes to eat. He's like a dumpy, pudgy, middle-aged wannabe Ozzy Osbourne biting the heads off bats. (OK, that's unfair to Oz!) ← And yet Bourdain did a two part crossover show with him. Willingly it seems. Do you think that was a momentary bout of bad taste of did he sell out to the Travel Channel overlords? ← Hey I like that guy! Sure, he's fat, geeky, and dresses poorly, but he's also knowledgeable and a friendly television personality. I also think he pairs well with Bourdain. ← Bourdain is TC's #1 star, with the highest-rated show. Of course he was asked to cross-plug/promote another TC personality's show - and remember, he also did a segment for Miami Ink (YC and Discovery were sister channels), too. It comes with the territory. Having said that, while I'm not wild about Zimmern personally (although he IS likeable enough), Tony has remarked he likes the dude. So? He adds a little lustre dust to Zimmern's show, the network is happy, and Tony is OK with it, too. It's not like anyone asked him to go on a Rachael Ray show - now THAT would be a sell-out.