Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations Seasons 1-5

[Kevin72]

I can't tell which part made me squirm more: eating raw seal off the kitchen floor or eating 14 courses of foie gras. You really did a number on your digestive system this time, Tony.

[Bobby 2 Shakes]

Excellent job, Ian. This really was one of the best NR episodes. I've always had a soft spot for Montreal & Quebec city, since they are the only cities outside of the US I've ever visited. Definitely well worth the 10 hour drive up & 7 hour drive back to Philly (I know which way to go next time).

Maybe you'd like to consider starting a thread in the Quebec/Montreal forum discussing places you'd take Anthony if he started a Quebec spinoff series. Put a link in this thread (and a link to this thread in that one) and you could introduce a sizable number of eGullet's membership to Quebec's more secluded charms.

[Jennifer Brizzi]

My husband asked me this morning if I wanted seal eyeball or seal brain for breakfast. But somehow neither idea makes me as squirmy as those Chinese needle's in Mr. Bourdain's ears in the pilot episode.

Did I stay outside smoking too long or was Quebec City totally skipped over last night? Can anyone tell me? Jolly good show, though.

[KARENR65]

Speaking of smoking, I don't think I saw him have one cigarette in last nights episode.

[poshpeckish]

as a canadian, i'm very impressed with bourdain's "documentary" of quebec gastronomy. i love the fact that he went way north to sup on raw seal, something the vast majority of canadians only hear about. he's absolutely right: if you have any pretensions to cooking or gourmet living, you've got be fearless. bourdain looked totally at home in that inuit kitchen and the people were obviously at home with him being there, snacking along with them.

mark my words, in years to come, this episode will be remembered as a high point of his schtick.

[Gifted Gourmet]

Feeling the aftereffects of perhaps the most richest, most titanic, multi-course meal of my life at Martin Picard's awesome, retro, Au Pied Cochon in Montreal. The near empty plates of cassoulet, pigs' feet, seared foie and "duck in a can" are only a few of the 15 or so courses I demolished before exploding like the Hindenburg.

Simply amazing to see Tony stuffed like the veritable Christmas goose! Most entertaining .. and then he went on the dig into poutine later in this episode ... I am, as always, in awe of the work that Tony Bourdain offer his audience! Thanks again for getting it so right!

[OnigiriFB]

Loved the show. Now I really want to try seal and poutine. I have to admit as a mostly asian food eater that poutine sounded unholy disgusting to me. After seeing it on Tony's show I'd try it. Keep up the great work!

[FoodMan]

It truely was a fantastic show last night. The food at "au pied de cochon" looked like nothing I've ever seen. That is a meal I want to have before I die. Oh those roasted pigs' heads with crackling skin, the foi gras in everything, the duck in all its forms....

The episode is definitly one of the best, high up there with Sicily. It did not have a single dull moment...well maybe the hockey scene was a little boring.

Now the seal eating took me by surpirse. I did NOT expect that! I have to agree with Tony, it was and I dio mean this in the best possible sense like watching a scene from a horror film with the whole family dining on the flesh of something or someone. At the same time they had the sweetest most serene, warm and satisfied look on their faces while raw seal-blood caked their lips. It is very difficult to describe.

I wonder how much tony knew about the whole seal-feast beforehand and how much he was surprised with?

Keep up the good work.

[bourdain]

I knew what I was getting into. But knowing about it and actually experiencing it are two very different things.

btw: I'm very proud of my mention of the film classic "Lumberjack Facials II" on the episode. I think that one slid by without notice.

[bourdain]

I knew what I was getting into. But knowing about it and actually experiencing it are two very different things.

btw: I'm very proud of my mention of the film classic "Lumberjack Facials II" on the episode. I think that one slid by without notice.

←

I should probably credit the creative genius behind that title:

Ian?

[FoodMan]

I knew what I was getting into. But knowing about it and actually experiencing it are two very different things.

btw: I'm very proud of my mention of the film classic "Lumberjack Facials II" on the episode. I think that one slid by without notice.

←

I should probably credit the creative genius behind that title:

Ian?

←

Funny...and IMDB search for "Lumberjack Facials II" returns no results. Must be a real cult classic

[Zeemanb]

Yeah, just rifled through my classic Russ Meyer collection and didn't see it either.........

Last night's episode was just out of the park, absolutely my favorite thus far.

[iharrison]

I knew what I was getting into. But knowing about it and actually experiencing it are two very different things.

btw: I'm very proud of my mention of the film classic "Lumberjack Facials II" on the episode. I think that one slid by without notice.

←

I should probably credit the creative genius behind that title:

Ian?

←

Thank you Tony.

I think I may have said "bukkake" instead of facial, but hey, why split hairs? Thick, lustrous, maple syrup encrusted lumberjack hairs, that is.

[Bobby 2 Shakes]

Just as long as it's consensual.

(not in the "not prosensual" sense, either)

Edited April 18, 2006 by bob tenaglio (log)

[tighe]

Tremendous episode. I absolutely need to go eat at Au Pied Cochon. I'd be interested in knowing how much of that food Tony actually consumed.

Was it just me, or did the creepy maple syrup guy have same mildly deranged smile as Mr Sang (sp?) in Vietnam?

[Philanthrophobe]

I loved this episode. Absolutely best part: the seal feast. I want to know what it tasted like. And I didn't think they could top the Peru episode!

Oh, and if anybody wants to know how Arctic indigenous people have adapted to subsistence foods like raw marine mammals, I can provide links....yes, I'm a geek, and I'm also researching Yup'ik clay cooking vessels. (Okay, I'll go away now.)

Has he been to India yet? I watched PivenFest; it was a weird combo of host and destination. I took a drink every time he said "enlightenment;" needless to say, by the end of it I was watching from a horizontal position (and not in a good way).

[suzilightning]

johnnybird and i loved the las vegas and the canada episodes but for very different reasons. the vegas one had good food but the book references were what did it for me - as well as the sidekick. last night it was fun watching the chef trying to kill bourdain(and the amount of bleeping really reminded me of some of the guys i have worked with), the cookware store/gun and ammo store which made a lot of sense when followed by the seal hunt. but - like the pig last season- the fact that tony actually was connected to where that meal came from impressed me. i grew up hunting and fishing and if you caught it you ate it - or with fish guts used it to grow something or catch something else, hopefully crabs or lobsters. the reverernce for life and the gift of sustainance was celebrated and came through. when i work with children doing projects about colonial history you would NOT believe how much of a disconnect there is in their minds about how food was provided in colonial america. they are horrified that people had to go out and catch the food they ate and can not even imagine cleaning a fish, skinning a rabbit or squirrel or wringing a chicken's neck then plucking and singeing it . i haven't had the heart to tell them about pig sticking or where veal comes from....

one of the best, keep up the good tv and submit the canada episode for an emmy, please

[purplewiz]

Another fan of the episode....gads, I want to try that meal at Au Pied De Cochon. It's been too long since I last had foie gras. The breakfast and poutine didn't look too shabby, either, and I'll admit I've been curious about seal eyeball ever since I saw Les Stroud snack on one in "Survivorman".

I missed the introduction of his assistant during the cooking demonstration - my spousal unit was asking for help debugging some software. I think I heard her name was Beth, but was it the Beth who was, uh, mentioned in one of Tony's earlier books?

Marcia.

[rcianci]

Another fan of the episode....gads, I want to try that meal at Au Pied De Cochon. It's been too long since I last had foie gras. The breakfast and poutine didn't look too shabby, either, and I'll admit I've been curious about seal eyeball ever since I saw Les Stroud snack on one in "Survivorman".

I missed the introduction of his assistant during the cooking demonstration - my spousal unit was asking for help debugging some software. I think I heard her name was Beth, but was it the Beth who was, uh, mentioned in one of Tony's earlier books?

Marcia.

←

Tony introduced her as "the artist formerly known as The Grill Bitch".

[Bobby 2 Shakes]

This PSA is for those considering a foie gras festival or poutine party.

The latest iteration of the Joy of Cooking has a spreadsheet in the back with rows of ingredients and columns of metrics. The metric you'll want to be concerned with is fiber, and it appears that black-eyed peas and almonds are leading candidates for clean-up duty. Bringing up the rear, so to speak.

As always, let cabbage be your comrade.

[Bobby 2 Shakes]

Funny...and IMDB search for "Lumberjack Facials II" returns no results. Must be a real cult classic 

←

Probably too recent... buzz is that Anthony actually has a cameo and is credited as "the saucier"

[Kim Shook]

I knew what I was getting into. But knowing about it and actually experiencing it are two very different things.

btw: I'm very proud of my mention of the film classic "Lumberjack Facials II" on the episode. I think that one slid by without notice.

←

I did hear that - don't know the exact reference, but I got the idea . I asked my husband if I had heard it right !

[Bobby 2 Shakes]

Check out back cover of & cartoons in Apr 24 issue of New Yorker.

[purplewiz]

Tony introduced her as "the artist formerly known as The Grill Bitch".

←

That'd be the one I was thinking of ! Thanks!

Marcia.

[rcianci]

Funny...and IMDB search for "Lumberjack Facials II" returns no results. Must be a real cult classic 

←

Probably too recent... buzz is that Anthony actually has a cameo and is credited as "the saucier"

←

Compared to who?