Jump to content
  • Welcome to the eG Forums, a service of the eGullet Society for Culinary Arts & Letters. The Society is a 501(c)3 not-for-profit organization dedicated to the advancement of the culinary arts. These advertising-free forums are provided free of charge through donations from Society members. Anyone may read the forums, but to post you must create a free account.

Recommended Posts

Posted
There is no book. For accomanying prose see chapter in Nasty Bits on my time with Ferran at El Bulli. It covers much the same ground as the DVD.

In other news, we are currently shooting an episode of NR in Lebanon--and it should be video gold. Those kookie-krazy kids from Hezbollah were popping off their weapons today(shooting in the air, I gather)--and Israel has been bombing and mobilizing a division in the South with reported land and sea strikes... (See today's news--and quotes from Israeli PM). While the party continues in Beirut--there's a lot of concern that the Israelis will follow up  with strikes on infrastructure (like the power grid). And we were due to head to the Bekka Valley tomorrow.

BTW..this town is Party Central!

I married into a Lebanese family, when we visited over there I was scared s***less by boys with guns, but if you stay out of a few areas you'll be fine. It is a party town, guess that's what 20 years of civil war will do for you.

Couple recommendations - try Bar Bar downtown for some great street food and get a manooshi (zatar) from a street cart sometime after 2 AM - better than a slice of pizza to ward off a hangover. Also, the mezza in Jounieh is awesome at a place called Manuela's - the whole fried birds, pickled lamb brains and testicles should be right up your alley.

Finally, please take your cameras to Jeita caverns - people in America need to se this amazing place to understand what a beautiful country they're missing because of the fact folks in that part of the world just can't seem to get along.

Be safe.

Posted
There is no book. For accomanying prose see chapter in Nasty Bits on my time with Ferran at El Bulli. It covers much the same ground as the DVD.

In other news, we are currently shooting an episode of NR in Lebanon--and it should be video gold. Those kookie-krazy kids from Hezbollah were popping off their weapons today(shooting in the air, I gather)--and Israel has been bombing and mobilizing a division in the South with reported land and sea strikes... (See today's news--and quotes from Israeli PM). While the party continues in Beirut--there's a lot of concern that the Israelis will follow up  with strikes on infrastructure (like the power grid). And we were due to head to the Bekka Valley tomorrow.

BTW..this town is Party Central!

party hard, sweetie, but Khest, BE CAREFUL! :laugh:

"Commit random acts of senseless kindness"

Posted

Ah, I thought maybe that poster was referring to the chapter in Nasty Bits.

Try not to get kidnapped or blown up.

"An appetite for destruction, but I scrape the plate."

Posted
Tony.. take care...

just got SAT TV at my house in Italy, and they run your show back to back..

LOVE IT.Even my Italian husband watches.

they have both no reservations and Viaggio di un Cuoco.. a chef's trip?

stop by when in Florence!

Divina, perhaps Viaggio di un Cuoco is his show "A Cook's Tour"?

Here in Indonesia we have No Reservations on Discovery's Travel and Living, which also airs DFA and ACT. The most recent NR was on Sicily and the spleen sandwich!

Has the NR Indonesia been aired yet? I wish I could've met AB. :wub:

Tony, you are in my heart and prayers.

Yetty CintaS

I am spaghetttti

Posted
Way it's looking now--there ain't gonna be a show.

Not entirely surprising given the news this morning - hope you weren't at the airport.

Stay safe.

Barbara Laidlaw aka "Jake"

Good friends help you move, real friends help you move bodies.

Posted
Way it's looking now--there ain't gonna be a show.

I was worried about that. I guess you and the crew would really just like to get the hell out of there right now. I read on Haaretz that many tourists (mostly Arab nationals) had fled to Syria. From the reports, it looks like Israel is planning on a major offensive in southern Beirut. Maybe you could go north? Of course, again, I am sure you would rather be anywhere but Beirut right now.

My husband was a child in Beirut in '67 (his American parents taught at AUB) and he still gets emotional when he talks about how his family fled in the middle of the night with the harbor on fire. Up until then, he'd had a wonderful childhood in the Riviera of the Middle East. He has vivid memories of manaeesh for breakfast, eating green almonds, dates and wonderful yogurt.

Posted
There is no book. For accomanying prose see chapter in Nasty Bits on my time with Ferran at El Bulli. It covers much the same ground as the DVD.

In other news, we are currently shooting an episode of NR in Lebanon--and it should be video gold. Those kookie-krazy kids from Hezbollah were popping off their weapons today(shooting in the air, I gather)--and Israel has been bombing and mobilizing a division in the South with reported land and sea strikes... (See today's news--and quotes from Israeli PM). While the party continues in Beirut--there's a lot of concern that the Israelis will follow up  with strikes on infrastructure (like the power grid). And we were due to head to the Bekka Valley tomorrow.

BTW..this town is Party Central!

Yikes! Reminds me of 1975 when my dad moved us to Dhahran Saudi Arabia for his government job right when King Fahd was assasinated by his American-educated nephew. If there was trouble in Saudi, Beirut was our "Safe haven" to escape TO.

Please get your "Shooting" done quickly and get the hell out of there. The Salzkammergut area in Austria would be a great alternative show.

TomH...

BRILLIANT!!!

HOORAY BEER!

Posted
Way it's looking now--there ain't gonna be a show.

Be careful how you choose to travel. It occurred to me that you and your camera crew driving around could easily be mistaken for a group of militants looking for a target. A camera could be mistaken for a weapon. The IDF knows what they're doing - and they don't miss often.

Take care and return safe.

TomH...

BRILLIANT!!!

HOORAY BEER!

Posted

Yeah, forget about the show, we just hope you can find a way to stay safe and get back home. This is not how we want you to be playing that game of "what would you want for your last meal on earth". Good luck and stay safe.

Posted
Yeah, forget about the show, we just hope you can find a way to stay safe and get back home.  This is not how we want you to be playing that game of "what would you want for your last meal on earth".  Good luck and stay safe.

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 (!)

Posted

On the other hand, what a great film THAT would make.... But really, worried here. Read the news yesterday after your quick note and then the news last night and this morning and it just gets worse and worse. Hope you can get the hell out of there soon.

Posted (edited)

Well, holy crap man!

Take care and try to be safe.

I was hoping to get a chance to ask you a smart ass question about whether you still had your cook's callousses one day. Or if, like me, you now have baby soft office worker hands.

Edited by eje (log)

---

Erik Ellestad

If the ocean was whiskey and I was a duck...

Bernal Heights, SF, CA

Posted

NR crew and Tony - I hope you are in a safe area. Just read warplanes punched holes in the Beirut airport.

Just on the news a group of journalists were hit with one person injured.

I believe you are all resourceful and courageous.

Looking forward to your next email - with hope you are away from the violence.

Posted

I was just reading the thread "I will Never Again..." and wondering if we'd see a post there from AB "I will never again try to shoot a travel show in a war zone..." :raz:

Seriously, I hope and pray that AB and crew are all safe and will stay that way!

"Commit random acts of senseless kindness"

Posted

Tony and crew -- please stay safe. And Tony, please keep posting so we'll know you're all right.

Posted
Tony and crew - keep your heads down and return home safely...

All the best,

Indeed, Tony and crew...DO take care and f*** the show. We need you here for our entertainment. Otherwise, I have to go find a life... *L*

In everything satiety closely follows the greatest pleasures. -- Cicero

Posted

As always, travel safe. Hope you all get home soon. Hugs and prayers.

Pamela Wilkinson

www.portlandfood.org

Life is a rush into the unknown. You can duck down and hope nothing hits you, or you can stand tall, show it your teeth and say "Dish it up, Baby, and don't skimp on the jalapeños."

Guest
This topic is now closed to further replies.
×
×
  • Create New...