Celebrity chefs, bourbon and misc. nonsense

[tanstaafl2]

Including Bourdain who seems to have been pouring gas on the fire in recent episodes by constantly bringing it up.

[Restaurant man]

Including Bourdain who seems to have been pouring gas on the fire in recent episodes by constantly bringing it up.

Bourdain is an idiot, and no one watches his show. Because he is an idiot.

[c2walker]

Bourdain is an idiot, and no one watches his show. Because he is an idiot.

The problem is that people do watch his show(s). Tons of them. Me included. He's an idiot, but an entertaining one.

[tanstaafl2]

The problem is that people do watch his show(s). Tons of them. Me included. He's an idiot, but an entertaining one.

Not sure whether he is an idiot or not but certainly his "TV persona" comes off as a big blowhard. Maybe he is that way in real life too but I have no idea. I don't think we would likely have much in common besides travel but I do enjoy watching the show because I have had the good fortune to travel a fair bit myself over the years. Just finished my "bipolar" year last year with trips to Argentina/Antarctica and the Arctic (Iceland/Greenland/Svalbard with a side trip to London and Belgium) and am off to Cuba in a few weeks. One of the things I enjoy when I travel is trying to learn a bit about the local culture through food and drink. I don't have the access he gets of course but it can still be interesting and helpful to watch what he did.

I did think his recent Atlanta show on The Layover was a bit underwhelming. Don't care for that show as much or for his visits to American cities as much as the more "exotic" locals. Not that it matters as it has now runs its course. Remains to be seen whether the upcoming CNN gig will have as much interest for me.

[Yeti]

I've enjoyed both of his audiobooks, which he reads himself, and have watched his show infrequently over the years. He is obviously polarizing, but I've become quite a fan of the guy, even if he has had as large a role as any in "ruining" PVW.

[ChainWhip]

I like Bourdain and after meeting him in person, he's actually a very genuine (albeit snarky) person. Sure, he's an easy target for the whisky-lover's PVW woes but even if Bourdain never mentioned a peep about Old Gentlemanly Dude, there still would be craziness around allocation time.

That said, prices were lower & bottles more readily available here in Washington state before liquor sales were privatized.

[matthewdc]

Including Bourdain who seems to have been pouring gas on the fire in recent episodes by constantly bringing it up.

It's also other celebrity chefs like Chang, Ripert, Brock, and others that are pouring the gas too. These guys are rock stars to the hipster crowd. I mean if they mention they used organic Egyptian Walking Onions or sustainable Patagonian toothfish for their dish, there's going to be a run on that stuff too!

But I find it humorous when Bourdain (on an episode of "On The Table") says "you can't tell people about this stuff [PVW]" but then immediately says "that is the most glorious bourbon on the planet." Or Chang and Brock (on Mind of a Chef) doing a tour and tasting with JVWIII.

I just want to thank those guys for making it that much harder to get it!

[Barclay Beach]

In the big picture, I respect guys like Bourdain, Chang, et al. But it's pretty inconvenient when their interests overlap with ours. Just thankful they're mostly focused on the PVW. Throws the hipsters off the scent, for the time being.

For what it's worth, I'm sure that there's a group of Brazilians who are pissed that Bourdain blew up their favorite Caipirinha bar.

[Restaurant man]

It's also other celebrity chefs like Chang, Ripert, Brock, and others that are pouring the gas too. These guys are rock stars to the hipster crowd. I mean if they mention they used organic Egyptian Walking Onions or sustainable Patagonian toothfish for their dish, there's going to be a run on that stuff too!

But I find it humorous when Bourdain (on an episode of "On The Table") says "you can't tell people about this stuff [PVW]" but then immediately says "that is the most glorious bourbon on the planet." Or Chang and Brock (on Mind of a Chef) doing a tour and tasting with JVWIII.

I just want to thank those guys for making it that much harder to get it!

My only problem with Bourdain is that he's a phony. When's the last time Chef Bourdain has cooked anything. And he bad mouths chefs at every turn including in his tell all book that sparked his fame. He touts pappy because he wants to be associated with the secret good stuff. Too bad he's like at least 5 years too late.he's like the last one to jump on the bandwagon waving other people on. as far as pappy prices here, haven't seen any.

[Josh]

I've always thought of Anthony Bourdain as the punk rock Rick Steves.