Seeing eye to eye with Anthony Bourdain

A few years ago if you asked me what I thought of Anthony Bourdain, I would have said that he’s a chain-smoking, tattooed food freak. Well he’s still a chain-smoking, tattooed food freak in my eyes. But what redeems him is his view on celeb chefs on the Food Network. On a blog, Anthony shoots it straight from the hip about what he really thinks of Rachael Ray, Bobby Flay, Sandra Lee and others. In fact has voiced what I’ve always thought of some of the personalities.

Here’s a snippet:

On Rachael Ray: She only grows stronger and more powerful. Her ear-shattering tones louder and louder. We KNOW she can’t cook. She shrewdly tells us so. So…what is she selling us? Really? She’s selling us satisfaction, the smug reassurance that mediocrity is quite enough.

On Bobby Flay: They seem to have noticed Bobby’s strong “negatives” among some viewer responses during focus groups–and decided to respond by subjecting poor Bobby to THROWDOWN; the object of which is to allow every web-fingered geek with a backyard grill–or half-mad muffin maker to proclaim, “I beat Bobby Flay at makin’ barbeque!” at the heart-warming end of show–before returning to tend their meth labs…

On Emeril: I’m actually grateful when I channel surf across his show. He’s STILL there–the original Behemoth. And I STILL find him unwatchable.

On Sandra Lee: This is simply irresponsible programming. Its only possible use might be as a psychological warfare strategy against the resurgent Taliban–or dangerous insurgent groups. A large-racked blonde repeatedly urging Afghans and angry Iraqis to stuff themseles with fatty, processed American foods might be just the weapon we need to win the war on terror.

And I laughed out loud, at work, about his write up on Paula Deen: I’m reluctant to bash what seems to be a nice old lady. Even if her supporting cast is beginning to look like the Hills Have Eyes–and her food a True Buffet of Horrors. A recent Hawaii show was indistinguishable from an early John Waters film. And the food on a par with the last scene of Pink Flamingos.

The rest of his thoughts can be read here and not all of it is bad. Don’t forget to catch a marathon of his show Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations on the Travel Channel on February 19. Great entertaining programming and he’s not afraid to try adventous cuisine during his travels which include India, Japan and Las Vegas!