No Reservations

come on, there have to be some bourdain fans in here? i saw a bunch of old eps over the weekend and am pumped for the new episodes to start tonight. i rewatched iceland and ghana, they were soo cool. he does a great job of getting right in there.

so...for any of the lurking fans in here, dont forget the new episodes start tonight.

I like the show.

Bourdain can be a little over the top sometimes with his attempts to add flavor to the show (the whole "let's back at Zamir" schtick in the Russia episode, for example) but I definitely enjoy his show better than that other "weird foods" show with Andrew Zimmern.

thurston608 said:

come on, there have to be some bourdain fans in here?

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Present. Watcher since the first season. Unfortunately, they became more and more a travelogue as time went on. Plus, AB evidently got some flack from the anti-smoking and anti-drinking crowd since he cut back considerably on both last season.

I hope he's back to his old form this year. Smokin', drinkin' and leadin' the high life.

logic88 said:

I like the show.

Bourdain can be a little over the top sometimes with his attempts to add flavor to the show (the whole "let's back at Zamir" schtick in the Russia episode, for example) but I definitely enjoy his show better than that other "weird foods" show with Andrew Zimmern.

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Then you're not going to like this...

Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations - "New York" (OAD 8/6): Title Problem

Jon J said:

Present. Watcher since the first season. Unfortunately, they became more and more a travelogue as time went on. Plus, AB evidently got some flack from the anti-smoking and anti-drinking crowd since he cut back considerably on both last season.

I hope he's back to his old form this year. Smokin', drinkin' and leadin' the high life.

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looking forward to the new york episode tonight (although you won't see him smoking there since it's outlawed). i really liked the new shanghai episode last week. reminded me why i love watching this show so much. im very interested to see what he gets into in new york, since it is a place i actually will go in the near future...

Who saw the Cleveland episode? That was some great stuff.

The cassoulet looked amazingly awesome. And he really did make it himself!

Go read Ruhlman's blog. Lots of discussion about the episode there.

Yeah I really enjoyed the Cleveland episode, Harvey Pekar and the last living Ramone, what's not to love? My personal favorite was the colorful Toby at the buffett... He was quite a character, and that's saying a lot on an episode with Harvey Pekar.

Pekar was great. LOVED the comic drawings they used mixed in with the video.

I've just gotten into this show and I love it!

You mean this isn't about the sucky cooking movie?



I didn't like the Cleveland show. My favorite one so far is Hong Kong. Tony Bourdain is pretty entertaining. He's growing on me.

Next show for "No Reservations" is an episode where Tony works a double shift back at Le Halles. Should be interesting to see how well he does.


Edit: I've learned that Eric Ripert joined Tony on the line the night this was episode was filmed. Interesting.

What a GREAT episode!!!


That's A LOT of covers. But he did a pretty decent job. But you could tell he was hurting. Too funny to watch all the other cooks checking him out, wondering if he could still hack it on the line.

And Eric Ripert just impresses me more and more. He seemed really enjoy working the grill. He's a good sport. Dressing up as Santa for a reality TV show? None of this is something a guy with three Michelein stars needs to do. But yet, there he is, doing it. :up:


Anyway, a really great look into what a real, typical, high volume restaurant does in a day.

I have to say that No Reservations has gotten to be one of my favorite shows. Tony just seems like such a normal guy. It was so funny when he admitted he couldn't read the tickets any more. As someone very close to Tony in age, I have the same thing happen all the time. To bad that it was the season ending episode.

'loved it!

looks like even after 8 years, Tony could hold his own. Ripert did look like he was having fun too, but also said "never again!" at the end.

A bit off-topic, but anyone ever tried Les Halles in D.C.?

In my younger days I did 250+ on a line with 2 cooks, 500+ on a Mother's Day one year doing a double shift. It's been a while, but I can relate. This show reminded me how much I liked Kitchen Confidential, especially the audio version read by Tony.

While I don't think I'd want to do that 8 hours or more a day ( especially at the $5 per hour I made then ), it was fun.
I enjoyed it at the time, smile when I think of it now, don't really want to do it like that again.

The pampered waiter fit the impression we had of the wait staff back then. I'd see a waitress come in 45 mins before restaurant opening, leave as soon as the last table did and make 3-4x as much as I did in tips. Preferring working with food to working with people I was never tempted to move up front.

Idearat said:

In my younger days I did 250+ on a line with 2 cooks, 500+ on a Mother's Day one year doing a double shift. It's been a while, but I can relate. This show reminded me how much I liked Kitchen Confidential, especially the audio version read by Tony.

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I've just recently listened to this audio version; it is indeed excellent.

I'd never consider working in a kitchen. I can't take the heat so I stay out!

Cleveland episode: skyline chili. Chili on top of spaghetti, piled high with neon orange cheese? Weird. Sounds good though.

Watching Tony almost killing himself in the New Zealand episode was alarming/amusing.

jimborst said:

I have to say that No Reservations has gotten to be one of my favorite shows. Tony just seems like such a normal guy. It was so funny when he admitted he couldn't read the tickets any more. As someone very close to Tony in age, I have the same thing happen all the time. To bad that it was the season ending episode.

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I loved this episode. Just awesome. I've somehow missed this show till this year but I really enjoy it a lot. The Lebanon episode was also amazing.

The Les Halles chef seemed kinda PO'd that Tony took a beer break at 3 PM.

Jon J said:

The Les Halles chef seemed kinda PO'd that Tony took a beer break at 3 PM.

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yeah.. especially considering they serve continuously throughout the day. Wonder who was stuck working saute?? (of course, it's possible that the bar scene was shot on an entirely different day. )