Anthony Bourdain: Yay or Nay?

I think Jeff was just being showy, I don't think he really has strong feelings about Anthony Bourdain.

It was during the Q&A when they mentioned that Anthony Bourdain was on Team Bone-in. I really like his shows on travel and food, but he does come across as a douchebag.

I didn't hear what Jeff said so I'm completely missing the context, but I love Bourdain. No Reservations was a great show and he's a pretty talented writer as well. He's a scathing, sarcastic, unapologetic asshole, but it's those exact qualities that appeal to my sensibilities.

I've seen Parts Unknown a few times, and he seems okay. I dunno, he's a dude that goes around and eats shit and talks about the food and the place. Never seemed particularly annoying.

But people seem to also really hate Guy Fieri, which I don't get either. Maybe I'm missing some key piece of information, but as far as I've seen he's just a guy with dumb-lookin hair that also eats food on TV.

Maybe I just missed some controversy where they showed themselves to be massive assholes or something, because some people seem to really hate them.

I need a more ambivalent answer to be able to vote appropriately.

#BoneIn is all that matters in life, and Bourdain is right, and he also rocks.

5 years ago i'd say yay, but today I go nay.

His attitude, while it used to be funny and sarcastically dickish, seems to have become just tired and pointedly rude and...well still dickish. Since his move to CNN, he just seems bored and done, and I haven't enjoyed watching him in some time.

That's ok though, I still got Andrew Zimmern. That guy seems like the coolest dude, and I hope to meet and shake his hand some day. It's always fun and interesting watching him go to weird places and eat the strangest shit, then give an honest assessment on if it was good or god awful.

While I haven't really paid too much attention to him in awhile, I have liked him in the past and I guess I'm unaware to what has changed about him that would make anyone hate him. Always seemed like a cool, fun guy to me.

Yay all day. His book was great. No reservations was great. Lots of range of topics in each episode.

He seems like a cool dude. Jeff's reaction was weird and over the top, which, I mean...of course it was.

He just rubs me the wrong way. He somehow is pretentious and trying to be an "every man" at the same time.

Fuck yes, do you know he used to be a heroin addict who got by by stealing purses?

He chews with his mouth open. That makes him a monster.

@yothatlimp: So was Bourdain. Not sure about the purses part, though.

@yothatlimp: Yep! One of my favorite episodes of Bizarre foods is when he is in Seattle (also because I'm from near there and it reminds me of home), and he is working with a group of recovering addicts/problem people trying to learn food service skills, and he goes pretty into his past, and how it's not the end for everyone and you can get better, then he works with em to cook some animal heart or some organ I would be scared to try. I like that he is a good idol for anyone who may have a checkered past to try to get better or move on from the slump they might be in.

@oldenglishc: Maybe the food he eats is just go good it's impossible to close ones mouth!

Hes great. Him and Alton Brown are the only food/travel people I enjoy.

I haven't really kept up with him since he left the Travel channel/No Reservations, but I've always really liked him. His show was basically the only thing I watched on TV back in the day, and I still have his books on the shelf.

By the way, he has a new short series up on YouTube sponsored by Balvenie whiskey. Each episode is about a different craft, with the latest one tackling the making of chef's knives.

i can pretty much take it or leave it. only thing i have seen with him is his food and travel thingy he does or did. and its was interesting but he seemed like a douchbag sometimes. but thats all i know him for or at least can remember him from. also i had to look him up before i knew who it was.

I like them both, even though I may disagree with Jeff and Anthony on a lot of topics.

in a lot of ways, Jeff is the Anthony Bourdain of videogames.

He's a snarky asshole who likes the same movies I do and makes dick jokes, he is pretty cool.

Nay, never cared for him

His shows? Yay. Real life dude? I dunno

His books are excellent (Bourdain's, not Jeff's), especially Kitchen Confidential. I've always thought his television persona gave the impression that he was trying too hard to be edgy, to the extent that it becomes distracting. He'll do things like point at a bunch of tuna and say, "You see how fresh that is! That's sex!"

His show is great!! He's a snarky asshole up to the point where he expresses sincere appreciation of a place or culture.

He REALLY does not like Iceland though.

Like other people have said, I've never quite enjoyed most of his TV presence. Especially early in No Reservations, he came across as unwarrantedly smarmy for being a one-time OK executive chef who happened to hit it big with an interesting book. He was everything annoyingly hipster about counter-foodies personified into a TV host who, for some reason, felt the need to shit on all other food TV hosts. He loosened up over the years, but he still felt like he was trying too hard -- like making references to sex, drugs, etc. He just sounded like that one uncle at the family BBQ who cannot give up the fact he used to be a roadie for REO Speedwagon once.

However. I started watching his new CNN show, Parts Unknown, on Netflix. It's way better than No Reservations. None of the cornball try-hard stuff, but with an actual deep-dive into the cultural landscape of a place. And it helps that the show seems to focus in on forgotten places in the U.S. mindset, which is something personally I enjoy writing about. His episodes on the Mississippi delta and New Mexico were both top-notch.

Parts Unknown feels like a quality interview-based ethnographic documentary instead of a smarmy asshole yelling about how this taco reminds him of drugs and being a cool-dude.

To me, there are two types of people (three if you count family) those you would kick back and have a beer and maybe a toke with and those you would not. Bourdain is most assuredly of the former.

Anthony Bourdain is an insufferable prick I'd never want to meet in real life, but I like his shows. So, "D - None of the Above".

For a while I was very much into 'no reservations'. He seems like a nice guy albeit a bit snarky.

i'm generally up with b'dain. he's attitude can be a bit much at times, and i think he thinks he's more punk than he actually is- but i like his approach and exposure he's given to authentic, low brow street food. he's legit.

I'm in the yay camp, but I've only seen his shows.

I like to watch Anthony Bourdain eat food and talk about food, he is funny and insightful even if I don't always agree with him.

I watch food shows to see places I haven't been and foods I haven't had. He does an okay job of not ruining the show. Thumbs up.

I don't watch TV pretty much ever but I caught one of his shows about food in New York at my girlfriend's house and it was surprisingly poignant. He was focussing on the culture around the food more than the food itself and it was fairly well written. Seems like an interesting personality

#TeamBoneless all the way, so fuck Bourdain!

But, nah, He's actually pretty cool.

I really like him. I taught World Geography for summer school this year and I used both No Reservations and Bizarre Foods to showcase the culture of the various places we were studying. I feel they both do a great job of showing what the true culture of a country/city is like instead of the weird touristy stuff that is normally shown. Bourdain also called Oklahoma Joe's(now Joe's KC) the best BBQ place in the country so I will always be a fan of his for that.

My knowledge of the man begins and ends at No Reservations, which I thought was an excellent show.

I have never been a fan of his.

I'm on #TeamNoWings. Who the fuck wants small chicken? Not me! Give me a big mufuggin chicken leg!

As for this Anthony Bourdain, I don't know who he/she/it is. I'm going to go look this up now.

*EDIT* Oh. He's a chef.

Fuck him. He's not Gordon Ramsay, so I could give a shit less.

Seems like a cool enough of guy. His rockstar persona can kind be a little annoying sometimes, but the dude did do a lot of drugs back in the day, so maybe he's earned it.

I always thought he was full of shit most of the time. I remember an episode of no reservations (Hawaii?) where he eats some foul paste that only locals enjoy. He knows going in that most people hate it so he tries to be the one mainlander who isn't disgusted by it. It just came off phony as hell to me. He also tries too much to be a hardass to the point of absurdity. For all I know he's a nice guy in real life, but I couldn't stand his on air personality.

I infinity prefer Andrew Zimmerman as my ex-drug-addict-turned-chef. He seemed like he really enjoyed his job. But Bourdain is cool too.

As a professional chef I really liked what Bourdain did. He brought a lot of what actual chefs and cooks do to light. IDK the context for Jeff saying "Fuck Bourdain" but I feel saying that after his death is really out of line. Suicide is never funny or something to applaud.

My vote comes 3 years after the post, but nonethless I've always enjoyed his shows, he went and did things you would never see on any other travel/cooking show. I liked his punk-chef attitude.