Anybody seen this show yet? I think it started last night on the Travel Channel. Last night he was in Paris, next week, Iceland.

It's kind of like an R-rated Rick Steves. I really enjoyed it.

Never heard of him before, but it was pretty cool.

His book "Kitchen Confidential" is one of the funniest things I have ever read in my life. :-: :-: :-: :-:

I also am pretty fond of his restaurant "Les Halles" in the NY Financial District (great bistro food with reasonable prices).

I think this is actually his 2nd TV series, and they're both great.

I agree about the book.

Yes, funny, but was it believable? Sure, some of it, but I found it hard to swallow (no pun intended) that behind-the-scene it was consistently that raunchy. Made for some great stories, though.

Yes, I caught it too -- only because I'd seen promos during the Michael Palin Himalaya series on TC. I don't usually watch the Travel Channel because for a while, it was all-Vegas-all-the-time. But it's starting to look as if they have some more interesting content, at last...

Tony Bourdain was chef owner of Les Halles in NYC. He did a couple of series some time back (on Food Network?), based on his books.

I enjoy his edgy irreverant in-your-face kind of style -- he usually tells it like it is. He's definitely not one to kiss up to chef-du-jour promos (enjoyed his little sidebar about Rocco!) And he's not afraid to eat and comment on dishes that most of us might, um, not choose..

It did make me want to go to Paris again -- but maybe not for the absinthe.

Wish I'd known that Les Halles was in the financial district. I ate at Del Monico's instead.

Bourdain had a show on the Food Network called "A Cook's Tour." The episode I saw last night reminded me of that one, but this was more educational than "Let's watch Tony get drunk and eat gross things" than that one...although they were in Paris, which has fewer gross things to eat than other cities. Seems like they always had him drinking cobra bile in vodka, or eyeballs, or insects. We'll see how he does eating the Icelandic Rotting Shark next week.

I think Food Network cancelled his show becuase he wasn't a big, dancing muppet like some of the "personalities" on the channel.

It's on John Street a block east of Broadway. I'm suddenly having withdrawal pains just thinking about the restaurant's mussels.

He wrote a book about the filming of the series, also entitled "A Cook's Tour". Slightly different then the series, it is profane and can be quite funny in parts. For FT'ers without a burning passion to learn about the restaurant business, it might be more appealing then "Kitchen Confidential" (although I recommend reading "A Cook's Tour" second, regardless).

I worked in two different high volume restaurants for a time, while in college. Neither were as raunchy as Bourdain describes, but we did some pretty nasty stuff and talked trash to each other pretty seriously.

Other now middle aged friends of mine who had restaurant experiences in their teens and twenties who read the book, also identified with the hijinks.

I'm pretty sure Bourdain doesn't own Les Halles, but rather is the executive chef. At least that was the case when he wrote Kitchen Confidential, where he discusses how he got the job at Les Halles.

He's also written some mystery books:
http://www.powells.com/biblio?isbn=1582341028
http://www.powells.com/biblio/6-0679...roduct_details

I saw the Paris show last night and Head Cheese sure sounded gross to me.

Bourdain is a wonderful non-fiction writer. His fiction is dreadful. ( I believe there are three and I have read them all). A Cook's Tour is excellent in that it was written in conjunction with the TV series. Of interest, is when he writes about having to reshoot a scene because he was so wasted.Even more interesting when you see the series. IIRC, after traveling the world searching for the "perfect meal" he found what he was looking for at "The French Laundry." The chef even made tobacco-flavored ice cream for him, given his well known addiction to cigarettes (among other things).His last book , "Les Halles" cookbook was very poorly reviewed. Evidently, it was laced with profanities and dreadful recipes which would be useless in the ordinary kitchen.

They showed a 10 minute preview on Ted, definitely going to plug it into the DVR

Emphasis on the hi in "hijinks.'

I believe the original Les Halles is at 411 park avenue south. The downtown location is a newer offshoot.

Bourdain is pretty entertaining.

I love Tony Bourdain... Thoroughly enjoyed both Kitchen Confidential & A Cook's Tour, as well as the FoodTV series on A Cook's Tour. Sadly I missed out on attending a dinner & book signing with him when he was in Chicago as I was out of town. I saw last night's show & wasn't disappointed, and I'm looking forward to next week. Oh how I wish I could sit down for a meal with him...