Anthony Bourdain is the acerbic host of No Reservations on the Travel Channel. His rise to fame can be attributed to Kitchen Confidential, his book exploring the seamy underworld of the restaurant industry. Since then he has written two more books, and has served as a guest judge on Top Chef.
Bourdain chatted with us from his home in New York, having just returned from filming in our neighbor to the north, Baltimore, for his “Rust Belt” episode. We discussed the D.C. episode (which he taped back in July), his plans for the future, the awfulness of a particular TV show, and his advice to Obama.
The Washington D.C. episode of No Reservations will air tonight on the Travel Channel at 10 p.m., with reruns at 11 p.m. and 2 a.m.
When I was preparing questions for this interview, I asked friends for suggestions on what to ask. Most of the responses ranged from “ask him if he’ll marry me” to “give him my number” to “I want to have a bromance.” But in your Time magazine interview, you said that you were on the shy side.
I think I’m like a lot of chefs with two different kinds of personalities. We develop these sort of Type-A personalities from all these years in the kitchen, but out in the real world, interacting with real people, I can be shy. I’m less comfortable. I think it’s no accident that I ended up as a chef, and I think I share a lot of the same kinds of insecurities that a lot of chefs have that gets them in the business.
How do you feel about being so idolized?
It’s unreal. I kinda don’t take it personally. When people say nice stuff about you, it’s the same as when they say bad things about you. I don’t really feel like they’re talking about me. It’s nice when people like the show. It’s nice when people like the books. But I don’t really think people really know me. The threshold for celebrity is so low these days. Those people on The Hills make a f***ing living off it. So I don’t think I should be patting myself on the back about anything.
You have a young daughter with whom you probably want to spend more time, and I’m sure it would be easy to sell out on a nice endorsement deal to do so. What motivates you to continue filming more episodes of No Reservations?
Because I can. I’m well aware of the fact that it’s the best job in the world. How long will people want to see more? How long will the network be crazy enough to put up money for this venture? I assume I should do it as long as I can get away with it, because it can’t last forever. I would feel like an idiot if I walked away from it now. I’m having fun. When it stops being fun, then I’ll stop doing it.
What you’ll see this year and in the following years is there will be a suspiciously large number of shows in and around Italy. I try very hard to incorporate as many places that are close to the ancestral homelands of my wife’s family and my in-laws. I bring my wife and daughter to many family-friendly places. Or places that will be fun for them to hang out while I’m shooting. For every Sri Lanka or Thailand, I try to do one in the south of France.
