Anthony Bourdain came for a lecture at the new Durham Performing Arts Center last week. The new center is pretty darn swank; and much more convenient to get to than the auditorium in Raleigh (I-40 rush hour traffic anyone?). Oak and I also saved over $40 in Ticketmaster fees (for 8 show tickets) by going to pick up the tickets at the box office after going to the farmer’s market one Satuday morning. Hellow. Ticketmaster is SUCH a rip-off. They even charge you to print tickets at home!
Bourdain pretty much delivered what I was expecting. Though, to some extent I really had no idea what to expect. We heard his opinons of celebrity chefs – which ones he likes and doesn’t like. Surprisingly he enjoys Ina Garten, Giada DeLaurentis, and Martha Stewart. As we all know, he does not enjoy the Rachael Ray, Sandra Lee, or that Robin Miller chick. He wonders why all of them have oversized heads and never blink. haha. Apparently there was a time in which he and Rachael Ray had to be in the same photo together. Quel Horreur! However, he says he is is done making fun of her because now she “has too much power. She’s teamed up with Oprah!”
Even though he enjoys Ina and Martha, he would “never want to hang out with their creepy friends to eat their food.” I do have to say, Ina’s gatherings do usually look uber awkward slash scripted, unless it’s just her and Geoffery (the hubby).. aww. And even then, poor Geoffery is not the most convincing actor … “Oh Ina, you’ve cooked me a surprise dinner? I’m so surprised!!” hahaha.
There were also tales of travel, most that we had seen on TV, but interesting nonetheless. He says, to make friends in foreign countries, drink whatever booze they give you. And, apparently, the thing fans most write in to request for the show is to see him get sick from food on TV. Obviously, Bourdain does whatever he can to avoid this situation, as it’s not only insulting to his hosts but completely disgusting! Apparently most Russian women can drink any non-Russian man under the table. Noted – before traveling to Russia, to try to increase alcohol tolerance.
There was also a question and answer section, for which they asked for questions before the show, but the questions were really dumb and were things we kind of already knew the answer to (ie… what do you think of molecular gastronomy?). I was also disappointed that he didn’t say anything about the local food – either what he had eaten already or was planning to eat; not sure if he hadn’t been in the area long or was staying less than 24 hours.. I’m sure that’s possible.
What – no Durham epsiode of No Reservations ?? We could even hook Bourdain up with Oak and his coworker, who frequent every shady food establishment in Durham; including all the taquerias, burger joints, trucks, and an especially interesting-sounding establishment called “Wings and Things” that serves chicken wings AND chinese food. What a combo!
February 26th, 2009 at 10:04 am
Oh sounds fun! Yeah, he should do one of food from Durham! Tasty!
February 26th, 2009 at 6:57 pm
speaking of Oak liking to visit all the local dives…just heard from kids on the bus that there is a place called Dannys here on church street that supposedly have good burgers/chicken wings etc. Its somewhere on church street probably in the sketchy section. They also told me there are cock roaches but then said..only kidding when I got grossed out so possibly they were only trying to get a rise out of me which totally worked. I wlll leave that decision up to Oak.
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