Anthony Bourdain "Guts and Glory" Review

On Nov. 8, notorious chef and food writer Anthony Bourdain visited Trinity University’s Laurie Auditorium, delivering a raw and unfiltered lecture which touched on everything from his mottled personal history to his merciless evaluations of television’s favorite celebrity chefs. 

The beginning of his lecture read like one big roast of the Food Network’s southern sweetheart, Paula Deen. In a stitching bit of stand-up comedy, Bourdain poked fun at Deen’s penchant for battering and frying every food item in sight and admonished her for encouraging people around the world to eat such fattening foods. He talked about Deen’s secret struggle with Diabetes, inquiring why she continues to perpetuate the growth of a disease with which she is personally afflicted by promoting unhealthy eating habits. One can tell that Bourdain values traditional cooking and that he resents the commercialization of the food industry.

From his rant about Deen, Bourdain segwayed into a chat about other celebrity chefs, complementing some (i.e. Andrew Zimmern and Giada De Laurentiis) and debasing others (i.e. Guy Fieri and Adam Richman). Bourdain noted that as a television chef, one must take into consideration the fact that their show is being broadcast across the globe, and that those shows affect how foreign countries assess American values. He argues that if a hungry family somewhere across the globe turns on their television only to see Adam Richman trying miserably to stomach several hundred raw oysters, this may proliferate anti-American sentiments.

Bourdain talked about his own show, too. He showed several of his favorite clips from his Travel Channel show, “No Reservations,” sharing some hilarious anecdotes about the people involved in producing the show.  He stressed the importance of building comfortable relationships with the people he films and interviews. According to Bourdain, he and his crew may spend the whole day getting to know the locals before they are ready to film an interview. He says that the relationships he builds with these people are key to producing good television.

According to Bourdain, one of his most important rules when travel is don’t insult the locals. He recounted some truly disgusting meals he had to endure while filming his show, including a lightly cooked warthog rectum. He says that no matter how horrible you think the food is, if somebody cooks something for you in their home, you eat it and you ask for seconds. Bourdain explained that a dish he finds frightening might be another person’s livelihood, and to reject their food is to harm their pride. According to Bourdain, the people he films are acutely aware of the fact that they are representing their country on international television, and they spare no expense to serve him the best dishes they know. Bourdain must always be an appreciative guest, happy to share the traditions of his hosts.

Bourdain encourages fan’s of “No Reservations” (which just ended it’s final season) to tune in to his upcoming show on CNN, called “Parts Unknown.” He said that his new show will be just like “No Reservations,” only this time he’ll be able to reach out to areas that the Travel Channel wouldn’t allow, making for a better, bolder show.