No Reservations: Difference between revisions

The show ran 35 episodes and attained something akin to cult hit status. The book chronicles several pages of behind the scenes instances of "why you should never do a TV show" - many of which owe a lot to Bourdain's don't-want-to-put-up-with-this-shit and tell-it-like-it-is demeanor which account partly for his appeal. However, according to his newer book "The Nasty Bits", the Food Network was not going to renew the show because they want more shows that cater to average folks with barbecues and limited interest in foreign cuisines. After being abandoned by their own production company, the Travel Channel (who would give him a lot more free reign and creative control) picked up the show and it became ''No Reservations''.

 

 

''Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations'', now in its 7th season, works on the premise of using food as a window into the culture that they are visiting. "In the world of a cook," says the show's promo blurb, "an understanding and appreciation of how others eat is akin to discovering secret societies and cryptic subcultures. Cooks have special access. As always, the food is only the first glimpse of a wider view of how people live their lives in faraway lands and unfamiliar territories." The show has a number of defining characteristics that lend to its popularity. Bourdain's ever present snark and hard honesty are one. His willingness to eat many things Westerners might not - a beating cobra's heart in Vietnam back on ''A Cook's Tour'', raw bloody seal with an Inuit family on the kitchen floor in Canada, assorted tasty offal ("the nasty bits" he lovingly calls them) and the like are another. His tendency to end up in humiliating situations - they may or may not involve significant quantities of alcohol - in which [[Hilarity Ensues]] is another.

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=== Contains examples of: ===

* [[Apron Matron]]: Not quite [[Once an Episode]], but close, and frequently glamorized. Reliable source of a good meal.

* [[Author Appeal]]: The Tokyo episode? Spain? Totally blatant self-indulgence, in a good way. Generally places Tony has visited before (off-camera or on ''A Cook's Tour'') and episodes with the highest [[Food Porn]] quotient.

** When he appeared on The Martha Stewart Show (along with a durian), he asked the other guests what their food porn would be; surprisingly Martha was stumped since she'd never thought about it before ("Um... durian?").

** In his newest book, Medium Raw, Anthony devotes a chapter to lyrical descriptions of some recent favorite meals, going into explicit and impassioned detail. The title of the chapter is "Lust".

* [[Genki Girl]]: Nari Kye from the Korea episode ("Are you always this cheerful? You're really starting to annoy me"), who's also a [[Big Eater]] and a [[Bottle Fairy]]. [[OOC Is Serious Business|She becomes much more solemn as she spends time with her grandfather]], which does not escape Tony's notice.

* [[Grandma, What Massive Hotness You Have!|Grandpa What Massive Hotness You Have]]: Seriously, look at the dude. A [[Tall, Dark and Snarky]], tattooed former hard-living badass chef, who still wears the hell out of a pair of jeans and [http://www.toliveandeatinla.com/images/bourdain_bone.jpg once posed naked] (NSFW) with only a [[Refuge in Audacity|large piece of meat covering his]] - well, you get the idea.

* [[Going Native]]: One thing Tony always tries to avoid is doing the tourist thing(he considers himself a traveler and guest, not a tourist). He constantly reminds viewers that, no matter what country you go to, the good food is where the locals eat, and that the most breathtaking places and interesting cultural events are hidden away from the tourist spots.

** In Cambodia, Tony was forced to get the exact same haircut and style as pretty much ''EVERY OTHER MALE'' in the country. Not because the producers said so, but because it's the only thing that the barbers do. Just that one hairstyle. Tony protested, of course, but it didn't do him any good.

* [[Hidden Depths]]: Who would've thought the world's snarkiest man was fascinated by the art of Japanese flower arranging?

* [[Karma Houdini]]: The guy who admitted to ''[[What the Hell, Hero?|stealing money from his own mother to buy crack]]'' winds up being paid to travel around the world and eat amazing food (though his good brother's life wasn't bad either).

** Tony's extensively covered his bad years and the dues he'd paid in [[Kitchen Confidential]]. While the book and TV deal was definitely a big break for him, it's not as if he hasn't suffered the consequences of his decisions.

** The chef's whites (coveralls) at Les Halles feature a skull with a chef's hat and a knife in its teeth.

* [[Meat Versus Veggies]]: Tony falls squarely into the meat camp and mocks vegetarians frequently, except for the rare ones that can actually cook well.

* [[Poorly-Disguised Pilot]]: ''At The Table'', a foray into the talkshow format.

* [[Product Placement]]: Tony rather obviously pays for some meals with a Chase Sapphire card. Possibly lampshading it, as he tends to make a big gesture at it, with no attempt at making it seem coincidental or natural.

* [[Rant-Inducing Slight]]: At a restaurant in Rome. The waitress, who's also the daughter of the owner and the chef's cousin, is extremely proud of her restaurant's cooking and was kind of annoyed about them removing the seasonal cucumber flowers from the meal, and then her father got annoyed that she got annoyed, which then annoyed her cousin. Additionally, at least one patron was annoyed at the crew shooting during meal time.

* [[Reality Subtext]]: The Lebanon episode took a dramatic turn when Israel started bombing Beirut mid shoot. The crew was trapped in a hotel for weeks. They still did the show, using pre-conflict footage, as well as footage of the host and crew dealing with the stress of being in the war zone and Anthony cooking a meal at the hotel, and the escape from Lebanon. If the TV Info is right, they're going to give Lebanon another shot.

** In the latest Vietnam episode, his trip there is partly spurred by the death of Madame Ngoc, restaurant owner and [[Apron Matron]] he first met in ''A Cook's Tour''. One segment also showed him house shopping - he's said in interviews that he intends to move his family to Southeast Asia and live there for a few years.

* [[Record Needle Scratch]]: Used about 5-6 times over a few seconds when Tony was in Italy, when New York City's Italian population and their cooking skills were brought into question and doubt by the locals.

* [[Sacred Hospitality]]: [[Serious Business]] for Tony. As so many people (often from cultures that hold to [[Sacred Hospitality]] themselves) let him into their homes and go out of their way to cook meals for him, in return he strives to be a gracious guest. Even if the food is bad or if he has to drink way more liquor than he would really care to. (When the offered meal is around the fire of bushmen in Namibia and the meal is rubbery ostrich egg cooked in ashes and the barely-cleaned anus of a warthog, this becomes quite the struggle.)

* [[Scenery Porn]]: The ''No Reservations'' camera crew have netted themselves two [[Emmy Awards]] for cinematography (2009 and 2011) and this is partly why.

* [[So You Want To]]: Cook Good Meals The Best Possible Way: The "Techniques Special" shows the best way to make: a hamburger (demonstrated by a Frenchman), steak and beef bourguignon by Tony (when the steak is done but still sizzling, leave. It. ''Alone.''), roast chicken by ''Thomas Keller'' (the five-star chef who showed the ''[[Ratatouille]]'' crew how to make delicious food), authentic Italian spaghetti and red sauce (by Scott Conant, whom ''[[Chopped]]'' audiences will recognize), French fries (by Tony's Mexican ex-grill man who is now the chef at Les Halles), and an omelet (by ''Jacques Pepin''). Apparently, the secret to the latter is to crack eggs on flat surfaces to prevent bacteria from getting in. Also, "after a night out with a virgin, the one with the most experience should make it for breakfast the next morning".

* [[Sound Effects Bleep]]

** There's even an extended crossover episode (featuring New York) that ends (or is that begins?) with the two hosts literally walking from one show into the other. It also highlights the artistic differences between the two; while Tony is snarking away at hard-boiled poetics, Andrew is optimistically waxing nostalgia.

* [[Tall, Dark and Snarky]]: Tony, and HOW.

* [[Tastes Like Chicken]]: In the Uruguay episode, Tony begrudgingly admits that Armadillo does taste like chicken.