Anthony Bourdain does his same old song and dance in Norfolk

On Sunday, February 13th, droves of fans packed into Chrysler Hall in Norfolk to see the bad boy chef, Anthony Bourdain.  Fans were serenaded with what could have only been Mr. Bourdain’s personal iPod playlist.

“War, children, it’s just a shot away.  It’s just a shot away.”

 Thousands of people erupted with applause when Anthony Bourdain slowly sauntered on stage and appeared to be embarrassed at the reception he was receiving.  After the roar of the crowd died, he acknowledged Norfolk’s Navy presence and said, “thanks for getting me out of Beirut.”  This reminded fans of the popular episode of his show, "No Reservations", when their crew was stuck in Lebanon during the countries violent turmoil.  With that out of the way, it was time to get down to business.

Bourdain is famously known for the bashing of Food Network and its stars.  Everyone from Rachael Ray, to Emeril and Sandra Lee has seen his wrath.  His main argument was that Food Network has gone from real chefs and real food to a mere ratings contest in which people can come up with the most awful recipes but still look great doing it.  Take Sandra Lee’s utterly disgusting Kwanzaa Cake recipe; what Food Network executive would OK that “God awful piece of shit”?  But because it’s so bad, Bourdain begged people to Google it after the show.

“It’s a Food Network world”

Anthony Bourdain was right, especially now that Scripps, the parent company of Food Network, owns the Travel Channel.  Out of all the food-related shows on both networks, Bourdain finds it in his heart to like a few. Surprisingly, he actually likes Ina Garten but refuses to go to her and Jeffrey’s house for dinner. He thinks Giada de Laurentiis cooks some fantastic food despite her “abnormally large head,"  and says Alton Brown is just being used as a pawn to keep the network “legit."  On his own network, Bourdain can’t say enough about Andrew Zimmern of Bizarre Foods and Adam Richman of Man v. Food; both very good people but he’s glad he’s not the host of their shows. 

While the majority of the show consisted of hilariously funny, but often repeated, one-liners he actually had some very good advice for travelers. 

• Be Grateful – Be grateful for the fact that we (Americans) actually have the ability and means to travel!  The majority of the world’s population doesn’t even see the next village.
• Dress Appropriately – Don’t, as Bourdain said, wear booty shorts to an Islamic temple.  Take into consideration your surroundings and dress to make a good impression.  On the other hand, you don’t want to look like an ugly American by wearing “socks with sandals and a fanny pack”. 
• Observe Local Customs – In other words, if there’s another American there, leave.  Don’t even think about visiting a Starbucks or Hard Rock Café in Singapore either. 
• Take one for the Team – Eat what the locals eat regardless of what it is; chances are if they’re serving it to you and other hungry people, its good! 
• Drink – Heavily.
• Be A Good Guest – Smile and nod even if you hate it. 

In the end, Anthony Bourdain is an iconic celebrity in the culinary world.  He made a buck (or two) by publicly criticizing famous chefs and the food industry, and that works for him – that’s his shtick.  One can only compare it to a band like The Rolling Stones; you go because you know that they will probably play “Satisfaction."  People want to see Bourdain because they know he will probably talk crap about Rachael Ray or Sandra Lee.  And that’s the reason he was able to almost sell out two thousand seats in Chrysler Hall. While his one-man-show was entertaining, it was the same old song and dance for this Examiner. Many devoted fans see this as “selling out," which he has, but he’s just trying to put food on the table like the rest of us…right?