Last night I went to see a City Arts and Lectures Talk where Isabel Duffy, a fellow Brit with a far more plummy accent than I have, conversed with Anthony Bourdain. I didn't take notes or pictures, but a few things stuck in my mind. The first was that he had a lot of good things to say about British food. (You go, Fergus Henderson!)
Other choice quotes (as accurately as I can remember them) included the following:
Would you rather a pear or a truffle? "A pear. Truffle oil is tomato ketchup for the middle classes."
"[bobblehead] Rachael Ray is to food, what Hitler was to Poland."
"I follow the Keith Richards diet: Meat, cheese, alcohol and cigarettes. When I wake up in the morning I check on the internet to see if Keith is still alive and if he is, then I know I am doing ok too."
"I haven't seen anyone spit in the soup for at least 25 years."
PS. A Big Happy Birthday, today, to my sister Beccy.
See, now Ray has one good thing going for her you cannot deny; when 1 out of 4 meals eaten by the average child in this nation is McDonalds, and if Ray can inspire parents to cook for their children rather than do the fast food bit, you have to give her credit there.
ReplyDeleteBourdain's point on that front was that Ray's show was for people who just sit on the sofa and say "I could do that", but then don't.
ReplyDeleteWe'll see if fatherhood mellows Mr. Bourdain. I'd take a small wager that it does.
ReplyDeleteI love Tony. He's just so damn cool. But, wait? He's having a BABY??!
ReplyDeleteSam.
ReplyDeleteI would like to watch that pistol-whipping. GRRRRRRR.
Oh, FYI, my birthday is the twentieth of July - hint, hint.
-Shane.
he's hilarious!
ReplyDeleteMmmm, Anthony Bourdain. I am rarely a stargazer, couldn't care less for the most part. But there are a few exceptions, and this is one. Lucky you -- oh to be in the same room with AB, breathing the selfsame air. Thanks, Sam, for sharing some of his priceless comments with us.
ReplyDeleteGreat stuff Sam! Kitchen Confidential is one of my favourite books of any genre ever! I was working at a Jamie Oliver restaurant when I was a student and I borrowed a copy of it from one of the chefs. I regularly laughed out loud while it. In fact I might just drag it off the shelf for another airing. Thanks for jogging my memory!!
ReplyDeletemrs. g worked with Bourdain back in the day in NYC; she always tells this story: whenever a server brought an order for lobster into the kitchen, Bourdain would pull 2 lobsters from the tank and hold them in front of the server, saying "I will be the executioner, but I will not be the judge - you must choose which will die."
ReplyDeleteDid they ask him how he stays so skinny?
ReplyDeleteI also cannot wait to see him on Top Chef tonight. Great post, Sam. I hope to meet AB (& the other AB for that matter) someday as well or at least see him speak somewhere.
ReplyDeletegreat quotes! thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteI so can't wait to see him on Top Chef tonight. I love the quote about Keith Richards. I think that's about my diet. lol
ReplyDeleteRachael Ray is lame. Hitler was a mass murderer. I dont need to get on a soapbox, but I obviously had to point out that that comment is painfully offensive.
ReplyDeleteSam, I enjoyed the talk very much! It was far better than what I had expected. And those were some of the best quotes... although my favourite may have been overfed geese for foie gras to people he'd seen in Texas.
ReplyDeleteRachael - the quote goes to illustrate the strength of his anti-Ray feelings. Feelings I personally would have saved only for Sandra Lee. But isn't part of his point to offend? On the whole he was generally far tamer than I had expected he would be.
ReplyDeleteSara - these were the only quotes I could remember - my brain is like a sieve.