The New Bourdain
September 14th 2010 04:20
I love the filming of Anthony Bourdain's No Reservations. It's stylish, artsy, exciting. The 2010 version might be called, New Reservations, given how much emphasis Bourdain is placing on appearing nouveau, on the edge, ahead of the curve. Trying too hard is of course a sign that you are falling behind, if nowhere that's visible, perhaps just inside.
The Paris episode, the new one, was good, but it didn't take my breath away, and it should have. It was a bit too overly-stuffed with dinner scenes and fabulous photos of small, beautifully arranged dishes. How many times can you ooh and aah over a plate of fish? You won't hear anything out of me over pig's feet or blood sausage, a Bourdain favorite. Lovely to see the sauce laden mushrooms, which I would have liked to taste, but the entire hour seemed like a cook book come to life. I expect more revolutionary stuff out of Bourdain than that. After all, he launched the episode talking about the new Paris as a place where the revolutionary not the old takes precedence. The greatest flaw in the show was Bourdain trying too hard to suck up to his friend Eric Ripert, who is yes, one of the great chefs of the world, a nice guy, even a Buddhist. But his opinions for the entire hour?
How about interviewing Parisian characters? More signs of the art and culture of Paris -- aside from restaurant and open market facades?
Maybe next time.
The Paris episode, the new one, was good, but it didn't take my breath away, and it should have. It was a bit too overly-stuffed with dinner scenes and fabulous photos of small, beautifully arranged dishes. How many times can you ooh and aah over a plate of fish? You won't hear anything out of me over pig's feet or blood sausage, a Bourdain favorite. Lovely to see the sauce laden mushrooms, which I would have liked to taste, but the entire hour seemed like a cook book come to life. I expect more revolutionary stuff out of Bourdain than that. After all, he launched the episode talking about the new Paris as a place where the revolutionary not the old takes precedence. The greatest flaw in the show was Bourdain trying too hard to suck up to his friend Eric Ripert, who is yes, one of the great chefs of the world, a nice guy, even a Buddhist. But his opinions for the entire hour?
How about interviewing Parisian characters? More signs of the art and culture of Paris -- aside from restaurant and open market facades?
Maybe next time.
| 42 |
| Vote |
subscribe to this blog
