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    No Reservations

    I'm watching Bourdain's show, and, surprisingly, it's a tour of New Jersey (repeat from 2006). As I grew up nearby (Philly), and spent a lot of time in NJ, I'm not one of the many who mock it. But, wow, this show has been a relatively bleak take on the state. JV, have you seen this? Curious as to your take.

    The culinary highlights so far were a sub at the real life Bada Bing (called Satin Dolls), and a grilled processed cheese sandwich at HoJo's in Asbury Park (which he seemed to enjoy less than the warthog anus in Namibia). I'll brook no slam of HoJo's, however, as my five-year-old self loved their fried clams. I don't care how disgusting they may have been in retrospect. When Bob's Big Boy took over the HoJo's in my neighborhood, I raged against the dying of the HoJo's light and tried to get a petition going to stop it. When Dr. Evil used a BBB as his ship in the Austin Powers movie, it struck me as perfectly apt.

    Anyway, what's the general view of Bourdain on OTF? I like his show (and the book), although I find that his I'm-the-culinary-Keith-Richards act can get old over time.

    Edit: The second half of the show was less bleak, and ended on a parody of the "leave the gun, take the cannollis scene from The Godfather.

    #2
    No Reservations

    I like his travelogue type programmes. He is highly enthusiastic about food generally in all the episodes of whatever, I have seen. I have yet to see any of the programmes (Romania or this one) that he slates anywhere/thing.

    However, I dont think I have ever seen him cook anything. Which I think is fairly essential for a 'TV chef'. I imagine he has been on cookery TV across the pond, is he any good?

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      #3
      No Reservations

      I've never seen any of these shows, but we absolutely loved Les Halles when Bourdain was terrorising the kitchen staff. My sense, however, is that as Gyuri says, he at times get too wrapped up in his "persona".

      And another vote for the orange-roofed goodness of Howard Johnson's (I'm older than Gyuri and pre-date the rebranding). The fried clams were ace, as where their version of macaroni & cheese.

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        #4
        No Reservations

        I have yet to see any of the programmes (Romania or this one) that he slates anywhere/thing.
        He rarely says anything bad about the food at the places he visits. The most notable exception was the Namibia episode I mentioned when he eats fresh warthog anus with a tribe of bushmen. He made a game attempt on the air, but his voice over showed how terrible it was. It was not the most appetizing segment, especially the part when they squeezed the anus like a tube of not-particularly-teeth-whitening toothpaste immediately prior to cooking.

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          #5
          No Reservations

          The non-bush food in Namibia is pretty ropey, to be honest. It's largely German influenced, with huge amounts of meat, but cooked, shall we say, to an old-school English palate. Very dry, over cooked, not a hint of subtlety, and generally very light on the vegetables.

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            #6
            No Reservations

            I've watched his show a lot lately (because it's been on so much lately).

            A lot of what he eats looks pretty awful, but some of it is very appealing, like the mortadella sandwich he had in Sao Paolo and the claypot rice thing in Hong Kong. Everything he ate on the Texas-Mexico border (both sides) looked very good.

            His trip to Japan makes me really want to go there. Usually, Americans only spend time in the most crowded urban parts, which I think would freak me out. But he also went up north to what seemed like Japan's version of Colonial Williamsburg. I could totally get into that. He also went to an Osaka Tigers baseball game. That looked like fun, although I prefer our style of independent free-form cheering and jeering as opposed to their tightly disciplined group cheers.

            When he was in Las Vegas (or maybe it was Texas) he commented that most of a America is very different from where he grew up around New York, and that he's willing to cut the other cultures in the US just as much slack as he does cultures in far away countries. That's a good approach, and one that more Americans should have toward the parts of the country they're not from, but it's disturbing that it took him until he's 50something to realize that.

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              #7
              No Reservations

              He also went to an Osaka Tigers baseball game. That looked like fun, although I prefer our style of independent free-form cheering and jeering as opposed to their tightly disciplined group cheers.
              I agree on both counts, though I really did enjoy bouncing on the weirdly metallic base of RFK, causing the stadium to turn into a loud, massive trampoline (of course, this was a less interesting effect for Nats/DC United games than it was for Redskins games), so I might be able to get into the whole group cheer thing.

              My general cheering method (being from Philly) is a continuous "BOO", punctuated with a few, well-placed, "YOU SUCK [insert name here]!!!" And that was just for my own team. . .

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                #8
                No Reservations

                That side of RFK bounces pretty violently with the Bara Brava/Screaming Eagles at DC United games.

                I worry that someday it's going to collapse. All metal fatigues and reaches a fracture point.

                Organized cheering and singing works better for soccer because the game is constantly moving and that works with music of the supporters. Baseball is more ebb and ebb and ebb and then flow.

                Also, apparently in Japan one is supposed to sit silently while one's own team is up to bat (I suppose you can cheer if he gets a hit). But you're not allowed to get up to piss or buy a hot dog when your team is up and you can't exhort them when they're at the plate. Like golf, I guess.

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                  #9
                  No Reservations

                  Baseball is more ebb and ebb and ebb and then flow.
                  Baseball is a massive, prolonged feast of bad food and overpriced beer, with a game thrown into the middle to justify charging admission.

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                    #10
                    No Reservations

                    You should try San Francisco or Oakland, WOM.

                    *pedant alert*
                    Hanshin Tigers, not Osaka Tigers
                    *end of pedantry*

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                      #11
                      No Reservations

                      The food has gotten better over the years, but it's still overpriced. It's cheaper in the minor leagues.

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                        #12
                        No Reservations

                        I saidit on the old board after I finally watched it, that Romania episode did not seem harsh on the place at all. IF anything, he was making fun of himself for being led around by his Russian friend who didn't know the place. The only bad thing he said was complaining about was being asked to pay an obvious bribe when they tried to film a Vlad the Impaler statue.

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                          #13
                          No Reservations

                          On his blog he said he was asked to pay lots of bribes for stuff like that. What is it bad that he complained about that? That would suck.

                          Hanshin Tigers, not Osaka Tigers
                          Right. But they play in Osaka, right?

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                            #14
                            No Reservations

                            Yes, in Koshien (the "Japanese Wrigley Field" where the national high school finals are held). But they used to actually be called the Osaka Tigers before changing their name.

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                              #15
                              No Reservations

                              Reed Miller wrote:
                              On his blog he said he was asked to pay lots of bribes for stuff like that. What is it bad that he complained about that? That would suck.
                              The only instance that they showed was when they were in Bucharest. Like I said, they went to film a statue of Vlad the Impaler, and they had a permit and had called the tourism bureau or whoever to be sure they were expected. It looked to be a public place with some guards, who they walked past, and they were quickly called back. The guards said they didn't know anything about the filming, and made some call to their bosses. They got off the phone and said they could film if they paid 10 Euros per square feet for the entire location, which looked to be a huge park. They left immediately, and you could tell Bourdain was really pissed off.

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                                #16
                                No Reservations

                                I meant "Why is it bad that he complained about that?" It seemed you were suggesting that he shouldn't have complained.

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                                  #17
                                  No Reservations

                                  I meant "bad" as in reflecting poorly on the country or the people, which apparently a lot of Romanians think the episode did. I guess they might complain about what they showed--Bucharest looked completely dead. I don't know if it was a weekend morning, but there was hardly anyone in the streets and it just looked depressing.

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                                    #18
                                    No Reservations

                                    That was my fault in misremembering stuff from the old board. I thought (someone) had said that Bourdain complained about the quality of food in Romania, but obviously not.

                                    As you were.

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                                      #19
                                      No Reservations

                                      You should try San Francisco or Oakland, WOM.

                                      Pourquoi?

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