Comments on: Guest Blogging: A Bourdain Throwdown

By: Claudia

Claudia — Tue, 30 Nov 1999 06:00:00 +0000

Oh, dear God -

“Relegated to the circus of Iron Chef America, where–like a great, toothless lion, fouling his cage, he hangs on . . .”

I now have to clean sprayed cappuccino off my computer screen. Thanks a lot, Tony!

By: Kevin

Kevin — Tue, 30 Nov 1999 06:00:00 +0000

Tony — Glad to see you back on Ruhlman’s website. I’m curious about your thoughts about the Fox sitcom loosely based on Kitchen Confidential. Not many television shows try to do food-related fiction (and this one was short lived), but you’ve written two food-related novels. In your view, what did the show get right, and what did it do wrong?

By: Neel

Neel — Tue, 30 Nov 1999 06:00:00 +0000

If you had to go up against anyone in an Iron Chef matchup, Tony, who would it be?

By: ruhlman

ruhlman — Tue, 30 Nov 1999 06:00:00 +0000

so tony woke up sober this morning and had an unexpected surplus of energy and bile! wuhwhoo!

In the interest of balance, I’d like to offer a comment from Bob Tuschman at the TVFN emailed to me when I was doing a recent piece for the nytimes. I’d said it was my impression that the network no longer looked to work with professional chefs. I wasn’t able to include the remark in the story but it is worthy of note:

“You are not correct. Our only criteria for chefs is that they have the kind of personality and food expertise that engage broad audiences and bring the world of food to life. Whether they work in restaurants or not makes no difference to us. Many of our most popular and longest running talent run restaurants: Emeril, Bobby Flay, Mario Batali, Paula Deen, Michael Chiarello, and Morimoto. Also, some of the most recent additions to the Food Network family are restaurant chefs: Guy Fieri and Robert Irvine, whose new show, DINNER: IMPOSSIBLE, premieres Jan 24th.”

Bob Tuschman, SVP Programming, FOOD NETWORK.

By: Dpnash

Dpnash — Tue, 30 Nov 1999 06:00:00 +0000

Darn – I was hoping Bourdain would have some comments about Nigella Lawson, who’s been popular in Great Britain for years but just joined the Food Network roster last fall. I’ve come to adore her. Her shameless flirting with the camera, reveling in the sensuality of food and cooking… I’ve made more recipes from her show than I have made from all other Food Network shows combined, I think. And not only that, but her use of some exotic spices in a couple dishes got me to trek to a real spice store for the first time, and having done so I will now never buy crappy spices at a grocery store again.

Down with Rachael Ray and Sandra Lee! More Nigella!

By: Shannon

Shannon — Tue, 30 Nov 1999 06:00:00 +0000

I love Nigella too.

I finally saw the grudge match between Giada and Rachael and it seemed everyone was perturbed that Rachael won.

I was disgusted.

By: DinerGirl

DinerGirl — Tue, 30 Nov 1999 06:00:00 +0000

I’m always up for some Sandra Lee bashing because I believe there is no greater force for evil in the culinary world. Actually, it’s an insult to use the words “culinary” and “Sandra Lee” in the same sentence, so forgive me. I’ll go mainline a ranch dressing packet as punishment. What sucks for anyone who really appreciates food is that Food Network is a business. An advertising and affiliate sales-driven business. They have to hire talent who will actually use the products that advertisers are buying time to promote. And, they have to hire talent that appeals to the lowest common denominator when it comes to cable subscribers. TVFN has become a hybrid of WWF, NASCAR, The View and Friends — appealing only to people who say “hey buddy” and do finger-guns with a wink when they meet people, and find the jokes on popsicle sticks hilarious. I think TVFN should give Mikey his own show and call it “Whatever, Dude” and let him do his thing. At least the boy can cook and would never let the word “tablescape” escape from his lips. Fucking Sandra Lee…….

By: Mensch71

Mensch71 — Tue, 30 Nov 1999 06:00:00 +0000

There should be warnings posted when Tony’s Guest Blogging. Too. Damn. Funny.

The whole Rachael/Mario vs. Bobby/Giada Iron Chef really came down to Mario being a better overall chef and Rachael’s (limited) ability to work under serious time constraints. I don’t like her show but I kind of (*gasp*) like her cookbooks for fiction reading.

By: Brilynn

Brilynn — Tue, 30 Nov 1999 06:00:00 +0000

Hey Bourdain- get your own blog! No, seriously, do it…

Ruhlman- My second round of cured salmon is done and I’m having it for lunch. The bacon should be ready tomorrow!!!

By: Nicole

Nicole — Tue, 30 Nov 1999 06:00:00 +0000

Bravo, Mr. Bourdain, on a great rundown. I totally agree and admire your apt descriptions. Some others of us were just discussing this very topic over at http://deglazed.finarelli.com/ and of course the rabid Rachael Ray lovers got all snippy.

By: Marc

Marc — Tue, 30 Nov 1999 06:00:00 +0000

Screw this! I want to see Martin Picard and Tony locked in a kitchen with a night’s worth of ingredients, twenty rugby players waiting service and enough bourbon and ale to keep them running.

By: Chris

Chris — Tue, 30 Nov 1999 06:00:00 +0000

Maybe it’s me, but when I turn on the FOOD NETWORK, I’d kind of like to see some cooking. But it seems that most of their evening shows are about food, but don’t always show cooking. Sure, there’s Emeril, but how long before he’s usurped by Queen Yum-O? The evening shows are more about entertainment (food competitions, etc.) than about actually learning about food (aside from Alton) or cooking. If you want to see actual cooking shows, you gotta watch during the day … but drat the luck, many of us actually WORK during the day and can’t watch. I really miss some of the early days of the network when there were ACTUAL cooks doing ACTUAL cooking on the network, and you could actually LEARN something about food and cooking. Now it’s just a spectatator sport … oh wait, Iron Chef is entirely a spectator sport! The American version isn’t too bad, but it does lack the supreme cheesiness of the Japanese version.

But darn it, I just miss watching cooking shows to actually learn something. Bring back the late Pasquale Carpino, a staple on cable TV back in the early 1990s … the man could cook, he could sing opera, and while he was fun to watch, he also taught some good italian cooking.

Maybe there should be a channel in the future called Cook TV, where it’s just professional chefs, ones who are picked for their ability to cook and teach, rather than white teeth, spiked hair, and/or cleavage, and the whole channel is about educating viewers about food and teaching them how to cook.

Crazy dream, isn’t it?

By: fiat lux

fiat lux — Tue, 30 Nov 1999 06:00:00 +0000

Generally, I have nothing but disdain for anyone who posts lame “Me too!” comments, but that’s what Bourdain has reduced me to …. there isn’t anything in his Foot Network takedown that I don’t agree with. Coat me with Ritz crackers and call me a loser, but it’s true.

However – I would like to add a shout-out for the Barefoot Contessa. The Spouse can’t stand her, but I think she rocks. Unlike the nauseating Sandra Lee, she makes food that you’d actually want to eat, and her recipes are well-suited to home kitchens.

By: Jason Perlow

Jason Perlow — Tue, 30 Nov 1999 06:00:00 +0000

I hope we see a lot more of this.

By: Claudia

Claudia — Tue, 30 Nov 1999 06:00:00 +0000

In terms of a smackdown, I’d like to see Tony and Michael tag team it against Charlie Trotter and Queen Yum-o. The blood-letting, the snark, the pure treachery and wiliness . . . I’d expect Team Tony to go at it with all the charm of a rabid rottweiler. Maybe once and for all, good would triumph over the dark forces and Rachael Ray would be sent away in shame and horror, bleeding from the eyeballs . . . I don’t think the Food Network has the cojones, however, ever to put Tony on their air again, and I don’t think Tony would ever consider it.

It’s been several years – has anyone not noticed FN still has not released A Cook’s Tour on DVD? Thank God for home recording equipment . . .

By: Dan

Dan — Tue, 30 Nov 1999 06:00:00 +0000

Dude, you rule. I have a new nickname for you…”The Assassin”.

You gotta keep posting here, I can just see the suits over at Food reaching for the xanax when they see the latest calling card from the Assassin. Thanks for making my day!

p.s. There is a Japanese cooking show called “Dotch” or “cooking showdown” you might like if you haven’t seen it. It’s cool, kind of like Iron Chef but with more cruelty.

By: rhonda

rhonda — Tue, 30 Nov 1999 06:00:00 +0000

everyone at work thinks I am insane now, thanks for the laughs.

By: Alex

Alex — Tue, 30 Nov 1999 06:00:00 +0000

I would love front row seats for a Rachael and Martha cage match — now that is something I would pay to see. Hell, I would even bring a monkey to fling poo, just for fun.

Alton, Ina and Giada (when she’s actually cooking) are the main reason to watch Food Network.

By: Abbie

Abbie — Tue, 30 Nov 1999 06:00:00 +0000

Sandra Lee is totally unwatchable. When are they going to wise up and cancel her ass? Everyday when I get home from work I try and catch the end of Barefoot Contessa before her show comes on. And what’s with her getting all excited about those “tablescapes”? Yeah, let’s all go to the craftstore everday and spend money on shit to decorate a table. Who does that?!

By: Cyndi

Cyndi — Tue, 30 Nov 1999 06:00:00 +0000

Guy Fieri, a restaurant chef? Good lord, go look at the menus for his places, he might as well be cooking at TGI Friday.
He and Sandra Lee should go somewhere and open the “Restaurant of the Damned,” for customers who want to eat sushi made with ingredients you can by at the 7-11.