Interview with Anthony Bourdain

for one-of-a-kind culinary perspectives
gourmet fans worldwide turn to
best-selling author and chef Anthony
bull dad who joins us on watchmojo.com
roasted bone marrow my favorite dish in
the world oh yes
this is my death well beyond okay i just
want butter from god i’m your host Layla
I get to ask them about his career and
his TV series no reservations your job
seems very rewarding it’s opened up a
lot of opportunities like writing
traveling television in what ways does
it actually feel like a job who saw that
coming you know when I started cooking
it wasn’t a wasn’t a profession with a
lot of upward mobility it’s panned out
pretty well I mean this cooking racket
is a is it seems to be a going concern
still so you know III don’t know whether
I’d suggest to someone you know go into
cooking school so that they could end up
with a food and travel show I don’t know
you know I’m lucky but it’s working for
me and how did the No Reservations
project heighten your appreciation for
food I think because all of those years
of paying clinical attention to the
details it allowed me to just kind of
relax and enjoy the moment in a
spontaneous way and and allows you to
look around and notice so much of a
great deal is the context of what’s
happening in the room who you’re eating
with what’s on the radio those are major
components of it any experience and I
think by kind of letting go that’s more
likely to happen what are some of your
observations about the collective
approach to agriculture well I mean I
think you come to understand when you
travel I mean when we eat in the
industrialized world when you go to a
restaurant plate of food comes out that
is especially if it’s a classic from any
culture other than an english-speaking
one it’s the end result of a lot of
forces that we don’t see in a city if
you’re eating the same dish where it
came from you you travel a little you
see that that what’s on your plate is
the end result of centuries of trial
error very real a very real need to to
to answer very real problems or
difficulties you know they eat spicy
food in in hot climates for a reason you
know that’s deeply satisfying when you
understand where the dish came from and
and and why it was developed this way it
tells you so much
not just about your food and who’s
making it but where you’re eating it and
it again it enriches the the experience
over the past few decades you’ve learned
a lot on the job how do screw ups as you
call them still play an important role
today you can screw up as a chef
completely you can bankrupt the business
drive your partner’s out of business
forever have a bad reputation there’s
always somebody will employ you you
could start again it’s very forgiving in
that way what’s he go on television
though you can’t screw up you’ve got
really one screw up do you make one
serious mistake as a writer as a TV guy
or whatever it is I’m doing or as any
kind of recognizable public name you’re
done you’re toast especially now
something I pay a lot of attention to
you know about who to who I say yes to
and who I say no to you know it fits me
some pretty wacky reality show ideas
that I’ve been smart enough to not say
yes you know hanging out in a pot tub
with mini-me and a you know some an ex
wrestler and you know somebody from
family ties now pass on that so your
responsibilities and the pressures have
changed you know I guess being being on
television is a
and having a career as a writer is a lot
like like cooking Italian food correctly
if you’re lucky enough to get some good
ingredients the mission from that point
on its did not screw them up thank you
so much for your time mr. Borden Mike it
was fun