'Foodies' dissed by Anthony Bourdain!

I know I have said this in previous blog postings, but I have to state again that the reason my posts have been fewer and further between lately is that, due to the current economic situation, my dining partner and I are on a strict food budget. Not to sound defensive, but I have recieved many inquiries as to future and current reviews. Until things pick up, I can not reliably predict when/where I will be able to review new restaurants.

Ok, since I am not the one to spew BS wholeheartedly, I must confess I have had several great dining adventures since my last posting, but they were such socially significant events, honestly, my purpose was to enjoy the experience, not review a restaurant.

Do not be discouraged!! I will soon begin my foosiast ramblings again....and they will be in greater numbers! To take the place of my normal "do yourself a favor and eat here" advise, I wanted to discuss something that made me think recently.

As I have also stated previously, the Food Network has been the main inspiration for this blog. So many great shows can be found for foosiasts, but look to the Travel Channel for one that combines food, traveling, culture, and general snobishness into one. Anthony Bourdain hosts the show No Reservations. Mr. Bourdain is a chef who travels and comments on the people and experiences he has, with the central theme being, of course, food.

I have seen several episodes and enjoy them very much, but one comment he made during the eposide on Vietnam really made me think. Vietnam and the cuisine was the focus, but he was also looking for a place to live, and stopped by one location that he liked, but was near an establishment that gave cooking classes to 'foodies'. Now, I've heard of attending food demonstrations while traveling, but it sounded like these were a type of people he definitely could not stand. I have never actually attended an advertised 'free cooking demonstration' or the like while traveling, as I always thought, "I can look up that recipe later, right now I am here to travel.....not sit in class!" It just seemed odd that someone who travels for a living to sample food would have such a dislike for those who are doing basically the same thing.

I do consider Mr Bourdain an expert in food reviewing, and hope to distance this blog from those people that he dislikes so. With his blessing, the foosiast moniker can be something bigger, better, and more sustainable than the played out 'foodie' label.

-Tom W Tell