Anthony Bourdain wears many hats: out-spoken chef, best-selling writer and popular food TV personality.
The New York City-based maverick will be juggling them all when his touring one-man show hits Massey Hall this Wednesday September 22.
Enter here to win VIP tickets to the event as well as access to an after-the-show meet ‘n’ greet cocktail party catered by snout-to-tail bistro Beast and an autographed copy of his new book Medium Raw: A Bloody Valentine to the World of Food and the People who Cook.
Is this your first tour?
I’ve always done a lot of speaking engagements, a lot. But about four years ago, music promoters started booking me into theatres and it’s become kind of a monster. I do about 40 shows a year.
What does an evening with Anthony Bourdain entail?
I come out and speak my mind for about an hour or so and then engage in discussion with the audience, question and answer.
So, we shouldn’t expect an opening act or fireworks?
No opening act, no choreography, no special cannons. I come into town alone. I kind of like it like that. I don’t travel with an entourage and I don’t have an assistant. I don’t have a bus and I don’t have security. I don’t even have hangers-on. Maybe I should get some.
You’re often described as the “bad boy of cuisine.” Accurate?
Well, it’s been a long time since I’ve been bad. It’s been even longer since I was a boy and it’s been 10 years since I’ve had anything to do with cooking. Even when all of those things were at least partially true, I never took any of it seriously.
How do you see yourself?
I don’t even know! I like ‘ex-cook who tells stories.’ Essayist maybe? I’m fortunate enough to be making this weird and very good living by pretty much doing stuff that interests me. I’m just grateful that anybody cares.
Beats working 20 hours a day, six days a week in a restaurant.
It’s a hell of a lot easier, that’s for sure.
No Reservations has just aired its 100th episode and you’re about to start shooting the eight series. Is there anywhere left you haven’t gone or anything you haven’t eaten?
We’re pushing it a bit this season, going to some more difficult places to shoot in and exploring some moral gray areas. We’ll be going up the Congo River to retrace Joseph Conrad’s steps in the Heart of Darkness. And I want to see some Cuban baseball before Fidel dies.
In Kitchen Confidential, you famously wrote that “vegetarians are the enemy of everything good and decent in the human spirit.” Still think the same?
Simply put, yes. I’m shocked and appalled that vegetarians are willing to put the human dimension of Thanksgiving dinner aside in favour of a principle larger than themselves whether they like turkey or not. They have a social obligation to eat whatever grandma offers.
But I don’t think that people should be compelled to put pork into everything and I agree that it’s a good idea to have vegetarian alternatives as part of a healthy and interesting diet. I’d be perfectly happy to live in India for a week and eat nothing but vegetarian food because they actually do it well.
Next: Bourdain explains the raison d’etre behind Medium Raw, talks about his days in the New York punk underbelly, and shares his thoughts on fellow food celebrities (“fucking douchebags”).
