Rock Star Chef Anthony Bourdain visits Springfield
By Mike Briotta
PRIME Editor
At the lowest point in his life, celebrity chef Anthony Bourdain was, in his own words, a junkie. In the worst moments of decades of drug addiction, he and his former wife gathered all of their belongings, placed them on a blanket on the sidewalks of New York, and sold them for whatever was offered by passers-by - just to scrape up enough money to score their next drug fix.
Looking back, Bourdain's worst days were darker than most could imagine.
Heroin, cocaine and methadone addictions plagued him throughout his 30's. He credits the era during which he wrote his breakout book "Kitchen Confidential," at age 44, as being his recovery period.
Anthony Bourdain is speaking at Springfield Symphony Hall Sept. 24 at 8 p.m. For more information, or to purchase tickets, please visit the venue's website: www.citystage.symphonyhall.com
Today, Bourdain's stories swerve back and forth from his bad old days as a junkie to his present-day gig as famous food critic. His narrative pauses along the way for "a series of confessions, rants, investigations and interrogations of some of the more controversial figures in food."
Bourdain is essentially a rock star for foodies. His new book "Medium Raw: A Bloody Valentine to the World of Food and the People Who Cook," is already a best-seller.
His TV show "No Reservations" uncovers local cuisine from destinations all over the world.
Anyone who's ever been called a "journeyman" understands Bourdain's career path. He talks of kitchen dramas that may as well occur anywhere: chefs clambering for the spotlight, pushing down their peers and subordinates.
He recalls hierarchies, professional jealousies, and heated toil in cramped spaces. He shines a spotlight on workplace dramas that everyone can relate to.
Bourdain's raucous tales about rotten kitchens and evil restaurants resonate because - at one point in our careers - we've all probably worked thankless jobs, for low pay, under abusive management, and endured obnoxious co-workers.
By his own account, he spent 28 years as a professional cook. He's now a gastronome and world-traveler who's written both fiction and nonfiction. At age 53, he spends equal time in front of the TV cameras and behind the writing desk working on his books.
When Bourdain visits Springfield Symphony Hall in September, be assured that every sordid topic from his mixed past will be "on the table."
Fans of the 53-year-old culinary critic should expect to hear about his rise to fame; his battle with drug addictions; and his gastronomic globetrotting featured on the Travel Channel.
"I've driven through Massachusetts before, a fair amount, but not spent a lot of time in Western Massachusetts," Bourdain said. "I have no idea what I'll be eating there - or if I'll be eating there. It will be a madcap run across the United States. I'm back in New York right now, but I just did 17 cities in 22 days."
Eat the Menu
In peak form, Bourdain provides cranky-but-true social commentary. He talks in the new book about how Starbucks changed the valuation structure of a "cup of Joe" in America. And how the same thing is currently happening to the humble hamburger: overpriced, gourmet burgers are ruining our relationship with the classic American food.
Bourdain pokes fun at New York's meathead group, the "Kobe Club," which completely misses the point of Kobe beef by eating a hamburger version of the marbled steak - after its been chopped up and all the expensive nuances have been wasted.
His performances are part travelogue, part "food-porn" as he puts it, a bit of memoir, and a dose of "heroes and villains" in which he plays favorites from among the foodie firmament.
The author admits that, like the people he most admires, he has a "wounded world-view."
Bourdain continued, "There will be about an hour speaking, largely off-the-cuff with a few notes. It's sort of an extended conversation about whatever is happening, like stand-up comedy. I'll be talking about whatever interests me or is pissing me off that day. As long as the people in the audience are asking interesting questions, I'll answer them."
He refers to his food passion as a compulsion that he gladly shares with others. He recalls one sordid scene in which he and a group of Japanese businessmen congregated in a smoke-filled room. Not to flirt with Geishas, or imbibe illegal drugs, but rather, they assembled to partake in the delights of eating chicken asses cooked on sticks.
"Cow tongues are of course delicious," said Bourdain. "Beef tongues are a part of any New York deli. And chicken ass is the best part. You can get it at any [Japanese] Yakatori joint. It's fatty and delicious."
Bourdain's list of the weirdest foods he's eaten is extreme. Though he's still fond of cow tongues and chicken asses, the author isn't rushing back to taste unwashed warthog anus (featured on his TV show) anytime soon.
"Yeah, no doubt about it, I've really stepped back from that. I've dialed it down," he said. "If they aren't eating something every day in that culture I don't want to eat it for shock value to an audience. I had a bad armadillo incident a few years back and asked myself, 'Are they really eating this as part of their regular diet?' I don't think so."
He added, "About the warthog anus, sometimes to be a good guest, you eat what is offered to you. I didn't want to offend the tribe of Bushmen. It tasted the way it sounds. It was dry. All I remember is needing a course of antibiotics after eating it."
A Rare Calling
The title "Medium Raw" is a reference to how Bourdain likes slices of beef when they are ladled over the Vietnamese noodle dish called pho.
He prefers the mix of raw and cooked textures, and he gushes praise for authentic pho, calling it "sophisticated and subtle." He calls his relationship with the dish "more like love than sex" and references Walt Whitman in calling it "unknowable" and "containing multitudes."
He celebrates a reverse snobbism; a backlash to so-called "fine dining" that's focused instead on global tastes: Thai, Vietnamese, inexpensive Mexican, and less-appreciated regional cuisine.
Bourdain also highlights colleagues in the new book: a trendy Manhattan chef and a workmanlike fish preparer who cuts and portions 700 pounds of fish every day at a New York seafood restaurant. Both men are emotional stand-ins for the author asking existential questions: What constitutes the perfect life? At what point can a man consider himself truly happy?
He struggles to find those answers within himself, detailing the drama with his ex-wife, and their financial insolvency before "Kitchen Confidential" made him a household name. Bourdain also exorcises a few of his personal demons, and talks about reaching an accord with the legions of fans he's acquired during the past 10 years.
"I'm both flattered and frightened," the chef said about his dedicated fan base. "As far as female fans go, my wife is probably the last line of defense. I never know the mix of audience that will be there."
He added, "My demographic is so unpredictable. I just do what I do. If I thought too much about who I appeal to, that's the road to madness."
Rogue Reduction
Bourdain now resides in a place, as he puts it "as far away from cool as a man can get." The new role of "daddy" occasionally has him attending dance class with his two-year-old daughter, swiveling their hips together, swaying in time to the music in their stocking feet.
She's clad in pink tights and a tutu. Nearly every other girl in the privileged, Upper East Side dance class is ushered in by a Filipina nanny. Bourdain, however, with remnants of Play-Doh still stuck under his fingernails, is proud to escort his young daughter to the dance.
These days, Bourdain shies away from the bad-boy image that he crafted for himself. He just likes talking about being a dad
Bourdain is already de-programming his daughter to prevent her from becoming another one of the billions served by McDonald's. He says he's through being "cool" and is okay being goofy with his daughter. During our conversation, she listens to music from "The Little Mermaid" in the background, gently inquiring with her father about who he's talking to.
He claims to have shed his former rock-star persona. However, in the new book, the author sometimes pines for the days of "sexual liaisons on cutting boards and flour sacks, late-night coke jags, the crazy camaraderie that seems to come only in the busiest hash-house restaurants." His opines that "smoking weed at the end of the day is nearly always a good idea," although he advises that smoking marijuana at other times could be deadly in a busy kitchen.
Rather than defend the culinary establishment, he's still more prone to critique it. The author and TV personality takes aim at a number of high-profile culinary figures: an influential chef, a sustainable foods guru, and a New York institution all make it onto Bourdain's hit list.
Sandra Lee is called the "hellspawn of Betty Crocker and Charles Manson." Rocco DiSpirito is put down as a "reality-show-driven abomination." In other words, when it comes to serving up brash critiques of fellow cooks, Bourdain can still "dish."
Thanks to high-profile TV chefs like Bourdain, cooking is currently in vogue. From Rachael Ray to Emeril Lagasse and Mario Batali - all of whom are slightly skewered in "Medium Raw" - the celebrity chef phenomenon has affected what average Americans want from their regular meals. Despite the hubris around celebrity chefs, the author said he's excited about the ripple effect this phenomenon has had in everyday kitchens.
"It's elevated the prestige of chefs and made people more interested in what's cooking," he said. "It raised the bar for what's expected in the kitchen. It sounds clich but it also raised the consciousness of the public. Even the working customer; people are interested in what the chef is thinking. Twenty years ago, people didn't give a sh*t. This has been a very good shift in public perception."
The TV personality would rather talk about what we actually eat day-to-day - and how to make it fresher and cheaper. He eschews recent food trends like boutique beers and designer cupcakes.
"Another annoying trend is pork belly," he said. "I like pork belly, but it's become this year's tuna tartare."
He continued, "As far as really bad or destructive trends in food and dining right now, it would be those double-down sandwiches with two pieces of fried chicken instead of bread. Or those burgers served on donuts. The burger between two donuts is funny - all the way to Type 2 Diabetes. It's criminal. I mean, someone should be going to jail for this. And that's me talking."
