What's Cooking?

Apologies for not having blogged for quite some time. Over the last few months I've been up to my eyeballs in food writing. As a result, I have no idea what is happening around me and get my news and pop culture fix from my colleague's postings. (There was a Transformers movie?) This also means I have nothing au courant to contribute, unless anyone cares to hear my take on The Devil Wears Prada and Miami Vice, the most recent movies I've seen. (Alright, fine: Anne Hathaway is so hot. I turned to the Mrs. and said, "Have you ever seen Havoc?" to which she replied, "No, but you keep mentioning it." Good thing she didn't roll a 12. Loved Vice but would like to more about the firearms used in the film--for instance, what sort of shotgun did Jamie Foxx use in the final shootout?)

The fruits of my labor, so to speak, won't be seen for a couple of weeks (but will ultimately appear in The Weekly Standard). There were whole chunks of interviews I was unable to fit, so if there are any foodies out there, I've copied below an excerpt of my interview with Anthony Bourdain, which you might find entertaining:

VM: Do you watch Hell's Kitchen by any chance?

AB: I'm good friends with Gordon [Ramsay]. I really loved Boiling Point. I think Kitchen Nightmares in England, the British show he made, is really the best show of its kind. I was really hooked on the last season of Hell's Kitchen. This one is just awful. It's embarrassing. None of these bed-wetters would be a viable candidate for employment in any restaurant I've ever heard of.

VM: But the winner of this show is going to run a restaurant.

AB: They couldn't run a popsickle stand. And it is immediately apparent to anyone that they larded the group with—they picked them for purposes of drama. It's so juiced for conflict and drama. You don't see the food. I kind of feel bad for Gordon who is extremely cool. I see this as kind of like, you know, a Mario and Alton Brown. These are three really, really smart, incredibly talented guys who are capable of doing so, so much better. It's amazing how much good Mario and Alton have done and how many good shows Ramsay has done. But I think it really caught up with him this year. He looks silly up there.

VM: How bothered were you on the show by Aaron, the large, 48-year-old Asian chef who was constantly crying?

AB: If he started crying his first hour, I'm saying, "Listen, you know, I'm real sorry things haven't worked out, clean out your locker, and get the fuck out." It's an alternate reality show. It's not a reality show. Again it suffers by comparison with Top Chef, which I think is an excellent show. I'm on it, by the way, I'm one of the judges. But I really enjoyed doing the show, I really enjoy watching the show. I think it's fair. I think it's all about the food. For every success of a dumb competition show, a reality show, it opens the door for somebody to do something better. I mean, if it wasn't for all the dumb shows on Food Network, I probably wouldn't have one on Travel.