A Most Entertaining Evening

If you follow my Facebook posts at /FairfieldCountyFoodie or my Tweets @FCFoodie_CT, you would know that I am absolutely obsessed with Anthony Bourdain’s latest show on CNN: Parts Unknown. What impresses me the most is the extraordinary experiences he has had with unusual places traveled and unique foods eaten.

Anthony Bourdain: famous for his apparently crass and downright mean personality. What makes him tick? What is it about him that keeps him going on a perpetual quest for unexplored cultures and undocumented foods? I am truly intrigued and I want to learn more.

So, when I received and email notifying me that Anthony Bourdain will be coming to Hartford, CT with Eric Ripert for a special tour they call Good vs. Evil, I just HAD to go.

For a foodie like me, it was the most entertaining evening packed with references to famous restaurants, cooking shows, and celebrity chefs. Anthony Bourdain and Eric Ripert are the most unlikely of friends. It was so interesting to see how they are so different in their outward personalities, one very shy and diplomatic while the other outspoken and overly opinionated. Yet, as you listen to them talk, you realize that they they are so alike. They both genuinely love food. They care deeply about beauty of ingredients and the magic of cooking. And the chemistry between them is really really entertaining.

An interesting difference between the two chefs was that while Eric feels that the art of cooking is where your take high-quality ingredients and prepare them in a fashion that maintains their initial integrity intact (or close to it)….while Anthony feels that art of cooking is to take sub-par ingredients and turn them into something phenomenal. Poles apart, don’t you agree?

Anthony Bourdain has no illusions about himself. He openly talks about his prior drug addiction. He admits that he has not worked in a professional kitchen in years. Yet he insists that his life experiences qualify him to be the food critic that he is today. He is a huge fan of Mario Batali and would eat Mario’s food anytime. He feels that there is no one whose accomplishments match that of Julia Child. He admires how effortlessly Julia Child brought the art French cooking to America and made it appear so simple and un-daunting. It was interesting to hear both Anthony and Eric claim that in today’s time Nigella Lawson is the only one who comes close to Julia Child in what she has been able to achieve.

It was funny to hear the stories involving various celebrities and political personalities at Eric Ripert’s restaurant, Le Bernardin. It was cool to know that Eric is at his restaurant most days. When you dine there - you are very likely to see him circulating between the front as well as the back of the house. He maintains high standards for his kitchen as well as service staff - in an effort to bring the most memorable dining experience to his guests.

Hysterical questions were posed, mostly by Anthony. Like, if you had to pick between Mario Batali, Guy Fieri and Bobby Flay - which one would you kill, which one would you sleep with and which one would you marry! Not kidding. Anthony’s answer to his own question was predictable: he would marry Mario, kill Guy and sleep with Bobby. Hee! Hee! I could not believe half the stuff that was coming out of his mouth that evening. At one point Anthony asked Eric what his kitchen staff is expected to do when they have an itch in their “unmentionable” body parts. Eric’s facial expression was priceless. LOL!

At the end of the evening, the audience was able to ask questions. A passionate discussion about GMOs gave me a chance to learn more about the subject. According to Eric, all GMOs are not necessarily a bad thing and the initial intent was for the greater good….. he is against the unethical use of that technology.

I laughed a lot that evening. And I learned a lot too. I left there feeling enthusiastic to learn more, read more and experience more….after all, isn’t that what life is all about?