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First, a brief clip hosted on my personal site because I can’t figure out how to upload a quicktime movie to WordPress; with some slightly off-color language – you were warned (don’t click if you can’t handle it).
Last night, I spent a couple of hours in the company of rock-n-roll Chef Anthony Bourdain and good friends. I couldn’t decide if I wanted to file this post under this blog, or my personal blog since the Jim opted not to go to the show because, and I quote:
The Jim: “What is he going to do?”
Me: “I don’t know, I assume talk, give a lecture, discuss his travels?”
The Jim: “Is he gonna cook?”
Me: “I don’t think so.”
The Jim: “Well then I’m not paying the money to see a guy talk if he ain’t servin’ up what he’s famous for…”
I can see his logic. It makes sense. Anthony Bourdain started out his career as a dishwasher and moved to chef at the succulent Brasserie le Halles in NY. While there, he wrote articles and eventually a book entitled Kitchen Confidential. His life changed when that book became a hit. He’s written more since then, but most people know him now from his travel show, No Reservations which is a feature on the Travel Channel. His m.o. is to take the viewer with him on a journey around the world and be a traveler who is unafraid to immerse themselves in enjoying each experience that another culture or country has to offer. Especially gastronomically. While he’s not as shocking as Andrew Zimmerman (the guy who eats almost anything), he has a very good delivery style in his show and truly encourages people to be “good travelers”, and to open yourself up to new experiences with…of course, no reservations.
So, when I heard he was coming to the little town of Knoxville, Tennesssee; I knew this was an opportunity I was not going to miss. I mean, when does a guy like this decide that Knoxville is going to be a good location to explore? Someone who’s so well-traveled and has been to places including Russia, Vietnam, Namibia, etc. Best part, was a lot of my friends agreed with me that this was worth the price of admission. Sadly, we didn’t pony up the cash to do the meet, greet, and eat afterwards, because sadly, I couldn’t justify the pricetag, but nonetheless – we were in. Thanks to Mrs. Overtlytrite, we scored some sensational seats in the 6th row of the gorgeous Tennessee Theatre. So…game on.
We planned the night to begin with a meal at a Honduran restaurant called La Rumba. It was a very good meal, and their happy hour is indeed happy ($1.00 beers and $2.00 margaritas that will make you quiver with glee). If you go, don’t be shocked by their avacado colored building – go inside and be impressed with their food and hospitality. First of all, there was a tad to much “Mexican” flavor to the menu, but we all made the effort to order some “uniquely” Honduran food. I ended up with two Papusas (kinda like a filled pancake with cheese, and pork), and a shrimp dish that was amazingly seasoned. I did have a margarita, and I only had 1 because I don’t hold my liquor all that well, and I was a driver for the evening.
After a fantastic meal with Mrs. OvertlyTrite, Mr. OvertlyTrite, Brother OT and Nephew OT, and the always awesome Mommy Strangelove, we hopped in our automobiles and headed to the Tennessee Theatre to meet up with Mr. & Mrs. Dotson for a evening with Chef Bourdain. He started off the evening with some brief initial notes about Knoxville indicating that there was some sensational cheeses in his dressing room and a good local beer. He also indicated that the people who were doing the catering of the meet, greet and eat afterwards were surprisingly well versed in succulence including lamb cheeks (which is better than I ever anticipated), as it was catered by the Northshore Brasserie (which has amazing food and some of the best Steak Tartare I’ve ever ate). He then spent the next hour or so talking about his travels, the foods, the cultures and the importance of being a good guest and not an ugly American when going abroad. He was witty, he was offensive (in a good way when speaking of vegetarians – I love you Maria), but mostly he was poignant and real with us – or at least a real as a person riffing on a theme standing in front of a packed house at a theatre could be.
I was very happy to see the house packed for the show and thank AC Entertainment for encouraging and bringing this man to town. Hopefully the good showing by the audience will encourage other entertainers, etc…to include a stop to the Knoxville area as we can be some pretty “hip” people who would also like to indulge in some good shows and not have to drive to Atlanta or Nashville in order to see them. But I digress…
The best part of the evening was that Chef Bourdain opened up the floor to questions from the audience and those who wanted to ask something lined up at two microphones placed at the center aisles. People immediately started heading up to the mics and while initially I had thought I had a good question (i.e. How he actually got through the experiences he had with the Kalahari Bushmen in Namibia), he had already discussed this issue during his lecture. So, I thought…darn it. Then I realized I did have a good and valid question, so I got up out of my seat and took my place at the end of the line on the left hand side of the theatre. Person after person asked questions that ranged from “I’m a vegan and I want to know why you bash us?” type questions, to the obligatory audience member offering Tony to let them take him to the best bar/restaurant in town (um, unless his producer has connected with you and set up your evening, I doubt this married man with a baby is just going to randomly head-out with a random Knoxvillian – especially since some of the audience already forked out $140 some dollars to nosh with him after the show). Soon after I was in line, one of the staff of the theatre came up behind me and indicated she was cutting off the line for questions and informed me that I may not have an opportunity to ask my question as he may stop taking questions soon. I figured well, I can understand that, but I’m here and I’ll stick it out to see if I get my opportunity or not.
First of all, this is important. I typically get mildly star-struck and nervous in a situation like this; but this time, I did not. Probably thanks to some well received therapeutic services. I had thought to myself, when am I actually going to have an opportunity to speak to a man I think is cool and does a good service to the world by encouraging people to live in the moment whenever you travel, so what did I have to lose? Nothing. As the line in front of me and the line on the right continued to dwindle, I was inevitably up next and actually up last to ask a question. So, I took a deep breath and leapt.
“Chef Bourdain, you’re kinda like the rock-n-roll chef and you’ve recently become a father. One of my favorite passages you’ve ever written was the story of how you became more gastronomically adventurous when your family was in france and your parents actually left you and your brother in the car so they could go and dine without complaining and at that moment you decided you were going to eat and explore the culinary world because it was the first time it was “off limits” to you. My question is, that now that you’re a father, how do you plan or suggest how to encourage a child to be more gastronomically adventurous and how has fatherhood changed you?” Whew, I got the question out without sounding like a dolt or a silly fan girl. His answer was nicely loquacious and I was honored that he took the time to really answer my silly little question. He discussed the realities that having a child almost immediately made all your “cool-points” go out the window, and he admitted that he lost his earring when his daughter arrived. He discussed the importance of encouraging children to explore new foods and new cultures but not to bully them into becoming gourmands because, that’s a tad pretentious. He also enlisted the concept of counter-marketing to your children about the seedy realities of McDonald’s and the potentially scary clown that is Ronald McDonald. It was a fantastic answer and very generous in his response to me. He also mentioned a concept that I felt was accurate in how to develop a gastronomically adventurous child which includes having a parent who is from a different culture as I grew up with a father who was born and raised in Germany and Anthony Bourdain’s wife is Italian. I think that having a parent who is ethnically different and willing to share those cultural experiences with their family (i.e. food cooked at home, and taking you to their home countries), makes for a child who accepts new aspects of culture more freely and openly (while at the same time rebelling because come-on, we’re kids).
He closed the show and it was a really nice night. I can only imagine the succulent dishes that awaited him and his guests after the show and I hope that he’ll come back soon and that Ashley Capps will continue to be able to lure interesting and varied talent to our little city that could.
The Jim decided to watch one of the kiddos for some of our friends that are going with me to see the fabulous foodie and chef, Anthony Bourdain talk about who the heck knows what this Saturday! Woohoo! I’m pretty excited. Not only because I’m going to see Mr. Bourdain, but I’m sharing the experience with good friends, and probably going (I think we’re going), to try a Honduran restaurant right beforehand, so it’s all good. In fact, this week I’ve made the commitment to eat more healthy and more high-quality. It’s kinda going with my new lifestyle choices (see Anna101 if you really wanna know). Either way, I’m constantly amazed at how much my tastes have matured throughout my life. Unlike Mr. Bourdain who chronicled his entry as a child into the interesting world of daring culinary specialties, it took me a while to warm up to some foods and sadly there are still some foods that I won’t touch. Either way, a lot of the recent shows out there including No Reservations and Top Chef have been inspirational in wanting to start really learning to cook like a pro. I wish there were some cooking classes in the area where I could pick up some great skills like learning how to make a beurre blanc, and cook some of the more complicated dishes. Perhaps, one day, I’ll do this…and then we’ll hopefully have a child that we’ll have to encourage to be more open minded and willing to become a gourmand one day.
SO EXCITED!
Oh, and my suggestion on www.Knoxville.com for where I think Anthony should eat while he’s here – is IN THE LEAD. Oh, yeah, baby. So, Anthony and family, feel free to let me know if you want me to grab a burger at Litton’s with you all when you get here. Oh, I also bought the shirt that was on SHIRTWOOT today – I had to, I believe in the philosophy.
Photo Credit 1: http://i.timeinc.net/time/photoessays/2007/bourdain/bourdain_01.jpg
Photo Credit 2: www.shirt.woot.com
Our super-friend (who’s powers activate regularly), scored her, her hubs, the Dotsons, Mommy Strangelove and myself 6th row tix to see Anthony Bourdain wax philosophical (we suppose). Kudos to my hubs for agreeing to kid-sit the Overtly-Trite kiddo. Thanks to the amazing OT for who she is. Thanks again to Ashley Capps for getting him here, and thanks to Anthony Bourdain for not laughing hysterically at the suggestion (we think). Looking forward to this!!!! Buy your tickets at the Tennessee Theatre for April 4th with Tony Bourdain…sure to be fab! Please, don’t ask me what he’s going to do – we don’t care, we just dig him, umkay?! Oh, and if, perchance, Mr. Bourdain stumbles upon this site – you have got to try a Litton’s Burger while in town. Let me know if you need a tour guide. Woohoo…good Friday!
Hello Knoxvillians, there is so much I need and want to blog about but tonight, I’m going to blog about BOURDAIN. In a feat of amazing fabulousness, the ever hip and cool, Ashley Capps somehow lured the rock-star chef, Anthony Bourdain to Knoxville, Tennessee for 1 Night only at the Tennesse Theatre. The minute the Dotson’s clued me in I was IN, IN, IN. I am a big Bourdain-fan. I have a secret love of cocky men who are actually good at what they do. While there are a few things about Tony that annoy me, I’ve enjoyed his books, love his TV show and pretty much am going to plunk down some of my hard-earned cash to apparently see the man talk. Funny thing was that when he did his “viewer contest show”, I had remarked to the Jim all the places that I would take him in Knoxville for some good grub (Littons, Magpies, etc.). It’d be fab to show him around a city that I’ve been transplanted to and learned to love as it’s a different perspective. In the meantime, I would SOOOO pay the steep price to be a VIP, but since the Jim has agreed to watch a youngin’ for some friends I’ll be flying solo that night and I can’t convince him that I deserve to schmooze at a meet and greet with Tony. Look, I’m not sure what he’s going to do for the full “performance” but I’m willing to be there just to find out. Tickets go on sale this Friday so get in line folks for the April 4th engagement.
Thanks Mr. Capps for keeping the talent coming to Knoxville…it makes me feel like I live in a bigger city that’s more cosy.
Okay, so it sounds more elaborate than it really is right? This is our little slice of internet nonsense, which basically is our on-going effort to keep our friends and family up-to-date on our lives, our love and our continuing pursuit of pomegranates. In this modern age of movement, we’ve realized that distance is not an excuse to not keep everyone posted, so please - stop by anytime - in person or internet-ly and know that you are all never far from our thoughts.
