false 86856 19 <I>A Cook's Tour</I> is the written record of Anthony Bourdain's travels around the world in his search for the perfect meal. All too conscious of the state of his 44-year-old knees after a working life standing at restaurant stoves, but with the unlooked-for jackpot of <I>Kitchen Confidential</I> as collateral, Mr. Bourdain evidently concluded he needed a bit more wind under his wings.<p>The idea of "perfect meal" in this context is to be taken to mean not necessarily the most upscale, chi-chi, three-star dining experience, but the ideal combination of food, atmosphere, and company. This would take in fishing villages in Vietnam, bars in Cambodia, and Tuareg camps in Morocco (roasted sheep's testicle, as it happens); it would stretch to smoked fish and sauna in the frozen Russian countryside and the French Laundry in California's Napa Valley. It would mean exquisitely refined <I>kaiseki</I> rituals in Japan after yakitori with drunken salarymen. Deep-fried Mars Bars in Glasgow and Gordon Ramsay in London. The still-beating heart of a cobra in Saigon. Drink. Danger. Guns. All with a TV crew in tow for the accompanying series--22 episodes of video gold, we are assured, featuring many don't-try-this-at-home shots of the author in gastric distress or crawling into yet another storm drain at four in the morning.<p>You are unlikely to lay your hands on a more hectically, strenuously entertaining book for some time. Our hero eats and swashbuckles round the globe with perfect-pitch attitude and liberal use of judiciously placed profanities. Bourdain can write. His timing is great. He is very funny and is under no illusions whatsoever about himself or anyone else. But most of all, he is a chef who got himself out of his kitchen and found, all over the world, people who understand that eating well is the foundation of harmonious living. <I>--Robin Davidson, Amazon.co.uk</I> 107052 1 11 2001 A Cook's Tour: Global Adventures in Extreme Cuisines total:2824|5:709|4:1331|3:686|2:87|1:11| 2824 11112 3970 370 5 4 false false Thu Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2004 Tue Jun 12 07:58:36 -0700 2007 Tue Jun 12 07:58:49 -0700 2007 more...]]> 3 2 false false Sat Apr 18 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Wed Apr 08 07:48:13 -0700 2009 Sat Apr 18 12:19:05 -0700 2009
So what’s a man crush?

My favorite urban dictionary definition of the term reads:

Respect, admiration and idolization of another man. Non-sexual. Celebrities, athletes and rock stars are often the object of the man...more...]]> 4 1 false false Fri Aug 01 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Sun Jul 26 01:07:32 -0700 2009 Tue Jul 28 02:45:36 -0700 2009 He's Still Got It - and Now He's On the Road

If you loved Kitchen Confidential Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly, then imagine all that again, with some incredible travel writing (ie even more exotic delicacies, and the occasional threat of death) chucked in for good measure.
...more...]]> 3 1 false false Mon Aug 28 00:00:00 -0700 2006 Fri Jul 11 10:40:28 -0700 2008 Fri Jul 11 10:40:41 -0700 2008 more...]]> 4 1 false false Sun Aug 03 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Sat Jul 05 03:55:42 -0700 2008 Sun Aug 03 06:49:15 -0700 2008 No Reservations. Sometimes you salivate as he describes a...more...]]> 4 1 false false Wed May 28 17:28:53 -0700 2008 Tue May 13 06:35:58 -0700 2008 Wed May 28 17:28:53 -0700 2008 more...]]> 5 0 false false Mon Sep 21 19:10:06 -0700 2009 Mon Sep 21 19:22:17 -0700 2009
1) Write better

2) Cook better

3) Travel more

Redefined goal for life:

BE LIKE ANTHONY BOURDAIN.

I've listened through this book twice now, and I've loved it both times. In every case there's a new discovery to be h...more...]]> 3 0 false false Tue Apr 21 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Sat Apr 11 13:31:44 -0700 2009 Tue Apr 21 10:06:35 -0700 2009 Kitchen Confidential. I've been trying to decide why & I think it's because ultimately this isn't so much a food book as it is a travel book. That's okay, but the notion of hunting down the perfect meal has an appeal to me & led me to expect something ...more...]]> 4 1 false false Sat Sep 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Sat Sep 08 17:26:13 -0700 2007 Wed Sep 19 11:38:01 -0700 2007 Kitchen Confidential. While I enjoyed KC very much, A Cook's Tour is a poetically written, passionate, and always snarky ponderance of food. Tony outdoes himself with this one. Highly recommended.more...]]> 4 0 false false Tue Mar 17 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Thu Mar 05 01:34:58 -0800 2009 Wed Mar 18 03:00:08 -0700 2009
i almost want to give this a 5 for the sheer fact that Bourdain is just a great writer and his ability to convey emotion in a book about food is crazy good. overall, if you like watching his show No Reservation, i think you would like this. the only downsid...more...]]> 3 0 false false Wed Apr 01 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Tue Apr 21 14:54:25 -0700 2009 Tue Apr 21 15:00:16 -0700 2009 more...]]> 3 0 false false Wed Oct 01 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Tue Mar 17 11:08:35 -0700 2009 Sat Mar 28 11:23:41 -0700 2009 more...]]> 3 0 false false Wed Jul 01 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Sat Jul 18 07:14:43 -0700 2009 Sat Jul 18 07:27:22 -0700 2009 more...]]> 4 0 false false Sun Mar 01 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Sat Apr 04 16:51:13 -0700 2009 Sat Apr 04 16:58:06 -0700 2009 more...]]> 4 0 false false Tue Jul 07 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Tue Jul 14 13:07:11 -0700 2009 Tue Jul 14 13:18:40 -0700 2009 Kitchen Confidential and enjoyed it a great deal, but found this an even better read.

If you've seen an episode of No Reservation (which was being filmed while this book w...more...]]> 4 1 false false Tue Jul 01 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Sun Aug 24 18:47:26 -0700 2008 Sun Aug 24 18:49:56 -0700 2008 4 0 false false Sun Feb 01 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Wed Feb 04 01:48:55 -0800 2009 Mon Feb 09 05:47:21 -0800 2009 more...]]> 3 0 false false Mon Oct 12 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Wed Oct 14 09:24:51 -0700 2009 Wed Oct 14 09:32:42 -0700 2009 more...]]> 3 0 false false Sun Mar 01 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Wed Mar 04 20:11:32 -0800 2009 Mon Mar 30 19:04:53 -0700 2009 There is a lack of continuity between chapters and...more...]]> 2 0 true false Thu Mar 05 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Thu Jan 22 20:17:03 -0800 2009 Thu Mar 05 22:47:15 -0800 2009 1 more...]]>