TV Recaps Reviews

In this episode Tony starts his trip down memory lane telling the viewers “What an arrogant f**k I was, on the basis of nothing!” A documentary from 2000 by Dmitri Kasterine documents Tony’s life before fame hit, following him during his work days as Executive Chef at Les Halles, and as his book Kitchen Confidential, an expose on kitchens in New York restaurants, is published.

Dmitri Kasterine asked Tony Bourdain access to his life prior to his book publishing, following Tony for a year as his life drastically changes from chef to author and television host. Kasterine’s documentary for TV is called “Out of the Pan, Into the Fire” and is seen here in flashbacks throughout this No Reservations episode, along with Tony in current day making snarky comments about his younger self, particularly about his wardrobe back then.

The documentary film shows Tony is ten years younger, back at Les Halles barking orders to the kitchen staff and joking with them, all the while turning out some serious food from his loyal and talented Latin American chefs. Tony talks about his approach in the kitchen, telling the audience when it comes to food service “It’s all about avoiding disaster.” As Tony talks about how great Les Halles staff is, he tells the audience about a blue collar restaurant he worked at in the summer during his less than successful years in college. Tony’s introduction to kitchen life was as a dishwasher at a Cape Cod restaurant where the staff was a tough crowd. A huge wedding party was at the restaurant that night, and Tony remembers the chef put him on the line to cover for him while he took a break from the kitchen. Tony says “I looked out the window and saw my chef having sex with a woman in her wedding whites, and I thought, you know, ‘I want to be a chef!’” Tony complains about a customer who wants their steak a certain way, saying with distain “They’d like it sliced, please. Maybe they’d like us to chew it for them, too.”

Tony spins a story about another restaurant he worked at years ago. A huge New Year’s Eve party was happening and the head chef was disorganized, causing problems for the staff. Tony quips that patrons came into the kitchen to check on their appetizers at 9:30 p.m. Tony states that a noisy kitchen is normal, but when things go totally south, the kitchen gets very quiet. The staff hid from the customers who were screaming for their food. Tony tells the camera that is why he stays up worrying about big events ’till 2:00 a.m. and why he automatically wakes up without an alarm clock at 5:30 a.m. every morning.

Tony finishes his shift at Les Halles and heads for his favorite dive bar. Tony swings open the door of Siberia Bar and enters the dark room, decorated with scavenged, second hand chairs and florescent red lights. Tony feels at home as he drops onto the couch, puts his feet up and drinks a beer.

We see Tony current day, commenting on how he thought back then he should keep his day job. Tony’s highest goals with his book then were simple: “I was hoping for, at best, a sort of cult success in the tri-state area.” In scenes from the documentary we see Tony walking to Les Halles. Tony narrates, telling the viewers he always had the taxi drop him off one block from the restaurant. His walk in the morning to the restaurant, he says, was very comforting, sweet and sentimental to him. The camera cuts to Tony at Les Halles, explaining his daily routine for set-up of the kitchen. Tony tells Dmitri about his ill-fated restaurant, founded with two fellow crazed chefs. Tony says they were dangerous and on drugs, thinking they would rule the restaurant world. Current day Tony grins as he says “We had a little ritual at the beginning of each shift, we’d put on the soundtrack to Apocalypse Now, soak the whole stovetop in brandy, and ignite it along with the Jim Morrison song ‘The End.’” Tony admits they botched the restaurant and bankrupted the place. Tony mentions he did finally clean up from his days of drug debauchery back in 1988.

Back at Les Halles, Tony, the staunch carnivore, banters with his staff and scoffs at vegetarians. “There is a direct correlation between sense of humor and intake of animal protein.” Speaking of vegans he says “They’re the Hezbollah…They share a lot of similarities with dangerous fundamentalist groups.”

Tony leaves Les Halles to go on his first Kitchen Confidential book tour to Miami and is shown hanging out at a fancy hotel. Tony says he could never live away from New York, all he would do is hang out and do nothing. “Life would be too easy here” he says. Dmitri asks Tony are you a better chef or author, to which Tony replies he’s a better chef. Friends and family are shown commenting on Tony’s early success. Tony’s editor says he knows Tony only as an author, not as a chef. Tony laments that his book tour is tearing him away from the kitchen staff at Les Halles and his chef profession of twenty-eight years. Tony comments that when he is at Les Halles during the book tour, he is like a dead man walking. When asked what the difference is in his life after Kitchen Confidential was published, Tony says “My rent is paid, reasonably on time. That’s really new. That’s a first in my life.” Current day Tony tells the viewers that he expects every new book he writes will tank. Tony tells the camera “Somebody asked me, what have you learned as writer? Nothing. Honestly? I’d love to say that I’ve really been working on honing my craft these last ten years. I write the way I talk. I still don’t agonize over sentences.”

Back at Les Halles Tony is contacted by Chef Eric Ripert to have lunch with him at his restaurant Le Bernardin. Tony is stunned by the invitation and the knowledge that Chef Ripert has not only read and enjoyed his book but wants to meet him. On meeting Chef Ripert, Tony says “I would have crawled naked across broken glass to get here.” The camera shows Tony meeting with Chef Ripert, touring the kitchen and talking shop. After lunch, Tony stands outside restaurant Le Bernardin in awe, telling Dmitri “It’s like sex, you don’t talk about it afterwards.”

Current day Tony laughs when asked if he’s kept his integrity. Tony says he doesn’t think he’s ever had any to start with. Tony arrives at Les Halles after his lunch with Chef Ripert and tells Dmitri there is a huge party tonight at the restaurant, but he doesn’t care if everything goes down in flames, he can die happy now. Tony pastes his hate mail up on the wall in the kitchen. He reads one of the letters aloud in a sarcastic tone, then tells the camera he understands their anger at him after the book published, who is he to say anything, he’s a nobody. Tony tells Dmitri that since the book has been published people look at him strangely and treat him differently. Tony is having a hard time adjusting to being under a microscope.

Current day Tony wonders why so many people have said such nice things about him in the documentary, saying “Don’t they show that stuff on A&E after I’ve been in some horrible, fatal car accident with a tranny hooker?” Back at the book tour Tony discovers people are going to pay to see him and he wonders if he can entertain them for an hour. Tony sits reading excerpts of his book aloud as the audience who paid to see him laughs and appears to be having a good time after all. Tony’s mother sits for an interview and tells Dmitri Tony was a handful while he was growing up. Current day Tony reminisces that his mother was more than tested by him and yet he has finally turned into the grown up success she wanted him to be, preferring he do without all the profanities however. Tony understands her concern for, as he calls himself, her “No good son.”

Along with his book tour success Food Network comes calling, Tony naively decides to pitch an idea to them thinking he can travel and write as they film him but doesn’t have to talk to the camera. Tony learns how hard it really is to do a television show. Tony sits in a park and gripes that he can no longer smoke pot because he must be clear headed to write for the show, saying he’s on film every waking hour. Tony tells Dmitri that he has begun to turn everything down coming to him, even the free meals he’s been getting. Tony realizes he is beginning to understand what is important in his life, saying “At the root of it, I’m just a cook slash hustler and, you know, those were simpler times, you know, I miss my old life.”

Current day Tony admits there is no way he could go back to the kitchen, he just doesn’t have the endurance anymore, as he says was evident from the No Reservations episode where he cooked during a double shift at Les Halles. Tony smiles and admits the television gig got better and its not so bad after all, telling the viewers he hopes he can keep this TV thing going for a long time. Tony finishes the episode telling the viewers someone wrote in accusing him of having a facelift to which Tony laughs hysterically and says are you kidding, look at me then and now, his aging apparent between current day Tony and documentary film Tony.