TV Recaps Reviews

Tony travels to Madrid to partake in their finest product to his mind, Jamon Iberico ham. In the intro to the episode Tony sits at a table with guide Gaspar, who slices off thin pieces of aged ham from the whole leg of a pig for them to eat. As Tony eats the Jamon Iberico ham he starts a rant about his friend, Chef Mario Batali’s PBS travel show on Spain, and Mario’s friend Gwenyth Paltrow, a vegetarian, who accompanied him on the trip “Message to Gwenyth Paltrow: I don’t know what the f**k is the matter with you. How can you drive across Spain and not eat ham? Mario, I love you, but why did you bring along the one f**king kid in the world who can’t eat ham? I’m pretty sure God’s against that.”

Tony is visiting amid Spain’s 2010 World Cup championship win, and experiences celebrations in the streets for three days. Tony and guide Gaspar, a food writer, sit down to breakfast at Bodega de la Ardosa, one of Madrid’s oldest tapas bars, known for its Tortilla de Patatas, aka a Spanish omelet. Tony tastes a coddled egg and is over the moon for its flavor, telling the audience “As the world’s number one egg whore, that’s already guaranteed a good time.” Tony and Gaspar visit the outdoor market where they look at the fine local fish and taste fried octopus.

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No Reservations celebrates its 100th episode by visiting the same location as the first show – Paris. Tony and Le Bernardin chef Eric Ripert travel to Paris to wallow in the flavors of legendary food classics, to taste the Parisian cuisine of the new chefs of Paris, and to spend time with the chef of the century and Eric’s mentor, Joël Robuchon. Throughout the episode various well wishers, including fellow foodies Adam Richman and Andrew Zimmern, congratulate Tony on his 100th show on the Travel Channel.

Tony and Eric first visit Le Tete Dans Les Olives, where chefs Alexandre Cammas and Inaki Aizpitarte serve ten lucky patrons a day in their restaurant. As the chefs discuss food and drink wine, Alexandre Cammas of the French food movement Le Fooding and Chef Ripert have a serious discussion about the Michelin star system, of which Chef Ripert is a recipient. Tony narrates “For the first time I’ve ever seen, Eric has found himself in the position of having to defend fine dining, poor bastard.”

Tony and Eric visit Les Cocottes de Christian Constant, the restaurant of food magician Thierry Marx. Tony narrates that Chef Marx has worked in the kitchens of Taillevent and Joël Robuchon’s Jamin, and is eager to taste his food. The restaurant has one seating and one price for its food. Chef Marx serves the chefs a ravioli with mushrooms and some good wine.

Tony and Eric visit one of Eric’s friends who owns a boucherie. The butcher suggests they go to his friend’s restaurant Le Jeu de Quilles to sample their breakfast featuring offal. Tony is happy, with offal being one of his favorite eats. They dive into a breakfast of kidneys, peppers and mushrooms

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Tony and his crew are spotlighted in this look at behind the scenes of the making of No Reservations. Tony tells the audience that a camera crew followed the making of the Kerala, India episode, capturing Tony’s interaction with his tight-knit crew. Tony and his main crew members Chris the executive producer and producer Diane are in a pre-production meeting ten days before departure to Kerala, India. Chris and Diane discuss the settings and guides that will help Tony with the episode and they all banter and joke with each other. Diane tends to enjoy having Tony get involved in traditions of the people such as dancing which Tony does not enjoy, telling Diane and Chris “Believe me, nobody wants to see me with my shirt off.” And there is more Tony banter as he seethes against local customs he must be a part of “Running around a tree singing and dancing, I’ve been asking for this for f**king years.” As Chris and Diane discuss what will happen if the crew arrives before Tony does for this shoot, Tony shares with the audience “A lot of talking to Mister Fisty I’m guessing. If something’s missing from my mini-bar, I’m not paying. If they’re charging porn to my room, this will not pass.” Chris tells the audience in a separate scene when asked if Tony still wants to do No Reservations that someone recently asked him the same question and the answer was a resounding yes, he still loves to write, travel and eat for a living. Chris confesses as excited as he is when they get ready to leave for a new location, it is getting tougher to leave his wife and kids behind.

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Tony Bourdain returns to Beiruit, Lebanon to finish the episode he planned to film in 2006, before the cast and crew were stuck in the middle of an intense conflict. Tony has been longing to visit Beiruit to make things right after the conflict, and to visit the people and restaurants he planned to visit before the fighting broke out.

Tony and the original crew, minus a crew member who just gave birth, are sitting poolside at Le Royal hotel where they were holed up in during the conflict in Beiruit, waiting to leave the country. Tony thought it fitting they would be at the same hotel. Tony tells the crew how the fighting affected him deeply, how his life changed during that first trip to Beiruit: “Flew home, my wife was there, she was then my girlfriend. We went right home, and made a baby. That was the day that my daughter was conceived.”

Tony and his guide visit Le Chef, picking up where they left off when the fighting began during the filming of the last episode. Le Chef is the only restaurant where they shot a restaurant meal during the 2006 shoot. The restaurant is known for its homestyle classic dishes. Tony and his guide enjoy lamb kibbeh, hummus with pine nuts and ground beef, eggplant with tomatoes, and a kale like vegetable dish, washed down with arak, the local ouzo-like alcoholic drink.

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Tony visits Rome for the first time in this episode. He’s been to Italy many times but he’s always wanted to go to Rome. This episode is filmed entirely in black and white to honor what Tony says is the classic feel from old films and history that is a part of Rome.

The Rome adventure begins with Tony driving a sports car against a green screen featuring scenes from Rome. Of course Tony is driving erratically and pretty much making the driving look as fake as possible, similar to old black and white movies.

Tony meets up with his guide and friend Cesare Casella at Ristorante Paris, to indulge in traditional Roman food. Ristorante Paris uses fresh, seasonal food when creating their menu. Tony and Cesare start with fried artichoke, which they enjoy. Next an artichoke, fava bean, pea and pancetta dish, Tony takes a bite of the dish and says “Wow!” Lamb chops arrive at the table, accompanied by chicory with anchovies. Tony and Cesare love the combination of chicory and lamb together. Tony tells the audience about Roman seasonal eating: “They don’t talk annoyingly about seasonal here, they just f**king do it.”

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Tony travels to Dubai in the United Arab Emirates, where luxury living is the order of the day. The natives of Dubai are very wealthy and are treated well. The majority of people in Dubai are Asian, seventy-five percent of them are from India, Pakistan, the Philippines and other places, making them immigrants who are often unwelcome in this land of wealth.

Dubai boasts the tallest building in the world, its also known for its desert heat and sand storms. Tony stands at the top of Burj Khalifa, the world’s tallest building and looks over Dubai. He quips “Hey, I can see my house from here!” Tony and his guide sit down for a meal of Indian food, feasting on nan, curry and lentils. Tony says its good. Next Tony visits Mall of the Emirates, a huge shopping mall that features Ski Dubai, an indoor ski resort. Tony is surprised at the size of the ski resort, equipped with fresh snow daily, a huge ski run, ski lifts and ski lodge, everything you need for a real ski resort experience. Tony watches a kid ski and tells the audience “What are you doing, Timmy? Going skiing at the mall, Mom!” Tony says the heat of the desert outside compared to the ski resorts indoor air conditioning and cold snow is mind blowing. Tony sits at Avalanche Café and sips hot cocoa with marshmallows as the artificial fireplace keep him warm.

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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.”

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Tony travels back to one of his favorite travel destinations, India. This time Tony visits Kerala in the south of India. As Tony narrates he tells the audience India is “One of the few places in this world that I really find myself drawn to.” Kerala India is famous for its food and spices, Tony says the food in India is fresh, flavorful and delicious.

Tony and his guide visit a local food stall that features meat, a rare thing in India, which is mostly vegetarian due to the large Muslim and Christian population. In Kerala a variety of meats are available. Tony spots crispy cooked quail and with a smile on his face is ready to eat. Tony and his guide try a beef dish, the fried quail, mackerel, sardines, accompanied by curry lentil and bread to sop up the juices and spicy sauce. Tony asks his guide if the food is spicier in the south of India and the guide says yes, much spicier.

Tony arrives on set of famous South India film actor Mammootty, known for his action flicks and hounded by paparazzi everywhere he goes. Tony watches the star throw punches as bad guys fly and its all done in one take. Tony can’t believe the one take shots in comparison to filming No Reservations and says “It takes me three takes to walk into a f**king restaurant.” After filming Tony joins Mammootty in his trailer, where the paparazzi hover taking pictures as they dine on delicious food together. As Tony talks to Mammootty he realizes the star is a foodie. Tony tells the audience that Mammootty’s selection of food was very nice, and hands down, some of the best food he had on his India trip. Tony states Mammootty was generous and kind with his time.

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Tony in his blog states he’s been to eighty or ninety countries in his travels. Tony describes the Liberia episode saying “It was hard for me”. Tony tells the audience that no place has depressed, inspired, confounded, amazed, sickened, intimidated, horrified, exhausted him as much, or shown him how wrong he was about Liberia. Tony is conflicted about the history of violence, the myriad of natural resources available that are not used enough for the benefit of the country, and the changed status of this once violent country that at once inspires him and depresses him. Tony tells the audience about the history of Liberia, supposed to be “Little America”, that fell into a civil war with child soldiers, guns, drugs and where a quarter of a million citizens died in battle. Today Liberia is the first African nation with a woman president. Personal safety is still an issue here, requiring Mr. Bob, a security consultant, to roam with the film crew. The people of Liberia are hopeful that this extreme violence is in their past, not their future.

The story begins in Staten Island, New York as Tony visits Liberian expat Joe Dugbo. Joe left his children during the civil war and has not seen them since, telling Tony stories about the war and his survival during the conflict. Tony learns about Joe’s son Rochford, who is completing his schooling in Liberia, and agrees to meet with him when he visits Liberia. Tony sits at the kitchen table with Joe as his wife serves them pepper soup, crawfish with rice, palava sauce, fufu made from cassava, and pig’s feet. Tony discovers that Liberian food often features crab, meat, dried fish, hot peppers and palm oil.

Tony arrives in Monrovia, the capital of Liberia where he tells the audience its hot here, “really, really, really hot”, with no hint of wind, noting Liberia has bad roads and poor infrastructure. Tony travels to Duala Market, where women tend to hold the most power. The market features Liberian foods such as kissimmee snails, cassava, monkey meat, hot peppers, palm oil, and palm nut. One of the local market women shares with Tony that the final battle of the civil war ended at Duala market, where the women there stood up to the soldiers, ending the conflict. Tony meets Mr. Sinaray, president of the Scrabble association. Tony sits in the meeting room of the association where the men talk politics, drink chinese tea and play scrabble.

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Tony opens this episode confiding to the audience his respect of heartland chefs and restaurants. Tony has had a number of “one night stands” for food, as he calls them, as he traveled across country for book tours and filming.

Tony visits the School Craft College, in Livonia, MI. Tony tells the audience that Chef Brian Polcyn is the authority in charcuterie nationwide. Chef Polcyn can write his own ticket to anywhere, instead he is chef at Forest Grill, and teaches culinary students all about charcuterie. Tony visits with Chef Polcyn as he prepares a wonderous plate of charcuterie for Tony to taste, a variety of smoked venison sausages and a venison terrine, all of which Tony devours with gusto. Chef Polcyn tells Tony he cooks for himself first, and Tony nods in agreement.

Tony and Chef Michael Ruhlman sit in Kihachi Japanese Restaurant, Columbus, OH, a restaurant located a mall within a mall in the middle of nowhere. Tony and Ruhlman wait at the sushi bar as Chef Mike Kimura prepares his traditional Japanese cuisine. Tony and Ruhlman dine on abalone, briny sea squirt, a sashimi of Japanese mackeral, then crunchy fried skeleton of fish. Chef Kimura brings them a tuna collar, which Tony says is one of his favorite things. Ruhlman claims the tuna collar rivals pork belly for deliciousness.

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