Sunday, November 4, 2012

An Evening with Anthony @Bourdain in #Nashville

When I heard Anthony Bourdain was coming to Nashville, I was so excited!  I've actually posted on this blog about him a few times before.  He's got a new show coming to CNN that I'm enthusiastically anticipating.  (Maybe he can talk Anderson Cooper out of his Boston Market fixation?)
Anthony Bourdain's show No Reservations really made me think differently about travel and food.  It actually made me a braver eater, so to speak.  While I still struggle with my aversion to vegetables, now there really isn't much I won't try at least once.  I learned to drink chai and eat Iraqi food in Baghdad, I indulged in suckling pig in Spain, ate escargot and frog's legs in France, tasted lobster and crab in Nova Scotia, all the while talking to the real people in the area and engaging them.

Anyways, I bought VIP tickets for Duke and me to not only attend Mr. Bourdain's hilarious and insightful speaking engagement, but snag an autograph and photo as well.  (Oh, and the open bar VIP reception with delicious food?  Awesome!)

We had such a good time.  Bourdain was just as candid as he is on his show, and I really felt like he is genuine with admitted hypocritical moments.  That's as real as it gets, and if you've ever read Kitchen Confidential, you know he understands the food world.  I also felt he presented a strong message on how to be a good guest in foreign cultures and what our gluttony for bad food is doing to America.  He speaks as well as he writes, and I enjoyed it wholeheartedly with lots of laughs.  There were definitely some obnoxious/rowdy folks in the crowd, as well as some pretentious chef-wannabes who used their Q&A opportunity to name drop and brag about who had the creepiest Bourdain-related tattoo... but it was all in good fun in the end.  I got to shake his hand, get my cookbook signed, and grab a photo with a personal food hero of mine.

Oh, and free booze.

P.S. My peplum dress is from Target..  :)

This was definitely one of the best date nights ever!

P.S.  We also bumped into Judith Hoag who was on Big Love (and a ton of other TV shows) and currently appears in Nashville.  I told her Duke has had a thing for her since Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and she gave him a big hug.  She was super nice, and I recognized her right away.

P.P.S.  Bourdain's wife, Ottavia, is an MMA fighter.  They rock.

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