MSU Red Cedar Message Board

you clearly have no idea what you're talking about. Bourdain readily admits his fuck ups...that he wasted his chance to be a great chef....that the success of KC was total luck and he has the greatest job in the world: a tv network lets him travel all over the world and eat food and talk to people and he gets to pick where and they let him smoke and drink and swear and do whatever the fuck he wants. Everything he's ever written includes a caveat that he's never been nor ever will be a great chef. he's NEVER suggested he is.

What he is is a guy with a sincere passion for food, culture, history, and trying to expose fat lazy americans to something a little different. He's not afraid to blast the Food Network because they both encourage Americans to embrace mediocrity while also encouraging people into believing they can be the next great foodie on TV - resulting in more obnoxious people like Fieri. Real chefs almost universally revere Bourdain...that tells you all you need to know.

There is not a more self-deprecating guy on TV...your criticisms of him are laughable.

My god you are a fucking imbecile.

Wow, I guess you sure told me. I am well aware of his immodest modesty from KC and his shows. Something about being an addict seems to have given him that and I think that is understandable to a point. And where did I say he did not admit his flaws? My point is that if your going to throw stones at your fellow TV Chefs you better be able to take the heat. Bourdain can, he likes the controversy. I'm sure he does it on purpose to increase the ratings. Isn't it ironic, he seems to be grateful but ambivalent for all his success and soft pedals his ability but never misses a chance to get in the news cycle for ripping on someone else who does essentially what he does, pimp food or travel on TV, or as you call it cultural awareness. He's Samantha Brown without the perky tits and it's a good thing we have him to expose us fat and lazy Americans to new cultures. Wow, to think, one of our countries greatest issues is mediocre TV and it's on the Food Network. Your right, Bourdain may be a Saint sent to save us, or at least certain fan boys.
Or maybe Bourdain just has an interesting travel show that highlights food and is well presented. To try and read the noble sentiments you see into it seems a stretch , considering he is such a modest man. I'm sure he would downplay or deny it but I'm glad you see the truth. Regardless, it is enjoyable to watch, just like DDD. Keep in mind opinions are like assholes, everyones got one. You, me and Bourdain. Just because you have one doesn't mean you have to be one. You can take that personally, it was meant that way. And my opinions are based on 40+ years in the food industry. Not sure what yours are based on other than being a TV critic.

Damn, that's hilarious!

It's from December's bizarre holiday episode of No Reservations that also included Christopher Walken and Norah Jones.

This dude did not like Guy's New York debut.

What is wrong with you? Bourdain for sure. Guy Fieri? Seriously???

The restaurant is located in frickin Times Square. Those prices aren't shit in New York and you shouldn't expect to get a gourment dinner for those prices. That food critic sounds like a giant douche bag with some agenda cause he got sent to review Fieri's restaurant rather than some 5 star establishiment where he can keep his nose up in the air. I bet Guy makes millions at that location. The critic sounded like he ordered a little of everything on the menu then has to be a dick and bitch about not getting a side of fries. I like both Bourdain and Fieri for different reasons. They both seem down to earth. Anthony is not afraid to drink copious amounts of alcohol on Tv. Guy apparently is not shy about tasting food when he is all smoke up. I laugh my ass off at him when his eyes are glazed over and he clearly has the munchies.

Arguments about authenticity aside, Well's criticisms are that the service was terrible and that the food was bad. What's so elitist and snooty about noticing and saying that the stuff coming out of the kitchen is just terrible?

The hypocrisy here is in Fieri hosting a show that's good because it searches out food that's good, cheap, has connections to the area it sits in, tells interesting stories either about the owner, the restaurant, or the area around it....and then he turns around and uses that goodwill to build this shining mecca of a money-grab built around shitty food.

As for expecting gourmet food for those prices, some of the very, very best food in NYC comes cheap. Those people aren't paying higher prices for their supplies than Fieri's place is....

I don't live in NYC, but I can't imagine restaurants with terrible service and bad food priced at $30/entree are the norm, or last very long.

Ironiclly, NYT had a 160 person party there last night. See eater.com.

Pete Wells aka Pete the Punisher does a pretty fair job overall. I didn't care for his venom on this one because it read like a sarcastic personal attack.

It's a gimmicky restaurant in Times Square built to capitalize on the owner's TV fame, not to push the boundaries of culinary art. It features harmless items wih fancy names that are covered with cheese or bland sauce.

Why was Pete Wells even there? It's a piece that should have been written by that 84 year old women from South Dakota who reviewed he OG. She's Guy Fieri's target audience.

From the previously linked Washington Post article, with which I agree wholeheartedly:

"But plenty of people will give him a sympathetic nod, buying the idea that he was treated unfairly.

Was he? Not really. It certainly was a scathing review delivered in a sucker punch fashion. But I don’t buy the argument that Wells shouldn’t have reviewed it, either because the restaurant was so bad it didn’t warrant a review, or because the very nature of the place (and the man behind it) places it outside the league of “real” restaurants that merit reviews.

To accept those arguments is to accept that the food served to Average Joes and Janes isn’t worthy of criticism, and that it shouldn’t be held to higher standards. Fieri has built his career touting the foods of everyday America. If that’s what he’s going to serve in his restaurant, it seems only fair that he be held to answer for the quality of that food."