Kim says I have a man crush on Anthony Bourdain. 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 crush. Let’s see. Do I have a man crush on Anthony Bourdain by that definition? Let’s frame the question around my recent reading of A Cook’s Tour. This is Bourdain’s second, book, after Kitchen Confidential. The title is a “double dip”, a technique Bourdain has utilized throughout his career, in which he mines the same experience for both a book and television series. In this case the frame is Bourdain’s search for a perfect meal. However, the “perfect meal” question turns out to be of minimal importance to the narrative, which has the author traveling across the globe, sampling local cuisine and riffing on his responses to the people and culture. Bourdain’s strengths are myriad. First, he’s not some dumbass showing up in Morocco or Paris, trying a snail, and saying, “this tastes good.” He knows his food and he knows it well. The San Francisco chapter, including a visit to Keller’s French Laundry, shows off the author’s encyclopedic food knowledge. Second, he treats the people and cultures he encounters with great respect. Bourdain values consistency and hard work and seems equally awed by both the best chefs in the world and the Bedouin riders that get him high on a desert night. Third, he seems like the kind of guy who doesn’t take himself too seriously but takes his work very seriously. While he’ll mock himself silly for his corporate whoredom to the Food Network pimp, you can tell he doesn’t want to write a crappy book or make a lame episode (although in his own estimation he’s done both). Finally, he writes and talks about food and traveling like a crime fiction fan with a couple of his own crime novels under his belt. All of which is true. He notices the guy who brings the salsa and wonders what he does after work. In some ways I don’t want to like Anthony Bourdain. I’m a vegetarian, in his eyes a sworn enemy (his shredding of a Californian vegetarian potluck is priceless). He never shuts the hell up about New York, and I’m from Chicago. If I saw him on the street I wouldn’t approach him, because I would feel like an asshole and, while he would probably try to be civil, from what I can tell he’s just want to get the hell away from anyone who ever wanted to talk with him about his books. I admire that. If he wanted to bask in fans’ attention I doubt I’d be a fan. But do I have a man crush? Two out of three. I respect and admire Bourdain, but I don’t idolize him. I don’t want to be him. I love his books, and I can’t think of a better show to which to work out than No Reservations. A Cook’s Tour reads like a murderless noir novel where the characters eat a lot and taunt the cameramen. And I like that idea. Bourdain is an original; there’s no one like him, and imitators, well, they sound stupid when they try to sound like Bourdain. So sorry, Kim, no man crush. But I’m reading Twilight next, and there’s always Edward…
2020-08-23 20:25