Post: #1

Post: #2

I watched this. I like the premise of the show, in that he wants to hit places in countries that are off the beaten path, with interesting histories. In "No Reservations" he made it a point not to hit popular tourist areas of the places he visited, but he's taking it a step further in "Parts Unknown."

Post: #3

(05-05-2013 07:28 PM)Timoteo Wrote:  I watched this. I like the premise of the show, in that he wants to hit places in countries that are off the beaten path, with interesting histories. In "No Reservations" he made it a point not to hit popular tourist areas of the places he visited, but he's taking it a step further in "Parts Unknown."

It's basically the same show as far as I'm concerned, but I'm not hating because I like Anthony Bourdain and it's cool that he's still on TV. After he finished "No Reservations" I thought he was retiring for good, I guess his contract just expired and CNN is probably paying him more money.

Post: #4

(05-05-2013 07:46 PM)OGNorCal707 Wrote:  

(05-05-2013 07:28 PM)Timoteo Wrote:  I watched this. I like the premise of the show, in that he wants to hit places in countries that are off the beaten path, with interesting histories. In "No Reservations" he made it a point not to hit popular tourist areas of the places he visited, but he's taking it a step further in "Parts Unknown."

It's basically the same show as far as I'm concerned, but I'm not hating because I like Anthony Bourdain and it's cool that he's still on TV. After he finished "No Reservations" I thought he was retiring for good, I guess his contract just expired and CNN is probably paying him more money.

I think there was some acrimony with the Travel Channel. There were certain locations he wanted to hit, and the network couldn't make it happen. CNN had better connections in various parts of the world to help him get into some locations that he couldn't before. It IS basically the same show, but he'll supposedly be able to broaden his reach with this one. I still regularly watch his "No Reservations" and "The Layover" reruns on the Travel Channel.

Post: #5

Nice, I didn't know he had a new show.

Post: #6

Cool. Too bad Colombian food is super mediocre.

Post: #7

(05-05-2013 08:01 PM)InternationPlayboy Wrote:  Cool. Too bad Colombian food is super mediocre.

We have as many different cuisines as we have regions. If you travel 100 km north of here, all food changes completely. "Medellin's food sucks" is accurate, Bogota's food is even worse. But in the coast and in many other regions? I'd repeat lunch.

Post: #8

(05-05-2013 08:18 PM)Volk Wrote:  

(05-05-2013 08:01 PM)InternationPlayboy Wrote:  Cool. Too bad Colombian food is super mediocre.

We have as many different cuisines as we have regions. If you travel 100 km north of here, all food changes completely.

I agree, I liked Colombian food.

I just think many peoples selection is poor.

----

Bourdain is on right now. Canada.

Seems like mostly Quebec.

Which has mindblowing food.

Post: #9

Tejo looks like a fun time. Anybody played it?

Post: #10

(05-05-2013 08:20 PM)thegmanifesto Wrote:  

(05-05-2013 08:18 PM)Volk Wrote:  

(05-05-2013 08:01 PM)InternationPlayboy Wrote:  Cool. Too bad Colombian food is super mediocre.

We have as many different cuisines as we have regions. If you travel 100 km north of here, all food changes completely.

I agree, I liked Colombian food.

I just think many peoples selection is poor.

Here's the thing though, I can go to Brazil and go to an (cost wise) average ass restaurant a get great food. An average restaurant in Colombia is nothing more than that, average. Even here in the states I would consider the right average restaurant to be better than an average restaurant in Colombia. I mean the food in Ecuador was mostly terrible, but I'm sure if you pay a lot you can find good food. There's good food anywhere. I think it's more accurate to go off what the average food tastes like over fine dinning, because you'll find good fine dinning all over the world. Even most cats with money are gonna eat out at some average places here and there, unless it's just terrible. I didn't think the food was bad, I just thought it was average. If someone asked me what a mediocre meal was, I would tell them the average restaurant in Colombia. I did have some good meals there for sure, but usually it was just ok. I ate all over too, had some fine dinning as well in Medellin. Come to think of it before I went to Colombia I was talking to my friend about the food and he said the same. A lot of travelers I talked to there also agreed. As far as Latin America in my opinion Brazilian food is far superior, Peruvian food was better, and Ecuadorean was inferior to Colombian food.

Post: #11

I personally didn't think Brazilian food was that great, although I don't doubt it may be better than Colombian. The only time I had Colombian food was at a Colombian steakhouse in Costa Rica, it was bomb, but I have no other basis for comparison. Typically outside of Mexico I have found the food in Latin America to be pretty disappointing, although I hear Peruvian is pretty good and I do like me some fried Yuca and Peruvian rotissery chicken.

I ate really well when by the beach in Brazil, so fresh seafood is always bomb, but otherwise I didn't find Brazilian food to be particularly interesting, unique, flavorful, or exciting, although I'm sure it varies by region. I think there's a good chance I'll be going back to Brazil for 6 weeks this winter, and may have to hit up Salvador to see how those flavors are popping. A Peru and Colombian trip will have to be on hold, although I do still want to hit up both those countries. IntlPlayboy's posts are kind of convincing to put Brazil ahead of Colombia, and I've already been to Brazil and had a great time. One last note about food in Brazil is that it's dope that there's a big enough Japanese and Lebanese immigrant population that you can pretty easily find good sushi joints and decent middle eastern as well.

Post: #12

@ OGNorCal- As far as Brazil vs. Colombia is concerned, I definitely prefer Brazil, but my opinion may be a little skewed because I had a lot better hook ups in Brazil over Colombia. I still think though without my hook ups in Brazil I would definitely choose Brazil. The culture just seems to be that much stronger than Colombia, and I still prefer the Brazilian women.

I'm surprised you didn't like the food much. You were there for a while too if I remember correctly weren't you? You must have tried picanha right? What about the stroganoff? I know stroganoff isn't Brazilian (I think it's Polish), but they put their own twist to it. Pao de quiejo I'm sure you had. Catupiry? Moqueco? You went to a rodisio didn't you? If you like meat and went to a half way decent rodisio, I don't understand how you could not like it. I thought the sushi in Brazil was pretty sub par. I found it to be better in Peru, and definitely better in the states. I had places I would go for lunch and eat for $7 (Per kilo spots) and I would get a big plate of picanha, beans, rice, salad, and queijo coalho (Grilled cheese, like the cheese you get at the beach), plus a coke. The quality of the picanha was as good as a steak you would pay a good $20 or $30 for in the states. The best burger I ever ate was in Brazil in Leopoldina at a little burger joint called "Digao." The home made mayonaise and different sauces they had at all sorts of restaurants were delicious. The empanadas were by far the best of anywhere I've been, no comparison. I told a girl I was hanging out with in Colombia that I wanted a really good empanada, the best she knew of. She said she knew just the spot. We got there, and while it was better than most empanadas I had in Colombia, that wasn't saying much. It didn't even compare to the Brazilian empanadas. I also was a little spoiled in Brazil because I was with families a lot of the time who would feed me bomb ass traditional food. Plus I had locals showing me where to go. Maybe you just need to know the spots. But I also had gringos who had lived in Colombia a long time showing me spots, and they just didn't compare. In Brazil, I found the food in Minas Gerais to be the best.

It's funny you mentioned having Colombian food in Costa Rica and it being good, because the best Colombian food I had was in the states. And btw, if you like sushi, you'll be disappointed to hear that sushi is almost non existent in Medellin, and when I did see it, it looked terrible. But all that said, even though I prefer Brazil in most categories, Colombia is still great. My second favorite country I've visited, but also have only been to 6 countries so I still have a lot of map to cover. I highly recommend checking it out. Brazil is also a big and very diverse country, so I also wouldn't recommend against going back. Either way, I'm sure you won't be disappointed, except maybe for the quality of the girls in the north. At least from what Roosh said. I haven't been so couldn't give any personal input on the matter. I just don't want to make it seem like I think Colombia sucks, because I don't think that at all. The women are top notch, the food isn't great, but it's also not bad. Like I said, you can surely find good food, but you'll be paying for it too. Overall, Colombias a great place, highly recommended.

Post: #13

No Reservations was the only food show I ever got in to. I'll have to check out Parts Unknown! He always shows interesting perspectives on countries

Post: #14

Great video, thanks for posting it.

Post: #15

(05-06-2013 12:10 AM)xolisi Wrote:  No Reservations was the only food show I ever got in to. I'll have to check out Parts Unknown! He always shows interesting perspectives on countries

I think the key is that though Bourdain is a chef, it isn't really a food show per se. It's travel/culture, and naturally food is part of what makes a culture what it is. He mixes in some history of whatever city he's visiting to round it off. I also watch "Bizarre Foods" with Andrew Zimmern (also a chef), even though I wouldn't fuck with tarantula on-a-stick and some of the other shit he puts in his mouth. However, there are some things I would eat, and I'm always looking for info on locations to potentially visit.

Post: #16

(05-06-2013 03:38 PM)Timoteo Wrote:  

(05-06-2013 12:10 AM)xolisi Wrote:  No Reservations was the only food show I ever got in to. I'll have to check out Parts Unknown! He always shows interesting perspectives on countries

I think the key is that though Bourdain is a chef, it isn't really a food show per se. It's travel/culture, and naturally food is part of what makes a culture what it is. He mixes in some history of whatever city he's visiting to round it off. I also watch "Bizarre Foods" with Andrew Zimmern (also a chef), even though I wouldn't fuck with tarantula on-a-stick and some of the other shit he puts in his mouth. However, there are some things I would eat, and I'm always looking for info on locations to potentially visit.

I recently watched an episode of Bizzare Foods in SF where there are a group of anarchist/hippy/hipster types who dumpster dive for thrown out food and then make that food and feed it for free to the homeless.

Well what I thought was very interesting is that Andrew Zimmerman said that he spent a year of his life as a homeless drug addict on the streets of NYC. I thought that shit was crazy random and I never would have guessed, but I got to give guy props for not only admitting that and owning it, but also for rising up and getting to where he is now in life.

Post: #17

(05-06-2013 03:42 PM)OGNorCal707 Wrote:  Well what I thought was very interesting is that Andrew Zimmerman said that he spent a year of his life as a homeless drug addict on the streets of NYC.

So did Bourdain.

Post: #18

(05-06-2013 03:49 PM)thegmanifesto Wrote:  

(05-06-2013 03:42 PM)OGNorCal707 Wrote:  Well what I thought was very interesting is that Andrew Zimmerman said that he spent a year of his life as a homeless drug addict on the streets of NYC.

So did Bourdain.

Word, I didn't know that. I have his book "Kitchen Confidential" and I plan to read it at some point, but I keep putting more "self help" style books ahead on my line up.

Post: #19

(05-06-2013 03:54 PM)OGNorCal707 Wrote:  

(05-06-2013 03:49 PM)thegmanifesto Wrote:  

(05-06-2013 03:42 PM)OGNorCal707 Wrote:  Well what I thought was very interesting is that Andrew Zimmerman said that he spent a year of his life as a homeless drug addict on the streets of NYC.

So did Bourdain.

Word, I didn't know that. I have his book "Kitchen Confidential" and I plan to read it at some point, but I keep putting more "self help" style books ahead on my line up.

Can those other books and read it ASAP.

Better than any "self help" books.

Bourdain embodies the American dream.

Post: #20

I agree that Colombian food isn't the best but there's some decent dishes there, the Ajiaco soup that I ate all of the time in Bogota is still one of my favorite soups.


Although I didn't enjoy the Caribbean coast too much, the food there was pretty good, especially the seafood and I had some very tasty Middle Eastern food (falafels, hummus, shish taouk, etc) in Barranquilla.

Post: #21

Anthony Bourdain is making the Congo look like a happening place.

Post: #22

I read Kitchen Confidential when I was in the middle of cooking school. The timing couldn't have been more perfect.

Not all restaurants are like the ones he talks about in the book, but a lot are. I've got a few of them in my background, and he tells it like it is. If the general public had any idea what goes on in about 80% of the kitchens out there, they'd stop going out to eat.

There's not a lot of celebrities or TV personalities I give a shit about meeting, but Bourdain is one of them. Preferably over a bottle of ice cold vodka.

Post: #23

The video is no longer available on Youtube. Where can I watch it?

Post: #24

The Travel Channel runs his old "No Reservations" episodes, and he did a pretty good one in Colombia for that show also. That episode was very heavy on food. I recently got "Kitchen Confidential" on Kobo recently, and have been making my way through it. It's definitely eye-opening in terms of how restaurants operate, and what goes on in a kitchen. It's must reading for anyone going into the business in any capacity, and for anyone that eats in restaurants often.

Post: #25

Had a great steak today at Andres Carne De Res in Bogota