Anthony Bourdain is my hero. The author of Kitchen Confidential, A Cook’s Tour and star of now two different travel and food related television shows, if there’s something cool to see or great to eat anywhere in the world, he’s going to find it.
It happens that the episode of his new show, No Reservations that was on last night was about Vegas. Now, I’ve never been to Vegas, and he’d never been to Vegas, but what he saw was a lot like what he expected, and what I expected, too.
It’s a land of commercial excess, where cities and countries are boiled down to their most easily digestible parts and served up to tourists as if they were the real thing. Bourdain comments that the Vegas version of New York City (where he lives when not traveling the world eating stuff we wouldn’t recognize as food) made him feel dirty, and the indoor canals complete with gondolas came off as pretty ridiculous.
Not to ruin the story or anything, but he did find some things to like in Vegas, including the food. He was apparently in Vegas checking out restaurants of celebrity chefs. There’s a lengthy homage to Thomas Keller, the visionary chef behind Napa’s French Laundry restaurant (which Bourdain calls the best restaurant in the world), as well as Bouchon and Bouchon Las Vegas.
He even finds something nice to say about Food Network star Bobby Flay and his Vegas eatery, Mesa Grill. (This is a big deal because Bourdain has historically had nothing nice to say about Flay, and one can’t blame him for that.)
I’ve got to say this show almost made me want to visit Vegas. I’m not into gambling or floor shows, but I could sure get behind spending all the money I would have lost in casinos anyway on some really good eats and drinks.
Check out photos of his trip here and check out the main site for his show for more information on the show in general. It’s a beautiful site, if nothing else!
