2nd Season of Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations Begins Monday 3/27

I like Tony Bourdain. He can be rude and vulgar occasionally, but he's honest and real. So many times, especially in this age of the Food Network and gourmet supermarkets, I see gourmet food elevated to almost cult status available only to the elite or those with refined tastes. What rubbish! Gourmet food is about good food, about cooking with the best ingredients not necessarily the most expensive, and about enjoying food because we can. Food is not a luxury, it's a necessity. Food should be respected and cherished even, but not worshipped.

Tony Bourdain is a man who understands what good food is all about. An exceptional chef, Bourdain has spent a lifetime in the kitchen cooking and tasting. Like other talented chefs with interesting personalities, his career path has intersected with the television world. Unlike other chefs, however, Bourdain has chosen not to do another cooking show but rather a travel show; you could even call it a show about eating. In the first season of No Reservations, he traveled to places like Paris, Iceland, New Jersey, Vietnam, and Malaysia. Tony likes to say, “be a traveler, not a tourist.” He follows his own advice by partaking in local customs and dining where the locals eat. His travel show is not so much “here is where you should go” but rather “here is my advice on how to act like a local and see what the country is really like”. In many of the episodes, Tony discovers regional culinary favorites not by referring to some guidebook but by befriending a native who invites Tony into his family.

The second season of Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations airs Monday nights on the Travel Channel. The first episode on March 27 will follow Tony’s exploits through Japan and China.

More about Anthony Bourdain.

Photo courtesy the Travel Channel.