07 July 2024

Food

It took me rather a while to watch Bourdain re-runs after his passing; way too close to the nerves. It was, to say the least, jarring to watch the last few episodes in real time, which had only in camera audio: not his post narration. The interview laden episodes with the crew were hard to watch. The Food Network universe still runs "No Reservation" episodes with some frequency. CNN, on the other hand, isn't as generous with "Parts Unknown". It appears to be a question of ownership among the various arms of the corporate octopus. Some have complained that the latter is a pale imitation of the former. Given how many episodes he made across the three main outlets, it could be that he was just running low in the tank.

"Cooks Tour" - 35 (half-hour)
"No Reservations" - 134
"Parts Unknown" - 104

But, playing against type, CNN.com (my homepage) just put up a piece on Osaka as Japan's food destination. Which tickled my lower brainstem: hadn't Tony been there?

I let my fingers do the walking through the Yellow Googles, and found a Bourdain fansite. Turns out that he was there, but for only one show, a "No Reservations" episode. I can't say that I recall it. But the fansite is something I will keep track of.

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