Roadrunner: A Film About Anthony Bourdain

[Gil Bang 25975]

Fucking Buenos Aires.

 

Spent NYE there 2 years ago. 3 couples at an amazing steakhouse.  5 bottles of amazing wine, and terrific meat and sides...bill was, IIRC, 70 bucks per couple inc. tip.  

[RPM 26322]

13 hours ago, WhatTheBuck said:

I can’t recall which one of Bourdain’s shows it was but there was an episode where he met a couple duck hunters who didn’t like to eat duck. He showed them how to properly cook a duck breast and they were just blown away, no pun intended.

Also, any of the shows where he was with his Russian friend were always gold. 

I believe that was the Ozarks episode.

[WhatTheBuck 28788]

1 hour ago, RPM said:

I believe that was the Ozarks episode.

That sounds right. 

[Chopper 17238]

I don't recall the Skyline Chili episode but it doesn't surprise me - his excursion to Waffle House with South Carolina chef Sean Brock was a classic - they were both hammered, raving about the Waffle House. They ordered a version of Brock's Waffle House tasting menu. The "official" Brock tasting menu is salad with thousand island, pecan waffle, patty melt, hash browns (scattered, covered, smothered and chunked), pork chop and t-bone sirloin. Obviously meant to split.

When I was in Hanoi 3 years ago I accidentally ate at the restaurant Obama and Bourdain were in. It has gone downhill. Our guide said after the tv episode aired the owners got a ton of business and allowed the quality to slip. Among Vietnamese foodies, the restaurant has low standing nowadays.

[DougO 5250]

On 6/5/2021 at 8:03 AM, Liquor and Poker said:

Some Q folks think he was killed by Epstein coveruppers. I really want to understand that.  But I also really don’t. 

The trailer made it seem like one of those things where people who kinda knew him explain that he wasn’t OK.  I’m not interested in what I saw. 

Kinda interesting, because every time I see a photo of Epstein I think "he looks a bit like Anthony Bourdain."

[gsoda3 3263]

Asia argento was photographed with another guy the week before he died so some were speculating that could have been a trigger.


I'll watch it because I've been a huge fan since he wrote kitchen confidential (did you know in 05 or 06 there was a sitcom starring Bradley Cooper as Bourdain based on that book? Ran for three or four epis before being cancelled), but whomever said this doc looked exploitive I agree.

[WhatTheBuck 28788]

14 hours ago, gsoda3 said:

I'll watch it because I've been a huge fan since he wrote kitchen confidential (did you know in 05 or 06 there was a sitcom starring Bradley Cooper as Bourdain based on that book? Ran for three or four epis before being cancelled), but whomever said this doc looked exploitive I agree.

I said that.

I had to check IMDb about the Bradley Cooper sitcom. I’d never heard of it. He played Jack Bourdain and the show was actually called Kitchen Confidential. And there was an actor in the cast whose name was Sam Pancake! How great is that?

I haven’t found many posters here who enjoyed the HBO original series Treme, David Simon’s follow up to The Wire, as much as I did. I thought it was brilliant. But Bourdain wrote the dialogue for all the NYC kitchen scenes. You can totally hear his voice in those. He must have delighted in writing about the asshole head chef and the cooks on the line dreading having him even looking at them.

Also, I forget what got Mario Batali in trouble for sexual harassment. There was more than one chef who got in trouble for sexual harassment during the #MeToo period/movement/era/whatever. I’m not defending any of it. But Bourdain’s description of the culture in Kitchen Confidential sounded like a pretty hostile workplace for women by #MeToo standards. He described it in a matter-of-fact way like that’s just the way it was. I’m not passing any judgment one way or the other. Just making an observation. 

[Judge Roybeanbag 11819]

I have loved almost everything he’s done, books or shows.  Had the pleasure of meeting him with my kids briefly when he was in Austin.

As someone who has lost two immediate family members to suicide the last few years, his took me by surprise and was an angry, bitter pill to swallow. That said I will watch this and hopefully learn something new about the guy.

[RPM 26322]

On 6/10/2021 at 10:25 PM, gsoda3 said:

(did you know in 05 or 06 there was a sitcom starring Bradley Cooper as Bourdain based on that book? Ran for three or four epis before being cancelled)

I watched it when it came out. Not horrible, but not good.

[Gil Bang 25975]

On 6/10/2021 at 8:25 PM, gsoda3 said:

Asia argento was photographed with another guy the week before he died so some were speculating that could have been a trigger.


 

In bed, with her tits out.

[Nueces River Rat 5539]

One of my favorite episodes ( I can’t recall if it was his CNN show or Travel Channel) is when he visited the Big Bend Region.    Where does he stop for breakfast tacos one morning with his local guide ?   The Stripes/Laredo Taco Company in Marfa…..lol.   

[Patricio Swayze 17058]

Yeah, but like I said in another thread, Laredo Taco Co. is pretty fucking good and certainly way better than Torchy's.

[RPM 26322]

Bourdain loved Mom's home cooking (any Mom) and street food. He grew up poor and never forgot.

[kevwun 15798]

I never got the impression his family was poor.  They went on at least one trip to France when he was a kid because he did an episode where he was in the same town.

[Nueces River Rat 5539]

51 minutes ago, RPM said:

Bourdain loved Mom's home cooking (any Mom) and street food. He grew up poor and never forgot.

His mother was an Editor at The NY Times and his father was an Executive  at Columbia Records..  Maybe  not fifty rich by NYC/ Northeast  standards back in that time period.   

[RPM 26322]

1 minute ago, Nueces River Rat said:

His mother was an Editor at The NY Times and his father was an Executive  at Columbia Records..  Maybe  not fifty rich by NYC/ Northeast  standards back in that time period.   

Didn't know his parents were well to do, but he pretty much lived on the street and stayed drugged out. He talked a lot about it.

[kevwun 15798]

That was after culinary school when he was on his own.  They wanted him to go to college iirc.

[Nueces River Rat 5539]

1 minute ago, RPM said:

Didn't know his parents were well to do, but he pretty much lived on the street and stayed drugged out. He talked a lot about it.

Correct… he was in his 20’s in 1970s NYC which was probably the worst decade in the history of the city.  Crime, bankruptcy, urban ruin… a young person in that day could easily find himself  victim of the environment.  

[WhatTheBuck 28788]

2 hours ago, RPM said:

Bourdain loved Mom's home cooking (any Mom) and street food. He grew up poor and never forgot.

Not that poor because he got turned on to exotic food on a family trip to France as a child.

Oh, I see that’s already been covered. But you should read Kitchen Confidential. It’s a great book. 

Edited June 13, 2021 by WhatTheBuck

[WhatTheBuck 28788]

59 minutes ago, Nueces River Rat said:

Correct… he was in his 20’s in 1970s NYC which was probably the worst decade in the history of the city.  Crime, bankruptcy, urban ruin… a young person in that day could easily find himself  victim of the environment.  

He also talks in KC about how he came to a point where he had to make a decision about which way to go and decided to get clean. It’s not that he was ever a junkie like Bubbles from The Wire. But, if I recall correctly, he saw friends go that route and knew that was a possible future for him too. 

[Augustus 3061]

This is just a general observation, mostly, because I can’t know what was going on in his specific situation, but I can recognize some symptoms. 
 

Bourdain gave a lot of indications—to those of us who are alcoholic—that he was one of us.  In one episode I watched recently, he had a hell of a case of the shakes going on early in the day, and right after he began drinking in that episode, his entire demeanor changed dramatically. He lit up like a Christmas tree. That sort of thing is very, very familiar to any alkie—the instant transformation  the moment the alcohol molecules hit the brain. 
 

There were plenty of other indicators that he had an alcohol problem, as well. 
 

However, I read that his bloodwork was negative for booze/drugs in his post-mortem, which suggests something else that’s terribly common to us. 
 

If we are sober (merely abstinent) *without* any kind of recovery program in our lives, then we get dramatically worse when we’re not getting loaded, because the underlying issues are going completely  untreated/unmediated, either by therapy or intoxicants.  Depression, anxiety, etc just soar to new depths. Plenty of alcoholics in recovery say, “Booze kept me from blowing my head off until I was able to get into recovery.”
 

Combine that with potential loneliness/isolation of traveling so constantly and it’s not a good recipe. 
 

I can’t know if that’s what killed him, it’s just consistent with what we were able to see. 

[RPM 26322]

I don't know if it's true, but he said he drank a lot more on the show than in real life.  

Also, AP has a good read about the doc and the filmmaker.

https://apnews.com/article/bourdain-documentary-morgan-neville-ee00489a6f67b8350db1975515b6d3dd

Edited June 16, 2021 by RPM
forgot link

[Mileslong 4728]

Wait...  what happened with Bill in accounting? 

His number was up…

[Nivek 16945]

On 6/5/2021 at 10:20 PM, Deej said:

His cooking is so simple, for the most part. He makes cooking very approachable. 

sounds like Gustov from Ratatouille 

[Nolacycling 893]

Data collected by the Office for National Statistics found that the suicide rate among people working in creative roles is significantly higher than the national average. People working in the arts are up to four times more likely to commit suicide according to the study.Mar 18, 2017

https://www.dailymail.co.uk › news

Artists are four times more likely to kill themselves | Daily Mail Online

[cactusflinthead 27601]

On 6/13/2021 at 10:17 AM, WhatTheBuck said:

Not that poor because he got turned on to exotic food on a family trip to France as a child.

Oh, I see that’s already been covered. But you should read Kitchen Confidential. It’s a great book. 

Co-sign. I plowed through it and wanted more.

[Patricio Swayze 17058]

Recently been binging Parts Unknown (and likely will revisit No Reservations as well). There are a few episodes I don’t recall seeing when they originally aired. One was the Porto episode, which was excellent. The fisherman’s wives were hilarious and probably deserve their own show. Also probably the best description/translation of the concept of “saudade” I have seen in English.

Definitely in hindsight you can see some of his issues.

Also, it really sucks to finish a couple of episodes and then go eat a salad for lunch.

[Augustus 3061]

I remember watching the last episode that was recorded before his death, and as we were watching something seemed really different about it, and then I realized, there was no voiceover from Bourdain because the dude was dead.  Just seemed creepy.

[Patricio Swayze 17058]

Soooooooo, this is out right? Anyone seen it? I saw some article where people were upset AI was used to reproduce his voice.

Any good?

[mr. sunshine 2827]

His ex, although they never divorced, is a jiu-jitsu pro. I noticed in the episodes she was in he never popped off to her 

[Biff Tannen 45691]

Saw it last night. It’s good, but heavy. He was such an interesting guy. I think the only AI part was maybe when they did a voiceover of an email he wrote. It wasn’t a big deal. I could have missed it somewhere else though. 

[futureman 22485]

On 6/10/2021 at 10:25 PM, gsoda3 said:

Asia argento was photographed with another guy the week before he died so some were speculating that could have been a trigger.


I'll watch it because I've been a huge fan since he wrote kitchen confidential (did you know in 05 or 06 there was a sitcom starring Bradley Cooper as Bourdain based on that book? Ran for three or four epis before being cancelled), but whomever said this doc looked exploitive I agree.

is that available to stream on any platform?

[futureman 22485]

I watched last night. definitely seemed to be a bit manic towards the end, and definitely seems to indicate that the way things ended with asia argento led to his demise.

to address something said earlier, I did not find it exploitative. pretty much all of the people interviewed were his close friends and co-workers that loved and cared about him. 

[Chewbacca 7780]

Isn't this supposed to be on HBO Max?  I looked for it last night but couldn't find it.  

[nolongerU2horn 767]

13 minutes ago, Chewbacca said:

Isn't this supposed to be on HBO Max?  I looked for it last night but couldn't find it.  

after the theater run is over

[South Austin 52519]

I'm in the middle of binging Parts Unknown, and as the series progresses you can see some hints of Bourdain's depression.  Some of his comments may have seem like jokes at the time, but in hindsight revealed some demons below the surface.

[futureman 22485]

1 hour ago, South Austin said:

I'm in the middle of binging Parts Unknown, and as the series progresses you can see some hints of Bourdain's depression.  Some of his comments may have seem like jokes at the time, but in hindsight revealed some demons below the surface.

did you watch the movie yet?  they do touch on that, how many times during his shows that he made seemingly sarcastic comments about killing himself. in hindsight it’s pretty sad. 

[South Austin 52519]

1 minute ago, futureman said:

did you watch the movie yet?  they do touch on that, how many times during his shows that he made seemingly sarcastic comments about killing himself. in hindsight it’s pretty sad. 

Not yet, and will probably wait until it streams.  But last night I watched the episode where he was in Buenos Aires, and he did a bit throughout the show where he saw a local therapist (apparently the joke in Buenos Aires is that everyone sees a therapist), and some of his comments were pretty foretelling.  And then the following episode he was in Sichuan having a happy time with Eric Ripert while I was laughing my ass off, so I can see how viewers at the time thought nothing of his remarks about his depression.

[RPM 26322]

I really regret not spending the extra $100 or whatever to get the VIP Meet & Greet when he came to Bass Hall. Such an inspiring man. Most would have given anything to live his life, but could they handle his demons?

[futureman 22485]

watching no reservations macau and tony is bungee jumping. his voice-over as he leans forward off the lip of the skyscraper is something like “and then I’m falling through space for six seconds, which isn’t long enough, and for a brief moment life doesn’t hurt anymore.”

rewatching the old shows, little shit like that is definitely gonna hit a bit harder than it did the first time. 

[WhatTheBuck 28788]

On 7/20/2021 at 2:39 PM, RPM said:

I really regret not spending the extra $100 or whatever to get the VIP Meet & Greet when he came to Bass Hall.

Why?

[RPM 26322]

Just now, WhatTheBuck said:

Why?

Why not?

[WhatTheBuck 28788]

18 minutes ago, RPM said:

Why not?

Because it’s a waste of $100? What difference would it make?

Did you have a smart phone? Could you even take a selfie with him that you could post on Facebook? Maybe you could’ve gotten an autograph. What would that be worth? Maybe you could’ve touched him and gotten your eyesight back. Or maybe you would’ve become fast friends and you’d save his life!

I’ve never been one to get star struck. Rather than meeting him, I wish I could live a life free from food hangups like he did. I wish I could share his sense of adventure. I can’t even eat raw tomatoes. I won’t eat a brain or an eye or a tongue or any internal organs. I know it’s my own shortcoming but it is what it is. I’d rather receive that from him instead of meeting or touching him. I’ve made some progress in battling my food hangups. I can eat olives again. I cook with raw tomatoes but I don’t think I’ll ever be able to eat them raw (or eat tomato soup). Life would be so much easier if I could. 

[tx 3 putt 77073]

On 6/6/2021 at 3:29 PM, WhatTheBuck said:

I can’t recall which one of Bourdain’s shows it was but there was an episode where he met a couple duck hunters who didn’t like to eat duck. He showed them how to properly cook a duck breast and they were just blown away, no pun intended.

Also, any of the shows where he was with his Russian friend were always gold. 

 

missisippi delta episode, i believe. great great scene 

[WhatTheBuck 28788]

1 hour ago, tx 3 putt said:

 

missisippi delta episode, i believe. great great scene 

RPM was right. It was the Ozarks episode of No Reservations and he was with duck hunters in Missouri. (There is no video at this link. They’ve apparently done a good job of getting it scrubbed off the net.)

https://www.fieldandstream.com/blogs/wild-chef/2011/04/video-anthony-bourdain-gets-hunters-and-shows-them-how-cook-mean-duck/

[futureman 22485]

not scrubbed. just gotta subscribe.

 

[RomaVicta 29930]

On 7/19/2021 at 1:57 PM, futureman said:

I watched last night. definitely seemed to be a bit manic towards the end, and definitely seems to indicate that the way things ended with asia argento led to his demise.

to address something said earlier, I did not find it exploitative. pretty much all of the people interviewed were his close friends and co-workers that loved and cared about him. 

 

On 7/20/2021 at 12:11 PM, South Austin said:

I'm in the middle of binging Parts Unknown, and as the series progresses you can see some hints of Bourdain's depression.  Some of his comments may have seem like jokes at the time, but in hindsight revealed some demons below the surface.

 

On 7/20/2021 at 1:28 PM, futureman said:

did you watch the movie yet?  they do touch on that, how many times during his shows that he made seemingly sarcastic comments about killing himself. in hindsight it’s pretty sad. 

I've lost three friends to suicide over the years. It's never simple. 

I'm medicated for depression which I strongly recommend for anyone who finds that they can't climb out of one the troughs in life's path. I'm not zombified nor is there any difference in how people see me. I just feel normal as I did most of the time prior to my diagnosis. My rollercoaster had a shallower pattern of ups and downs than Bourdain's, to be sure.

All that written, depression can be like a spinning ball of static, anxiety, self-loathing, and myriad other elements small and large within. Actually, I think everybody has that sphere within them.

If it gets too big, medication can tame it and get it back down to the manageable level most people experience.  

If it gets even bigger, I suspect that it's like a black hole that starts absorbing everything else within you including your experience of the world.  No light escapes from a black hole. The person is in real trouble. I imagine that you see no value in anything. You can't imagine not feeling this way. Some cannot escape, and I have nothing but largely helpless sympathy for them.

Futureman says "triggered." At first, I took it to mean more than Futureman likely intended; Bourdain was doing okay for a depressed person and then boom. Now, I think Futureman's description is more subte. Bourdain's beloved's action was the last piece of light absorbed by that blackness, but the blackness had to have been already massive to the point of consuming him altogether anyway.

Sorry to write so long. I don't like to mention the suicides in my life. It feels cheap to use them merely as interesting stories that evoke sympathy for me. Here, alluding to them seemed appropriate.

[Sandman 3403]

I just watched this tonight, it was sad. I wasn't some superfan but I liked his work. I've only seen No Reservations and I've read his first couple of books. It made me glad that, while I've had some serious (IMO) down points in my life, I've never thought I should just end it all. I'm very thankful for that.

But it really made me think about some things I've been dwelling on, made me feel like I needed to take of my training wheels, so to speak, and do some of those things I always talk about but never seem to do. To put myself out there and take a risk or two, nothing dangerous but just to allow myself the opportunity to triumph or fail and to be OK with either outcome. You only live once, right?

[83Horn 1642]

On 7/23/2021 at 9:00 PM, futureman said:

watching no reservations macau and tony is bungee jumping. his voice-over as he leans forward off the lip of the skyscraper is something like “and then I’m falling through space for six seconds, which isn’t long enough, and for a brief moment life doesn’t hurt anymore.”

rewatching the old shows, little shit like that is definitely gonna hit a bit harder than it did the first time. 

It's a long time ago now, but shortly after his death, I remember watching an episode of Tony re-visiting his old haunts in NYC; places he lived, worked, and hang out.  I don't know if this was the last complete episode he shot, or just one of the last, but he said something in it that stuck with me.  He was visiting with an old friend of his, who was lamenting the fact that all of the old buildings from the neighborhood were being demolished and replaced with shiny new condos.  Tony immediately said something along the lines of, "As the owner of one of those condos, am I part of the problem?"  I have since wondered if part of Tony's depression stemmed from the belief that he had become that which he spent a large part of his adulthood and professional life despising and ridiculing; a very big, very famous, and very rich celebrity out of touch with common people?  I believe he had a genuine love for common people, and it's too bad he couldn't see that so many people felt the same way towards him. 

[RPM 26322]

Just finished watching. The AI voiceover didn't bother me at all. I didn't realize he had become agoraphobic, but it makes sense.