What Would You Ask Anthony Bourdain?

Posted on May 18th, 2010 5:30pm by Nancy Nichols
Filed under Celebrity Chefs

Former D food writer Mary Malouf is now the editor of Salt Lake magazine. She is going to interview Anthony Bourdain. She hates interviewing celebrity chefs. Why? “Because their answers and comments so often sound, well, canned,” says Mary. “The chances of me coming up with a question that 1) anyone wants to know the answer of, and 2)  the celeb-in-question hasn’t already answered are slim.”

I sent her a couple of ideas. She needs more. Go.

23 comments

  1. Fantasy dinner party – what literary figures would he invite, and what would he prepare for them?

    @ 7:34 pm on May 18, 2010

  2. What did we do to deserve Rachel Ray?

    @ 7:43 pm on May 18, 2010

  3. Is John Tesar REALLY Jimmy Sears?

    @ 7:52 pm on May 18, 2010

  4. Can TV food shows get any worse?

    @ 8:07 pm on May 18, 2010

  5. Bourdain has made no secret of his long association with recreational drugs. How did that help his creativity as a chef? How did it hold him back, if at all?

    @ 9:36 pm on May 18, 2010

  6. has he ever been to Dallas? and why’s he never taken the No Reservations crew to Dallas? not from a lack of requests

    @ 10:11 pm on May 18, 2010

  7. Do you actually draw an audience, or does the ownership of Les Halles subsidize Food Network to keep you out of the kitchen?

    @ 10:45 pm on May 18, 2010

  8. I would ask him if he would marry me.

    @ 11:07 pm on May 18, 2010

  9. You might try a quick skim of his auto biographical book “Kitchen Confidential”, and you know, ask some thoughtful questions about…you know…him, his life and his philosophy about food.

    The non-smart ass answer is that we know from his TV show that he is fascinated by South East Asian cuisine. Why is that?

    Don’t ask the ‘what was it like eating a still beating cobra heart?’ question, he hates that question.

    @ 12:19 am on May 19, 2010

  10. Next to Mike Rowe, I think he’s the sexiest guy on television. I adore him, but he’s married and an atheist, so we have no future together.

    @ 8:21 am on May 19, 2010

  11. Since drug use was mentioned above:
    http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/19/dining/19pot.html?ref=dining

    @ 9:56 am on May 19, 2010

  12. Ask him if there is a place a chef in dallas can get some good “Squeasel”

    @ 10:20 am on May 19, 2010

  13. I would focus a series of questions on the post-WW2 food culture in the U.S. and why it has taken so long for the new local food movement to take hold (vs. the rest of the world). Also, where this new emphasis on local goods may take us over the next 10 years. Will it simply end up commodified like so many other U.S. cultural developments?

    @ 10:48 am on May 19, 2010

  14. Ask him to talk about why Rocco Dispirito sucks.

    @ 10:49 am on May 19, 2010

  15. @Crazy Jeff: Classic!!

    @ 11:00 am on May 19, 2010

  16. I would ask which dry pasta is best to snort cocaine off a cutting board. Pretty sure he knows.

    @ 11:19 am on May 19, 2010

  17. I would ask about his daughter, but not in an Us Weekly kinda way. I heard/read him once mention it was fascinating to watch her form her own tastes and discover food. How has that changed him and his relationship with food or certain foods? What food loves would he like to pass on? How will he influence her tastes, while still allowing her to form her own dislikes and likes? Will she have to sit at the table until she finishes her kidney beans like I did, except for her it’s sea lion eyeballs? (Kidding. I hope.)

    It’s interesting to me to see how someone, who’s had a lifetime of tasting/exploring food and definite likes & dislikes, not just interact but raise essentially a food virgin. So many things for this kid to taste and learn…and to have a famously fearless & adventurous eater as a dad? I want to hear what he has in store for her.

    @ 12:49 pm on May 19, 2010

  18. Are there any ‘famous’ chefs who have taken umbrage at your revelations of the pragmatic happenings behind the restaurant kitchen scenes?

    @ 1:20 pm on May 19, 2010

  19. What does he think of food blogs and the so-called experts that post on them.

    @ 1:28 pm on May 19, 2010

  20. Tink even though you have establish yourself on this blog as the president of the I like to make stuff about Tesar Club. I can tell you he is defiantly Jimmy Sears. I have seen him Bourdain at Parties in NY at dinner and book signings.
    You can come up with a better question then that can’t you.It’s common knowledge. Or are you just so fixated on this talented chef and slandering him every time you get a chance. Please explain to us why you are so interested in every move he makes?

    @ 6:06 pm on May 19, 2010

  21. Have you encountered someone you respect who disagreed considerably with your perceptions about food in general or a particular place or dish, and how did you take it?

    @ 8:39 pm on May 19, 2010

  22. Thanks for all the suggestions—taken together, a great cross-section profile of the Dallas food mentality. All questions will be asked. Karson, I think a lot of Dallas chefs could answer your question. Anything less generic you’d like to ask?

    @ 11:04 am on May 20, 2010

  23. When is going to stop smoking? Cigarettes, that is.

    @ 3:39 pm on May 21, 2010