My New God - Tony Bourdain

Even though everyone else fell in love with Anthony Bourdain when he came out with first book, "Kitchen Confidential" back in 2000. Then those who hadn't yet had a chance to fall under his crass, crude, and yet seductive spell, got that chance when he did "A Cook's Tour" on the Food Network.

But me? I had to wait till he did "No Reservations" on the Travel Channel - in 2005.

For the uninitiated, Anthony Bourdain has been a chef for over a quarter of a century, and has had no compunction letting the lay community get a peek into the dark world of working in a professional kitchen. His first book "Kitchen Confidential" details his first moments when he realized food can be transcendent (an encounter with vichyssoise on the Queen Mary and a raw oyster eaten right out of the ocean helped with this realization) and then later traced his long and extremely sordid history through various kitchens in Manhattan's high pressure restaurant world. For anyone who thought a kitchen was a place where cleanliness and order were the watchwords of the day, this book might shock you. In fact, I'm surprised that I ever want to eat in a restaurant again after finishing this book. Sex in the walk in, cocaine and other friendly drugs snorted off all surfaces, alcohol freely imbibed at all hours of the day...and from all this we get that moment when the waiter places a dish of hopefully delicious food in front of us.

Currently, Bourdain is the head chef at brassiere Les Halles in Manhattan. He details his daily grind so specifically and with such vivid language that you understand why he's chosen to remain in this brutal and physically exhausting profession. He clearly loves it.

And through reading it, you clearly love him. Sure he's blustery and full of ego; sure he throws out racial and sexual epithets like they are candy at a bar mitzvah; and sure he deliberately tries to gross out his readers with tales dismemberment and bodily fluids. But his pure adoration for good food and for the people in his industry who work hard and dedicate themselves to the job show another side to his character. Despite his posing, he does really care.

His show on the Travel Channel, "No Reservations" is an odd sort of travelogue. He goes to a city and essentially talks about food. He doesn't really wax poetic or get all romantic about it - I'd imagine it's hard to get romantic about eating headcheese. He's realistic, snarky, and honest about his reactions to what he's eating. If he's eating blood sausage and it's good, he'll say so. If he's eating fermented shark and it tastes exactly as it sounds, he'll say that too. The show falters occasionally when they try to force plot, but Tony is such an amiable travel companion, you forgive the trespass.

Last night he ventured back to his home turf, New Jersey. He did everything from eat a ripper from a highway diner to have a full on Korean meal to eat a very very sad grilled cheese sandwich at the purely defunct Howard Johnson's at Asbury Park to down cannoli with Mario Battali at a real Italian bakery. New Jersey which may have seemed like a totally desolate wasteland at the start of the show, apparently has something to offer besides the Sopranos.

I received Bourdain's book version of "A Cook's Tour", his worldwide search for the perfect meal. I can only imagine what he'll put in his mouth to achieve the quest. However, deep down he's always acknowledged that the best meals are never the ones you eat in a three piece suit and cost you a month's rent. The best meals are the ones that take you back to a perfect experience, a fleeting memory of childhood or of pure happiness; the best meal could be anything from a cold meatloaf sandwich to pasta to a damn fine steak.

And to Tony, that's all good.