Chow Anthony Bourdain Reading Report
The Bourdain reading at the University Bookstore was nuts. I’d say there were easily 200 people there—the majority of them women of all ages, though there was also a decent population of young punk boys. The Q&A portion was particularly delightful. He affirmed the savory quality of the Peruvian guinea pig he had eaten in a recent episode of No Reservations, selected pork as the meat he’d eat exclusively if he could only choose one for the duration of his days, and won rounds of applause with this exchange:
Attendee: “Do you balance your lifestyle with any sort of exercise?”
Bordain: “Um…no. Just liquor, red meat, and cigarrettes.”
They actually sold out of his new book, The Nasty Bits, so my party walked over to Half Price Books and bought a used copy of his third novel, The Bobby Gold Stories, which he kindly signed, along with the Eating Out column of The Stranger.
The sweetest moment, by far was when Bourdain was being photographed with a very well-behaved baby on his lap. He whispered in the baby’s ear, instructing him that “Bobby Flay is a very bad man, don’t watch his show.”
Confidential to Chow queen Bethany Jean Clement: I can’t tell you how jealous I am that you’re going to his dinner tonight.
Other fantastic moments:
"It was like fisting Shamu." (on harvesting geoduck in the south pacific, shoulder-deep in sea water and muck)
Q:"Is there anything you regret eating?"
A:"On moral grounds? No." (recounts days spent with Kalihari bushmen, hunting wild animals, and the lack of sanitary butchering practices) "For 48 hours, nothing I ate didn't have sand, shit or fur in it. I regret that."
Also, he confessed to loving Hell's Kitchen.