Ann Arbor, Mich. – The eager faces of a near-capacity crowd beamed beneath the Michigan Theater's pre-war marquee Saturday night, filling the concourse and spilling out onto the sidewalk of Liberty Street. Amid the bustle of Michigan Football post-game traffic and the annual University parents’ weekend, the spectacle took center stage in the city’s downtown.
The iconic letters of the bill clued-in any passerby on the commotion: “An Evening with Anthony Bourdain.”
“I’m a WUOM [Michigan Radio] nut,” said Jackie of Dexter (who declined to give her last name).
“We all watch Bourdain,” she said.
Jackie arrived with her friend Judy (who declined to give her last name as well). The two share a love of cooking.
Judy, also of Dexter, like so many others awaiting the internationally acclaimed chef and host of the Travel Channel’s smash-hit “No Reservations,” wasn’t sure what to expect from the talk.
“I assume it will be racy and fun,” she said.
A trip around the blogosphere pegs Bourdain as a badass, bad-boy and potty-mouth, a brutally honest food critic, master chef and traveler extraordinaire. All descriptions likely to elicit a snide remark from the TV Persona—but that’s just part of his appeal.
To his cult-following, he’s simply Tony.
“I just like his personality," said Paul Roeda of Grand Rapids. “He’s just a really entertaining guy.”
On occasion, Tony sounds more like the edgy saucier from “Apocalypse Now” than a chef with a world-renowned reputation. He’s got the mouth of a sailor. (It’s no secret either that his favorite travel destination to date has been Viet Nam.)
A verbal stunt-pilot, he managed to return time and again to a running joke about chlamydia throughout the evening Saturday.
“Just because it sounds Italian, doesn’t mean it’s good.”
Since “No Reservations” first aired in 2005, Bourdain has quickly gained a reputation as the rock-star of the cooking world.
The show grabs the audience’s attention with an intriguing destination, then—with Bourdain’s keen observation and razor's-edge wit in the carburetor—hot-rods the audience around globe.
Somehow, it’s still a smooth ride in the passenger’s seat.
The series premiered with an episode entitled, “France: Why the French Don’t Suck.” It features a scene in which Bourdain drinks absinthe and walks the streets of Paris like a regular 19th century bohemian.
As the series has progressed, the irony of the debut title is apparent. Bourdain, in contrast to travel-media conventions, will unhesitating tell his audience if he thinks something he encounters or experiences does suck.
It’s that raw sense of honesty, his perspective on food, knack for authentic experience and sharp humor that drew the crowd at the Michigan Theater Saturday night.
“He was a bit more biting in his comments, vicious at times, but I guess I could have expected that,” said Roeda after the show.
“I was completely entertained and two hours went by without me even realizing it.”
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