I’m excited. I just found out that tonight at 10pm Eastern is the premiere of the new season of Anthony Bourdain’s tv show “No Reservations” on the Travel Channel.
Tonight, Tony’s travels pick up in Panama, which is a country that has always seemed like it’d be fun to visit.
Check out the Slashfood interview with Tony about the new season or watch the clip from tonight’s show.
If you’re like me, you watched with eagerly to see which of the Voltaggio brothers was going to win this last season of Top Chef. It was a real nail biter and great television.
Now that the Top Chef season is over, you’d assume that the Michael and Bryan Voltaggio would be working on a series for the Food Channel or working on a series of cookbooks. Yes, they’ve been making the TV media tour, with stops at Conan, but in terms of long-term plans they’re working on ways to take their message directly to the people.
In the new year, the Voltaggio brothers are going to be doing on online video series for their recently launched Web site, which I think it’s a fantastic idea. The brothers had a fun and competitive on-screen chemistry. I hope they’ll bring this to their Web video series.
Also… hopefully the Voltaggio brothers will use the Web to not just get content to their fans but to allow their fans to communicate with them.
Here’s the teaser for the Web series…
USA Today has an interesting story about the rise in popularity of television food shows.
And Scripps Networks, which saw prime-time ratings for its Food Network spike 29% this year to a new record, is turning its underachieving Fine Living Network into a 24-hour Cooking Channel next May.
They partially attribute the success to a change in type of food show.
Food Network’s ratings took off only when the channel sidelined “stand-and-stir” demonstrations from prime time in favor of competitions (Iron Chef America, Next Food Network Star) and celebrity-chef series.
I wonder how this all plays with the theory that people are cooking for themselves less in favor of watching other people cook.
A few months back, my bro-in-law told me about this TV show “Three Sheets.” He mentioned that it was about this dude who goes around the world and observes drinking cultures. I just kept on forgetting to check it out, even though the show sounds right up my alley.
Well, this weekend I was on Hulu and noticed that it had “Three Sheets” so I gave it a whirl. This show is AWESOME.
Just like food, alcohol in one shape or another plays an important role in most cultures. Whether it is Kentucky Bourbon Whiskey, Tequila or Champagne, there are all people and stories behind those drinks.
Comedian Zane Lamprey, the host of the show, probably has the best job ever. He get’s to drink his way around the world, meet the people, and learn the stories. When you have that background, I think it makes that drink that you have after work with friends that much more meaningful and fun.
Would highly recommend that you check out the TV show “Three Sheets.” You can now find it on cable on the Fine Living Network.
Here’s my favorite episode. Zane and “Three Sheets” in Munich.
Congrats to the Anthony Bourdain and the crew of Travel Channel’s tv show No Reservations for getting an Emmy for best cinematography in the non-fiction category. It’s much deserved.
Looking forward to tonight’s show on Sardinia. Here’s a preview…
If you’re a regular reader, you all know by now that I’m a huge fan of Anthony Bourdain’s TV show on the Travel Channel No Reservations.
Now, there is an easy way to keep up with the latest greatest with the show. There’s a widget.
Grab it here:
Disclosure: The widget is built on the Clearspring platform. I work for Clearspring.
I’m excited to watch to tomorrow’s episode of No Reservations. Anthony Bourdain will be tasting the cuisine of Thailand. He previews the episode of on his blog.
What I see in this Thailand show is the best producing, best photography and best editing in a single episode in quite some time . All the things the shooters have been working at–all the new equipment innovations, strategies and tactics–everything we’ve learned seemed to come to fruition on this one. Add to this mix an editor who saw the footage and understood right away not just what the road team had hoped for and what we’d been inspired by while in Thailand, but the possibilities for some really innovative visual storytelling.
Watch it and then let me know what you think.
In the latest New York Times magazine, Michael Pollan has a really fascinating piece, “Out of the Kitchen, Onto the Couch“, in which he details how we’re moving away from actually cooking our selves in favor of watching others cook.
How is it that we are so eager to watch other people browning beef cubes on screen but so much less eager to brown them ourselves? For the rise of Julia Child as a figure of cultural consequence — along with Alice Waters and Mario Batali and Martha Stewart and Emeril Lagasse and whoever is crowned the next Food Network star — has, paradoxically, coincided with the rise of fast food, home-meal replacements and the decline and fall of everyday home cooking.
He goes on to say…
Today the average American spends a mere 27 minutes a day on food preparation (another four minutes cleaning up); that’s less than half the time that we spent cooking and cleaning up when Julia arrived on our television screens. It’s also less than half the time it takes to watch a single episode of “Top Chef” or “Chopped” or “The Next Food Network Star.” What this suggests is that a great many Americans are spending considerably more time watching images of cooking on television than they are cooking themselves — an increasingly archaic activity they will tell you they no longer have the time for.
What do you think? Have you gotten sucked in by food TV? How often do you actually get in the kitchen and cook? If you’re like me, not enough.
If you love travel and you love food, I’d HIGHLY recommend that you tune into the Travel Channel tonight at 10pm. Tonight kicks off a new season of Anthony Bourdain‘s television show No Reservations. This show is him in Chile.
Here’s a clip…
Somehow, even before I started this blog, I some how wound up on the pitch list for Bravo TV’s PR company, which is funny because I was writing a tech blog and not a TV blog.
So… I just got a press release about Top Chef. This next season is going to be in Las Vegas and will premier August 26th at 9pm on Bravo TV. How exciting!
I’ve been a big fan of Top Chef ever since it’s first season. It’s hard to believe that they’re already on season number 6. I’m sure this will be an exciting season just like all the rest have been.
If you live in DC, a fun way to watch Top Chef is at Good Stuff Eatery in Capitol Hill. This burger place is owned and operated by former Top Chef contestant Spike Mendelsohn. Every Wednesday, they turn all the TV’s to Top Chef and everyone hangs out, eats burgers, and watches the show. It’s pretty cool.