Anthony Bourdain: War Correspondent?The New York Post's Page Six has an interview today with Anthony Bourdain, the famed Les Halles chef and host of the Travel Channel's No Reservations (a fave here at Televisionary HQ), who appears to have gotten himself and his crew stranded while filming an upcoming episode of the series. According to Page Six:
"Celebrity chef Anthony Bourdain was stranded in war-ravaged Beirut yesterday after Israeli forces bombed the city's international airport and blockaded all of Lebanon's ports. [...]
After the thunderous assault on the city in response to Islamic extremist group Hezbollah's capture of two Israeli soldiers, Bourdain and his crew holed up at the Moevenpick Hotel while they waited for evacuation instructions from the State Department.
'Our network, our friends and our families just want us out of here as soon as possible,' Bourdain told Page Six yesterday afternoon, as Israeli shells exploded in the distance. 'We're not getting a show out of this . . . I just wanna hang out and drink at the bar. The mojitos here are great.'"
Leave it to Tony to somehow find the best mojitos in a war zone.
While Bourdain typically travels to some far-out places, I never imagined the chef and author of "Kitchen Confidential" would find himself in the middle of a war. According to Bourdain, however, Beirut is apparently a pretty happening city. "This is a party town," Bourdain told Page Six. "Everyone in this city is [bleeping] gorgeous. It's like L.A. It's a totally international, sophisticated city."
If ever there was someone you'd want to hang out with while bombs are raining down around you, it's Tony Bourdain. At the very least, the conversation, cuisine, and cocktails will of the highest possible quality. Even if there are mortar attacks going on right next door.
I wouldn't expect to see the No Reservations: Beirut episode air anytime soon on the Travel Channel and can only hope that things are calmer when Tony visits the Pacific Northwest...
Comments
He stated that the State Department was disappointingly disorganized. "No one was answering the phone at the US Embassy," he said, but once they (he and his crew) were handed off to the Marines and the crew of the USS Nashville, they were part of the well-oiled machine. He really had a lot of nice things to say about the military's part in the evacuation.
He said that once he got back to NY that he felt "guilty." Guilty that he was so lucky to get out while hundreds of Americans remained.
He said that he convinced the chef of the hotel in which they were holed up, to allow him to cook for his crew to keep their spirits up.
The Lebanese people were very congenial and proud of the Metropolitan city they have created, but once the Israelis started bombing the airport, they felt ashamed and embarrassed. It's amazing, some have lived in fear their entire lives and managed to overcome it by building a very cosmopolitan city in the face of danger and now it's all rubble.
Rokr