10.14.09
Times Talk: Bruni interviews Bourdain, 2009
My friends J & H had an extra ticket and very kindly invited their favorite foodie along. I had no idea what would happen besides Anthony Bourdain talking, so imagine how much I hyperventilated when they said Frank Bruni would be interviewing him!
Mr. Bruni is much handsomer than I was led to expect. He is also very nice and circumspect. Bourdain, on the other hand, is blunt and funny. He really doesn’t give a shit if people disagree with him, think he’s an asshole, or want to vilify him. Who else would say that fat people should be taxed the way smokers are? (I think it but I don’t say it in front of fat people. I mean, they might sit on me.) With some of the idiot audience questioners at the end I could see he was actually quite patient, trying not to destroy their fantasy worlds, so it’s not that he’s a jerk. He just isn’t afraid to be outspoken about sensitive subjects. Good for him.
It was actually a very enjoyable talk. Generally people yammering about food is not terribly engaging, but Bourdain had tons of interesting tidbits to share. If I could cram more TV into a life already full of about 4 different careers, I suspect I could get very addicted to his show. He was admirably articulate, probably partly due to getting the questions in advance, and the Times made good use of multimedia clips. They talked about a lot of broad picture, “best/craziest in your life” and “how are things different today” subjects. The only thing I didn’t like – he described Southeast Asia so glowingly, it made me want to go even more than I already do. That probably won’t happen for a long time. I also thought it weird/inappropriate that the “afterparty” was minutely catered by the random Italian restaurant (Montenapolo or something, not even going to bother looking it up) next door. Obviously, it was very convenient, but I think they should have had food from Les Halles in Bourdain’s honor.
This event was so much more worth it than the DailyCandy Midnight Munchies thing I went to last year. Despite that one having food and open bar, I felt royally ripped off for $100. Next year I might actually pay the $50 to go to another inspiring talk like this.
