SIDE SALAD - Everything crunchy is good.

'I GET TO GO WHERE I WANT, DO WHAT I WANT, EAT WHAT I WANT, HAVE A REALLY GOOD TIME, AND I DON'T REALLY HAVE TO BEHAVE.'

It's been a busy week at Salad Central. In addition to Passover coverage (see below), I also wrote about all the food shows popping up on non-Food Network channels.

Included in that was a Q&A I did with Anthony Bourdain, host of "No Reservations" on Travel Channel and author of the culinary tell-all "Kitchen Confidential; Adventures In The Culinary Underbelly."

To get a sense of his essence, be sure to go to this page full of sound clips of Bourdain spouting off.

Some examples:

"India's perhaps the one country where I find myself liking vegetarians and I myself can find myself eating vegetarian for extended periods of time without being unhappy about it."

"When it comes to alcohol, my advice to travelers is, you know, never turn down the offer of a drink. You find out so much more. You make friends quickly. Sometimes that's gonna mean, uh, bathtub moonshine ... cloudy bathtub moonshine in a clear plastic bottle you have to strain the bugs out of. Other times it means the smooth clean taste of the local brew."

"You know, I've given up enough vices already. I've given up some really serious vices and beaten the odds. I think I deserve to hold on ... to cling to the vices that remain. No, I'm not giving up any of them."

"Happy hour 7 a.m. to 5 p.m.? That's a healthy breakfast."

Bourdain is one of those interviews that, at the end of it, you almost feel like you have too much good material to use.

We should all suffer like that.

Posted by Jeff at April 12, 2006 08:21 AM | TrackBack