Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations - The Philippines

October of last year, my country was visited by one of the most renowned chef and intrepid world traveler, Anthony Bourdain. if you are a cable TV subscriber, you'd probably chanced upon his name or show. he's the host of the Travel Channel's culinary and cultural adventure program: Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations. not the bald guy who has an appetite for the bizzare. si Andrew Zimmern naman yun, host ng Bizzare Foods of the same channel (matter of fact, AZ's first show was about the Phillipines - balut, Palawan worms - pero that'd be a different story). beside his documentary of the country/place he goes to, he is known but may not be appreciated by all for his unpretentious remarks on their food. known for being an unrepentant drinker and smoker (but has stopped since the birth of his youngest daughter on 2007) Anthony gained the respect of many by his gut level honesty whether on the place, culture, chefs (including the chefs kuno), the people and of course the food. no wonder he has a cult following.

his visit to our country started from an enthusiastic video of a Fil-Am Augusto Elefano, encouraging Anthony to discover the Philippines, just as he himself was trying to accomplish. he's a typical Fil-Am. grew up in the United States pero had little or knows as much as the culture as his parents taught him. ika nga nila sa US, "Am-Fil yan hindi Fil-Am." i believe the online video was a finalist entry to a Travel Channel's contest in relation to Anthony's show. next thing we knew, AB is in Manila for a visit!

his arrival and i guess the jitters of everybody's expectation from him is reflected in his blog entry pressure drop.

his visit brought him to places around the country. as i've rummaged thru the web, they were blogged and documented by these lucky folks: ManilaStreetWalker and MarketMan.

Binondo (even tried the turo turo, haha :D galing!),
Cubao Dampa (photo grabbed from Anton Diaz's blog)


Pampanga (can't find photos of his visit)

Cebu (lunch's full menu, another entry) - that's the same bulad and danggit store we went to last week at the Taboan market in Cebu (sayang di ko natanong yung may ari)

according to Ivan Man Dy a.k.a. ManilaStreetWalker, some of the places he's supposed to visit around Manila which were taken out of the list were Quiapo, Salcedo weekend market, and a pares-mami joint. read his entry in The Daily Inquirer.

and his verdict? AB puts our pork at the top of the Hierarchy of Pork. yeah, ours is the best in the world! :D i'm sure you're drooling for some sisig and lechon now :P

i'm a big fan of this guy and can't wait for this episode to be aired here in Manila (it was shown in the US last Feb 16th and it's already downloadable from iTunes). tagal nga eh. i haven't seen it yet and if he gives an honest opinion about our country whether good or bad, i'll still respect the guy. as long as it is said on a good faith and unbiased. anyway who has eaten our lechon and said something bad about Pilipinas? huh? hahaha :P

here's a teaser video of that episode for y'all!

"It tastes like candy..."