Similar passions???

Anthony Bourdain is the chef turned author turned traveler turned celebrity. Well, you could argue his celebrity, but he's got a TV show and let's face it most of the readers of this blog don't, so he should be a celebrity by our admissions. If you don't know who Anthony is, you should read any of his books, Kitchen Confidential, The Nasty Bits, A Cook's Tour or you can tune into his show "No Reservations" on Monday nights at 9pm Central on the Travel Channel.

Anthony's sharp wit, wry, self-effacing sense of humor is music to my ears. He has a love, no make that a passion, for original foods, as well as a complete disdain for the mass produced slop so prevalent in our world. He's part rock star, part food critic, part chef, part traveler, but mainly a guy you'd want to drink a few beers with while eating a well prepared choucroute garnie, cassoulet, or steak and frites.

Anthony is the executive chef of Les Halles on Park Ave in NYC. While he doesn't spend much time in the kitchen anymore, it's still his home base. Les Halles is one of my favorite restaurants on the planet. Why? Darn good food. French brasserie food which includes all three of the items I mentioned earlier. Our family ate there last week and the meal was over the top. I had the choucroute garnie which reminded me of growing up. Pork in three different versions with sauerkraut and potatoes. The best steak and frites this side of Paris and a chocolate/banana dessert that quite literally was the best dessert I have ever eaten.

I'm digressing. The t-shirt is a shirt Anthony designed and wears occassionally on the show. The notion of "Cook Free or Die" is something Anthony feels summarizes his feelings and love for the preparation of food. In other words, don't be generic when you could make it much more. I guess it's similar to my passion for the bike. Pedal and put your best effort into it or don't. Check out Mr. Bourdain, I think you'll like what you see.

And by the way, you can buy the shirt at www.grillbitch.com. The website is a reference to the 'affectionate' name Anthony has for his former executive assistant, Beth. If you want to know more, check out the website or better yet, read Kitchen Confidential.