Our Boy Tony
PERSONAL MOTTO …
“Your body is not a temple, it’s an amusement park. Enjoy the ride.”
SHAKE SHACK BURGER …
On Shake Shack: Back before Danny Meyer’s burger restaurant became a global chain, Bourdain frequently picked it up when he returned from trips. In 2011, he said that when one opened near him on the Upper East Side, “I dropped to my knees and wept with gratitude.” His order: “I’m having a double cheeseburger naked, please. No lettuce. No tomato. No nothing. Just cheese and two burgers on a potato bun. I’ll have two of those and I’m happy. I’m singing America, fuck yeah!”
MINUS the Lettuce and Tomatoes for TONY
CRONUTS …
Cronuts : At the peak of the craze over Dominique Ansel’s croissant-doughnut hybrid, Bourdain gave his seal of approval: “Oh God, it’s good. Oh God, it’s really good.”
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TONY on KEEN’S
On the cherished institution that is Keens steakhouse: “You can’t really do any better or more authentic than Keens, a place that goes right back to the old school all-male world of beefsteak parties, the political power built around beef, bloody aprons, and smoke-filled rooms.” The comments were part of his No Reservations visit to the Midtown staple, where he dined with Josh Ozersky. “I like to think if you came here in another 50 years it would be exactly the same,” Bourdain said.
The Late Great Anthony Borudain
with The Late Great Josh Ozersky at KEEN’S
Drinking Scotch Whiskey and Eating MEAT !
BIG SLABS of MEAT
On VEGETARIANS …
“Vegetarians, and their Hezbollah-like splinter-faction, the vegans, are a persistent irritant to any chef worth a damn.
To me, life without veal stock, pork fat, sausage, organ meat, demi-glace, or even stinky cheese is a life not worth living.
Vegetarians are the enemy of everything good and decent in the human spirit, an affront to all I stand for, the pure enjoyment of food. The body, these waterheads imagine, is a temple that should not be polluted by animal protein. It’s healthier, they insist, though every vegetarian waiter I’ve worked with is brought down by any rumor of a cold.
Oh, I’ll accomodate them, I’ll rummage around for something to feed them, for a ‘vegetarian plate’, if called on to do so. Fourteen dollars for a few slices of grilled eggplant and zucchini suits my food cost fine.”
The EAST VILLAGE ….
On changes in EAST VILLAGE: “I don’t even want to talk about what the East Village used to be like compared to today. It was like Mad Max, post-apocalyptic. Now, it looks like a fucking Dave Matthews concert.”
On His WORK …
“I have the best job in the world. If I’m unhappy, it’s a failure of imagination.”
On Learning to COOK :
“Basic cooking skills are a virtue… the ability to feed yourself and a few others with proficiency should be taught to every young man and woman as a fundamental skill. [It’s] as vital to growing up as learning to wipe one’s own ass, cross the street by oneself, or be trusted with money.”
On QUEENS :
On Queens as a place to eat: In Season 9 of Parts Unknown, Bourdain highlighted food in various parts of Queens. The proliferation of street carts, he says, is what makes it so great: “Manhattan is very much the, you know, ‘not in my backyard neighborhood’ in a lot of ways. I mean, for this reason, Manhattan in my view is a lot less interesting than Queens. This is a wonderland.”
EGGS …
“An EGG in anything makes it better.”
A CROQUE MADAME
The Way TONY Would Liked It
A Croque Madame is the French Sandwich the CROQUE MONSIEUR CROQUE MONSIUER with a Fried Egg on Top, Ham and Gooey Melted Gruyere Cheese
TRAVEL …
On traveling, on culture, and on moving: “If I am an advocate for anything, it is to move. As far as you can, as much as you can. Across the ocean, or simply across the river. Walk in someone else’s shoes or at least eat their food. It’s a plus for everybody.”
On CHARACTER …
“Skills can be taught. Character you either have or you don’t have.”
The BADASS COOKBOOK
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