Bourdain: Short Order "Offended" Me and My "Sense of Pride"

Anthony Bourdain: No ill will from this end. And I am myself frequently guilty of crossing the snark line -- wherever that line may be drawn.

But I make a conscious effort to avoid even brushing up to that line in a place like Mozambique, or Haiti, or Cambodia -- where people have on one hand only just emerged from crushing poverty or civil strife or genocide and yet, time and again, proudly offer a stranger (me), what little they have. Mockery is a legitimate enterprise -- but more defensible only when the target has the privilege of giving it back should they so choose.

Paula Deen is a powerful figure (far more powerful than me) with my own parent company. She's smart, media savvy, wealthy beyond my wildest imaginings and can easily avail herself of a platoon of publicists, PR experts and crisis managers should she choose to. Her folksy counterattacks have been very effective.

The Mozambicans who helped us barely have access to TV. If that.

Mozambique was a particularly heartfelt show for me and for all of us who worked on it. We were well aware of the country's long and ugly and all too recent past -- as well as our own country's culpability in supporting Renamo and South Africa's efforts to quash their aspirations for independence. There -- as with similar shows where we feel emotionally invested, I see snark in a finished show as an admission of failure.

when we aren't getting the show we want to get -- particularly when government minders in an industrialized nation -- or pretentious entrepreneurs try to manipulate events -- snark is my reluctant and often bitter fallback position. See Romania. (or simply a substitute for a successful show -- as when we do a BAD job: examples: Greece. Puerto Rico).

In a perfect world, there would be NO snark in any of my shows. That is never my intention setting out. It is, for better or worse, the equivalent of a desperate dick joke to fill air time -- a manifestation of unhappiness or frustration.

I felt no such thing in Mozambique, where everyone was inexplicably lovely, welcoming and generous. Africa in general is a continent so plagued with problems that snark is seldom a privilege people can afford. Irony sucks when coupled with hunger, disease and oppression.

When it comes to quips, do you have any sacred cows? Is there someplace or someone where you edit yourself? If so, what is it?

Sacred cows? Yes. I don't talk about people's families. I don't, you'll notice (even though dick jokes abound), leer after women, mock indigenous foods or hygiene gratuitously. Sexual preference. Off bounds. I don't think there's anything funny about homosexuality -- though over-testosteroned dickheads' fear of homosexuality can be pretty funny. I try to remain cognizant that while I can go back to New York after visiting Cuba or China and say whatever I want -- that the people we left behind remain and might have to live with the consequences of what I say. (see Tibetan Chinese relations).

Let's talk about the Mozambique episode -- you've been to some bleak

locations during No Reservations filming. Beirut during the bombing,

Chernobyl, Kurdistan pop into my mind. But I feel that Mozambique

felt... heavier... which is what I was trying to imply. That makes it an

interesting season opener, which generally sets the tone for the entire

season. Do you feel, in hindsight, that the mood of the show was more

somber than your usual shows (even in, say, Haiti, which, while not a

laugh riot, still had "Tony moments")?

Yes. There is no doubt that Mozambique was a more somber show. Calling it a "downer" offended my sense of propriety as far as its subject -- and frankly, offended my sense of pride in the work we did there and the people who did that work with me.

How do you handle criticism? Some people say you don't

handle it well, like when you told Eater that you were pissed about

Frank Bruni's piece.

How do I handle criticism? Depends. I get a lot -- much of it deserved -- as you can imagine. The Paula Deen thing brought a frightening storm of it. But I was genuinely hurt and disappointed that Bruni would join the posse. It seemed disingenuous, a bit calculated -- and it appeared that someone I knew -- and who I thought knew me and my work and what I stand for -- ignored everything I've celebrated over the last decade: good food made with very little resources by proud people often under difficult circumstances. It hurt. And it came at the same time that Fox News was beating up on me. I was surprised and disappointed.

How do you feel about being part of the 24-hour media cycle? In a

sense, you drive it by actively tweeting what's on your mind and being

quite outspoken, so are your Tweets strategically meant to be picked up

-- or are they stream of consciousness messages out into the world? Do

you ever have an "oh shit, what did I say can I take it back" moment?

If so, are there any you can recall?

[Twenty-four]-hour news cycle? Hey. You play, you pay. I can't complain. Believe it or not, I'm not sitting around trying to think of ways to stay in the public eye. If I blab out loud on twitter when something outrages me, it's a barely under control instinct--not a calculated thing. It's frankly, a sign of weakness in my view. Mom always told me to be polite, never be a show off, think before you speak. Not the only way in which I disappointed, I'd venture. Just can't help it. Twitter is fun. I forget sometimes how many eyes are following. Or don't care until it's too late.

In the No Reservations post,

what was the impetus of your calling it "offensively insipid"? Would

you consider your tweet crossing the line since you are now a public

figure and the review was a mixed one at worst?

Your piece expressed a desire for more "snark" or "irony" in a show where I strongly felt it would have been wildly inappropriate. I would greatly prefer to have personally been called an asshole. That wouldn't have bothered me. But this was a creative venture -- involving a lot of people who worked their asses off heart and soul, trying to actually do a good and sincere thing. Your glib take on the show angered me -- disproportionately, perhaps.

I'm guessing in retrospect, you might have worded things differently.

Thanks for pursuing this in such reasonable fashion. Apologies for any pain I might have caused you. We are both, I hope, a little wiser.

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