Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown

I watch this show with my dad.. I only watched 1 episode but I loved it, it's perfect for geography lessons.. I remember watching either Nigeria, Kenya, or Ghana. I am sad that Bourdain died and can't make anymore. This is a very painful reality.

I was surprised to see so many negative reviews some even stating the he is "racist". To each his own I guess... I love Parts Unknown because it goes beyond food, he shows the way the locals live and their daily lives with eating their food. I have found him relatively impartial politically, he lets the people he meets in their respective countries speak for themselves. It seems that anyone having an aversion to CNN and knowing that before they watch automatically has a 1 star rating of him. I had now idea he was before reading the reviews and found that surprising. Much more than a food show, and I think that makes the show overall well rounded and always fascinating.

Bourdain is somewhat of a pioneer in the genre of food & travel shows as his No Reservations was one of the first shows that combined passion for food with the need to Travel. That show was essentially Bourdain traveling to new places in search of good authentic food. He obviously knew a lot about food as he used to be a chef. No Reservations appealed to both food lovers and travel enthusiasts, but it was still very much centered around food (and Bourdain of course). It held the show back a bit in my opinion as Bourdain would travel to all these great places with lot of history and wouldn't really get to talk that much about the place and would instead focus on food.

In Parts Unknown, Bourdain is not only traveling to some of the lesser well known places (at least to Americans) but he is also exploring their culture, heritage and the current politics along with food. Heck, given the coverage of international news on CNN and other news media here in the US, this might the most informative show you could watch on TV (that pertains to international affairs).

Bourdain mentioned in an interview that in this new show (hardly new anymore) he had more freedom to do what he wanted and explore more and it shows. A lot of times he just meets an old friend in some country and they bar hop all night leaving Bourdain craving for even more food. But it also depicts the culture of the place he is visiting in a fashion that only few other shows would. And then, in some other places, like Libya and Congo, he interacts with locals who tell him what it is like to live (or survive) there day to day, all while having a meal of something exotic and making us drool.

I understand that this show may not appeal to hardcore food lovers, but in my opinion, this is a better show in every way to No Reservations and Bourdain is a lot more himself (which makes it even easier to watch). It's kind of like when Top Gear went from being a strictly motoring show to being a comedy/adventure/celebrity/motoring show. It ended up being better!

Believe it or not, there are often much more important things to talk about than dinner in many impoverished and/or war torn foreign nations around the world where this show is shot. Not every television program is going to be a mindless meandering list of topics that only impact American recipe lists and pop culture while ignoring anything important to other people in the world, some shows are actually meant to educate.

In a sea of seriously sigh-inducing series which pander only to the lowest common denominator with attention attacking headlines and overblown melodrama, a master chef of all people, has brought a level-headed and insightful peek into the lives of those in the world around us which many professional reporters are too busy worrying about ratings to take on. I, for one of many, unabashedly applaud his integrity. Time and time again it's been proved that it's often the people you'd least expect to know what they're talking about who outshow the most celebrated "news" casters of the click-bait/action news era.

Anthony Bourdain, culinary king and hilarious Archer celebrity guest-starring insult smith has now cemented himself among the ranks of legends like Jon Stewart as yet another intelligent human being with basic common sense who can stand with the best of cable's nonsense newsmen and give them a few pointers on proper news presentation. The show is intriguing, informative, entertaining and educational, not simply in terms of international cuisine but conflicts and complex social constructs as well. It's magnificently made in each and every way from shots, to scripts and settings and it deserves every bit of success it receives.

A show escaping to definitions. Because each episode you feel. Food, talks, secrets, people and tradition, places and stories. Short- just magic. That kind of magic who defines, in profound sense, happiness, the simple happiness expected by each of us. The only serious word who I can say - I love it, remaining grateful to Anthony Bourdain for his splendid work.