here’s a scene early in the new documentary Roadrunner that feels inconceivable to anyone who has spent the past couple of decades watching Anthony Bourdain travel the world.
Hot off the blockbuster success of Kitchen Confidential, his tell-all book about the restaurant industry, Bourdain has been granted his first shot at the type of television show that would ultimately make him a star. But he has no clue what to do.
Seated on the floor of a private room in a traditional Japanese restaurant, Bourdain silently eats his meal as the two women serving it to him nod awkwardly. All he can think to say is, “Oh, wow, spectacular,” and keep chewing. It is a distant cry from the affable, engaged Bourdain who delighted viewers of his later programs, especially No Reservations and Parts Unknown.
Given the opportunity to make his first travel show, called A Cook’s Tour, for Food Network in the early 2000s, Bourdain could have started off with a relatively easy jaunt to Europe. But since he wasn’t sure he’d ever have the chance to do this type of television again, he went all-in on the two places he’d always wanted to visit: Japan and Vietnam.
