Kansas City Blog

By OWEN MORRIS

Part II of my Anthony Bourdain post covers his speech at the Midland. Photos weren't allowed (though that didn't seem to stop about half the audience) which explains the lack of pictures for this post.

"Hey Owen!" I looked around to see who was calling me and noticed the shiny badge and the hand waving from the blue uniform. It was a friend of mine who is on the Kansas City, Missouri Police force. He was at the Anthony Bourdain event, in full regalia, providing security.

We started talking. "So what's the deal? I've never heard of this guy," he said. I told him Bourdain was a chef and he'd come to talk about exotic food. "A chef? This many people are coming to hear a chef speak?"

"Well he's also written a couple of books."

"So he's an author. People get this excited about a chef writer?"

"He's also got a TV show. On the Travel Channel."

"So that's why people are coming? The TV show?"

It's difficult to explain the cult of Bourdain. He's a good writer and has decent chef credentials but that doesn't explain the raucous crowd at the Midland who cheered his every mention of exotic dishes and jeered, as if on command, at his mentions of Cinnabon, McDonald's and Sara Lee.

The man obviously knows how to strike a vein. Reading his memoir Kitchen Confidential it's easy to get swept up in the masochistic lust he has for the dirty, hard work of professional kitchens. Likewise, his television show, No Reservations, evokes that same dedication and love for other cultures' dicey foods. But where Bourdain shines brightest is when he gets angry and goes on a rant, like he did last night about vegetarians. "I'm sorry my eyes face forward and aren't on the side of my head," he told the crowd in a New York accent that got heavier as he got more worked up.

Bourdain has been repeatedly compared to as a rock star but listening to him speak, I was reminded more of a comic — Lewis Black. Black spurts and stamps and generally acts as if whatever point he's espousing is the most frustrating thing in the world. Bourdain does a lot of this, too: Ranch dressing is not a culinary apex but is it really that bad? And are the people who eat it really so backwards as to justify a couple of minutes of anger in their direction? The crowd loved it -- up to a point. When Bourdain called Ceaser salad "the worst" they were quieter; he was hitting a little too close for comfort.

But Bourdain's main point wasn't about food. His point was encourage people to travel and to experience different cultures and, most importantly, not to waste time in foreign lands on American things. "In Beijing ... people are getting their pictures taken in front of Starbucks. It's so stupid!" he shouted. The audience applauded enthusiastically. Not visiting Starbucks in China. Now this is a movement they can get behind.

I'm not as enthusiastic about Bourdain as a lot of other people. I've spent too many hours in professional kitchens to have any romantic notions about the work. But I agree that travel is important and maybe Bourdain's speech will convince someone in that audience visit China. Maybe they'll bypass McDonald's for the dark dim sum shop next to it. The problem is thinking you don't need to travel there because Bourdain is doing it for you.