I was so disappoitned by his American South-West Episode. I have been fuming since it first aired and finally found the balls to write this post. I think one of the best parts about being a fan of No Reservations is dreaming of the different places he'll venture off to when he comes to "yo town"!

I had my own weird fantasy where I take him to the Navajo Nation fair and have him squirm as he sees the contestants for Miss Navajo Nation butcher a live sheep infront of spectators in the most unsual beauty pageants in the country http://www.gallupindependent.c...ages/butcher0831.jpg. Or to my village where he joins round dances as the sun sets along the Estrella Mountains. Or to the semi-well known 5-star Kai Restaurant where French techniques meet the virtually unknown Native American cuisine in the Wild Horse Pass Resort located on the Gila River Indian Community - the place where I grew up and still live. This place hosted the NY Giants during their super bowl conquest a couple of years ago. http://thedish.freedomblogging...les/2009/02/kai1.jpg

I would have LOVED to seen him wait in line at Pizzeria Bianco and bitch about waiting in the hot sun for hours for what has been called by Bon Appetit Magazine as the best pizza in the country - and then SCOFF because... damnit... it's good! But is it the best in the country?!!? Well... it'd be nice to hear Tony's thoughts. http://images.usatoday.com/tra...2006/10/13/great.jpg I would have loved to have taken him to Lo-Lo's Chicken and Waffles where he dines on a Phoenix Institution and perhaps have him sign the walls of their “inner room" with such greats as Snoop Dogg, Montel Jordan and Charles Barkley... cuz that's what we think of when we think of friend chicken and waffles right?! Anthony Bourdain!

Or have him come to one of the MANY protests and marches in downtown phoenix against the "toughest sheriff in America" Sheriff Joe Arpaio who's racist and apathetic practices have been noticed by the supreme court and yet remains unchecked to this day. http://arizona.indymedia.org/u...an._25__2008_-_8.jpg

Maybe Tony will climb Piestewa Peak, a mountain named after fallen Hopi soldier Lori Piestewa and talk about how she was killed in combat and this mountain used to be named Squaw Peak, Squaw - a demeaning Native American word for female genitalia was renamed among protests. Or perhaps to Line 42 at Sundevil Stadium where Pat Tilman - an ASU alumni and Arizona Cardinal who passed on a multi-million dollar contract to fight in war on terrorism and was killed in Afghanistan is commemorated as an Arizona-bred American hero. http://thinkprogress.org/wp-co...07/07/ba_tillman.jpg

But that's kind of sad... what if Tony went to First Friday? Where the beatniks and artsy types come out to parade about downtown and art galleries open and one can find both corporate sponsors giving away free samplings of energy drinks and down-with-the-man protestors on every corner. The booze is free tony! http://www.concierge.com/image...rphoenix_az_001p.jpg

It'd be awesome to see tony ride the brand spankin' new Light Rail as he participates in a new Phoenician tradition of Light Rail Bar Hopping. I can just hear him drunkenly sing Monorail from the Simpsons! As he tries not to blow chunks all over our new and undamaged train system. http://tvmedia.ign.com/tv/imag...orail_1157690485.jpg

Or maybe he'll try phoenix's Americanized version of Mexican fare... at a grocery store!! Phoenix Ranch Market boasts some of the best Mexican food in the city!! Made from fresh ingredients made daily. Where a team of short order cooks churn out the food at a speed where a 100 foot line can take minutes to get through! http://assets0.likeme.net/2438...rge/lacocina.jpg.jpg If that's not enough - then give Carolina's a try. Constantly rated number one in local papers as the best Mexican Food in the city - this run down gritty neighborhood spot in the deep south side... serious gang territory is found some of the best tortillas in Arizona. Foot long burritos and amazing tacos with the best salsa ever can be found. Be careful Tony!! Houses in this area have been known to suddenly combust and set fire from fumes from the production of certain street drugs. But that hasn't stopped office types from bravely heading into the airport adjacent Mexican taco stand and loosening their ties before finding their lips on the business end of an amazing green burrito. http://www.azcentral.com/i/siz...PHP482A016FA8F3C.jpg

One thing about Phoenix is all the amazing... and awful places that can be found in strip malls!! I know when you first arrive, that's all you see - but if you know where to look... you can find heaven! Places like Cherry Blossom Noodle Cafe (an eclectic place that boasts international noodle dishes like Japanese ramen, Italian Ziti, pad Thai and beef stroganoff), NOCA (a new place that has been getting a lot of buzz for serving good food simply), Pizza A Metro (small place with only 6 tables, this intentionally hidden gem has a growing reputation that is starting to put it on par with Pizzeria Bianco) and Two Hippies Magic Mushroom Burgers (where one could probably get into gridlock traffic on Indian School Road in Mid-Town, get out of their car and grab a $5 burger combo and be eating in their car before moving their car a whole 10 yards until the next light).
All these amazing places are in Phoenix and they each show the real American South-West. A place where the Old Traditions of the past still live on in Native American public celebrations and in the traditional foods found in unusual places. Where blocks and blocks of strip malls blend into one huge strip mall - yet have amazing food, if you know where to look. Where the adult children of immigrants are protesting the unfair practices of a rouge cop and might actually win. Where fallen warriors are never forgotten and new ideas are found within footsteps during a drunken stroll through the art district. And was that a full grown man getting on a bus in a baby diaper?!?! Yes it was... it's the Phoenix Baby Man!! You actually spotted him!! All this within one of the fastest growing metropolis in America... and what does Tony do?! He eats a FUCKING hot dog and leaves!
I have the ideal Phoenician Episode of New Reservations in my head... and I'm sorry to say it - I think that's the only place it'll exist. I'm sure all the people who live in the areas that Tony has visited and done an episode about are thrilled with his visit... or at least respect the places he went... but I gotta say.. I wish he never came. I wish he just went straight to New Mexico from that lake with all the dead fish. And leave us Phoenicians with our dream... a dream of what that amazing episode would be like...

With our history, diversity and quirkiness - Tony did us a huge disservice by coming to our town and eating something we aren't even famous for and eating it in one of our most tourist-based restaurants! Sure Alice Cooper is cool and we're proud to have him as one of us... but there's more to Phoenix that an retired rocker and his giant dong (I mean dog) and unfortunatly, Tony forgot that... or worse - he never took the time to learn it at all... and the result is that I’m more than disappointed, I’m pissed!

Wanting my dream back,
CHERished

AMEN TO THAT!!!! 100% agree with you - I'd LOVE to see that episode!!

I just wrote a rant about this same episode myself!

After each ep, many have posted lists of what he missed in their locale. The problem is he can't cover EVERYTHING, so his producers research & choose what he's to do. He knows so little about each location, so he doesn't know any better on what to choose to do. I was disappointed when he didn't cover EVERYTHING in Seattle. He didn't cover much of Pike's Place Market but went onto an underground cooks club & a Salami restaurant; both which I never heard of. But with only one hour to cover both Portland & Seattle, that was all he could do. So cut the dude some slack.

Cherished, thank you for expressing our collective disappointment at the treatment (non-treatmenet) of Phoenix in the Southwest US show. The problem was that the Southwest is much too big a region to cover in one show. The Phoenix area deserves its own show with the Sonoran Desert as a backdrop. It's a unique American city in so many ways. Tony, please consider it!