I wonder. Is Anthony concerned at all with his health? I posted my very first post here last week after the San Fran episode. I mentioned in the post that this episode jumped the shark for me. That from now on Tone would be in my mind "the fat pusher." Everything on that program was literally "killer" -- obese sandwich, fat-laced coffee, greasy-spoon fries, deep-fried crabs -- and to top it all off deep-fried fat!!!

It seemed that the show's theme was "let's trash as much of the healthy-fresh-food-eating mafia as we possibly can." I said it was like watching an 8-year old being naughty.

Well, I think it's more than that. I think it's downright self-destructive behavior on Anthony's part. He's kicking and screaming against "what's good for me." He supposedly gave up smoking because he just became a father. So then what's with this immature, reckless disregard for his health? He said in that episode that he was on Lipitor!!! And I believe it.

But pharmaceuticals aren't the magic pill they're cracked up to be, and toxins build up through the years and compromise the entire body. Oh no, Tone doesn't want to be fearful. He'll die with his boots on. Just like my father. This is the association that prompted my first post. My father died eating the worst possible diet for a man who had had several heart attacks already. He didn't care. Just like Tone.

It will be very difficult for me to continue watching his show with as much thrill as I had in the past. I wish him well. I wish he'd come up with a different angle for his show. I think he can.

Jozla, he's doing TV. When he goes home after filming, it's nothing but healthy homemade Italian food!

@Swamp rat:

Well then, you're saying he's a total poseur?

What about all the young Tony wannabes he's influencing?

That show is not about travel. It's not about food. It's about the Tony Bourdain persona. It's a shame he can't be a rebel type without appearing to abuse his health, but I guess that's part of the mystique -- and his charisma. It's a bargain with the devil, though.

If I should lighten up then he should too, and not throw such an anti-healthy food tantrum like that S.F. episode was in spades.

Oh no, not another healthy-eating maniac! What's wrong with you, people? I've been watching No Reservations with joy because Bourdain actually does promote healthy eating - but healthy eating is not about diet or low-fat, it's about trying different styles and cuisines, it's about preparing food from fresh ingredients, using different spices - and there's been plenty of it in his series over the years. Take any low-fat or "diet" meal and have a look at the ingredients - it's all about various chemicals and artificial substitutes to actually get a trace of a taste into something that would otherwise taste as a piece of plastic!
Bourdain doesn't say : go and eat whatever is dripping fat, he says go and eat what's fresh.
I love my fish and chips with vinegar and salt, sandwiches with real mayo, a nice piece of red meat - and my cholesterol and blood pressure are just fine. This is not bad for you if you eat it in moderation and exercise. What's really bad for you is artificial food, where one pig serves to create several tons of reconstituted ham, full of gelatine, artifical colourings and taste enhancers and water you can buy so cheaply in the supermarket. It's also all the food chains offering the same tasting piece of cardboard called hamburger all over the world which has long forgotten it had ever have anything to do with a cow and chicken nuggets made from chicken bones. This food sold cheaply is bad, not a nice fresh sandwich or a real burger made from real beef. It's all the taste enhancers and artificial additives in your food which are bad and damage your health, not fresh deep-fried crabs. If any of the kids actually really tried fresh food, even if deep-fried, instead of the plastic happy meal in any food chain and then went for a nice walk in a park with their parents instead of eating an ice-cream which has never seen cream for a dessert, the obesity problem would be sorted out. Equally, if its parents actually cooked with fresh ingredients at home and only took it out for a meal as a treat /and no, you don't need to buy organic or even free-range to get fresh food/ and insisted on fresh food in school canteens, it would be more beneficial than ranting about Bourdain's lack of promotion of boiled tasteless chicken breast with a piece of lettuce and no dressing as THE healthy meal.
The real cause of kids' bad eating habits and obesity is not Bourdain. Remember who was the evil killer in Stephen King's IT? Hint - it wasn't the chef.

@ jozla: What I'm saying is that most people don't eat out when they're not working. The fact that he's relatively thin and appears to be in decent shape belies what you say about bad health.

A lot of "health food" is not very healthy. Have you ever looked at the sodium content in packaged foods sold in health food stores? It's off the charts! Why are Americans getting fatter? Because they eat more calories than before. And how is eating meat not healthy?

What he was mocking was the attitude of the "health food crowd". In fact, what he was mocking was YOUR attitude as expressed in your post. There's nothing worse than zero tolerance. As the Chinese would say, do all things in moderation.

And he's not your father, so don't dump that on him. The vast majority of food he eats on his various shows is more than healthy enough. Haven't you noticed his obsession with Asian food? I used to live in China and Taiwan and you could count the overweight people you know on one hand and have fingers left over. And BTW, they were far thinner than the typical patron of an American health food store.
(Steve in San Diego)

@ Swamp rat:

"What he was mocking was the attitude of the "health food crowd". In fact, what he was mocking was YOUR attitude as expressed in your post. There's nothing worse than zero tolerance. As the Chinese would say, do all things in moderation."

So he mocks extremism with his own extremism? Look, I don't want this to devolve into a political argument in which sides are taken and no one changes their perspective.

I've loved Tony's shtick. He's a very charming guy. He is where he is because of this. It's just that this one San Francisco episode to me was laughable. But now that I think of it, it wasn't just the fat obsession. (The most obnoxious was the obese sandwich in the Mission, but he's done LOTS of obese sandwiches all over the world -- maybe it's a vicarious thrill to be watched on the tube).

No, the silliness of the episode wasn't just the fat craziness. There was him eating the Mexican lunch at the Farmers' Market; REALLY thumbing his nose at the Farmers' Market movement in the U.S. (all that "crunchy stuff they like"). It's fine that other countries have them, but somehow it's a jerky health-foodie stupidity when it's done in this country. Whatever his lunch was, there are at least 2,000 similar stalls all over the state of CA. He didn't even pick a good Farmers' Market, according to other posters here.

Am I an extremist like you assume? I am a total foodie, well-traveled, yet extremely well-informed about the HEALTH properties of food. Fresh food, organically grown, and locally grown (Tone has a problem with this as well) is the absolute best. If you can't do that, do the best you can. There is absolutely zero reason to nurse an attitude about healthy eating and having a conscience about the environment. Watch the S.F. episode again. Tone's all over it with an attitude. It's not just my imagination.

He's old enough to chill about political correctness/incorrectness. Or maybe he wants to enjoy the last bit of teen rebellion he so identifies with. Go to it Tone, I personally just woke up to your silly side and I'm not buying it. I hope others are not directly influenced by his TV choices, but see them instead as some fun character acting out.