A Cook's Tour: In Search of the Perfect Meal

Bourdain is an outspoken, frequently crass man and his writing is no different. Frankly I did not care how drunk he got or how often. I nearly quit reading because of his crassness. But I'm no quitter. The descriptions of the foods and places were worth wading through the unsavory parts. I have never watched his television show and after reading this, don't plan to in the future.
The most memorable character was the female owner of a Saigon restaurant. And the most impressive meal? A twenty-seven course meal at Thomas Keller's French Laundry. Bourdain and three friends each had different but comparable courses. I cannot even fathom planning much less executing such a meal!

Bourdain combines a zest for the outrageous, total honesty and an enormous curiousity about places and their foods.
The result is a book that keeps you chuckling (sometimes while shaking your head in disbelief) and simultaneously totally informed about the countries he visits and the culinary adventures he experiences in them.

It's all I want to do; experience Vietnam the way Tony describes it. To travel to France and enjoy the fusion of flavors that shaped the culinary arts. This book is a great read for the aspiring traveler.

For those that don't have the means or foolhardiness to sample the cuisines of the trouble spots and high expense parts of the world, Anthony's book is a way to go.

Anthony is an honest opportunist in the kitchen and on the written page.

Very interesting to see Bourdain's 1st 2 years of his world wide quest. This is a series, of 22 minute or so, original shows that reveals how he set on the journey that the went on to follow withThe Layover, No Reservations and then Parts Unknown. For Bourdain fans, a keeper. The DVD set is great, nice packaging and descriptions of each segment on the back of the package. Be sure to see the segment of the Cobra Hearts!
This is the "raw" Bourdain and it's great!

This is definitely one of my favorite books. This book is basically a "behind the scenes" of No Reservations, but I think it was written at the same time that they shot the first season. Bourdain manages to write in his trademark sarcastic and dry sense of humor, while also maintaining unwavering respect for the people and cultures he comes across in his travels.
It's a pretty quick read, but also definitely engaging.

excellent. i just love tony bourdain and i love every word he writes! he is funny and incredibly smart, and laid back, and doesnt care what people think, and he knows a lot about life, and has a good heart and a beautiful soul. i see all this when i see him. he came to norfolk, virginia in 2011 and i was there! i got to see him in person. i was ecstatic. my dad had died a few days before that so it really made me feel better to see tony in person. i wish i could have really talked to him, but to just be in the room with him is enough to last me forever :)

I barely watched the accompanying show because, after seeing “No Reservations,” it was uncomfortable to watch Tony trying to learn TV as he went.

I ordered this book the day he died, and find that, by reading it slowly, my heart hurts less.

I've been reading several books by Anthony Bourdain, and the one I liked best was his mystery. I spen a lot of time in the Caribbean, so I enjoyed most his mystery set there, but the books based on his television series aren't bad.

Very interesting to see Bourdain's 1st 2 years of his world wide quest. This is a series, of 22 minute or so, original shows that reveals how he set on the journey that the went on to follow withThe Layover, No Reservations and then Parts Unknown. For Bourdain fans, a keeper. The DVD set is great, nice packaging and descriptions of each segment on the back of the package. Be sure to see the segment of the Cobra Hearts!
This is the "raw" Bourdain and it's great!

This is definitely one of my favorite books. This book is basically a "behind the scenes" of No Reservations, but I think it was written at the same time that they shot the first season. Bourdain manages to write in his trademark sarcastic and dry sense of humor, while also maintaining unwavering respect for the people and cultures he comes across in his travels.
It's a pretty quick read, but also definitely engaging.

excellent. i just love tony bourdain and i love every word he writes! he is funny and incredibly smart, and laid back, and doesnt care what people think, and he knows a lot about life, and has a good heart and a beautiful soul. i see all this when i see him. he came to norfolk, virginia in 2011 and i was there! i got to see him in person. i was ecstatic. my dad had died a few days before that so it really made me feel better to see tony in person. i wish i could have really talked to him, but to just be in the room with him is enough to last me forever :)

I barely watched the accompanying show because, after seeing “No Reservations,” it was uncomfortable to watch Tony trying to learn TV as he went.

I ordered this book the day he died, and find that, by reading it slowly, my heart hurts less.

I've been reading several books by Anthony Bourdain, and the one I liked best was his mystery. I spen a lot of time in the Caribbean, so I enjoyed most his mystery set there, but the books based on his television series aren't bad.

While "A Cook's Tour" includes descriptions of interesting places, people and some bizarre meals, it simply doesn't hold up to the raw impact of "Kitchen Confidential." I enjoyed Anthony's passionate writing about his experiences in Vietnam, but I didn't like his extremely liberal slant on the Vietnamese maimed and injured during the war. Anthony, we lost 50,000 young men trying to provide freedom for the Vietnamese people and the leaders of the old VC that you so enjoyed eating with were responsible for the murders of thousands of their own people after the war was over....

Honest look into what it means to be a cher and a tv star at the same time. A thing or two were added in the ebook which confused me in terms of timeline. Also, some restaurants today are overrated and commercialized. Still, a good insight into the show that made him a TV star Worthy vacation read if you're catching on Tony's older works as a writer. Worthy investment...

I read Kitchen Confidential with an unexpected glee. I loved it, loved Anthony Bourdain, from soup to nuts. Not only was Bourdain personally appealing to me with his sense of humor, his blatant honesty and deep complexities; his writing was from the gut, proud, dirty and utterly truthful. But this piece of tripe (one of Bourdain's admitted food dislikes)was somewhat like watching Silence of the Lambs on an unending cycle. It does nothing for your appetite.

Bourdain is a vivid and descriptive writer, but in this book, he is sloppy, clumsy, cliched and digging in hard for shock value. He commits travesties against animals (that are committed somewhere in the world everyday, but without perhaps so penitent an observer) by either watching them be tortured and slaughtered for his own dining pleasure (a pig in Portugal and a lamb in Morocco) or participating in the execution himself (toward the end of the book he kills a turkey for dinner in Mexico and shoots rabbits for stew). The cruelty seems excessive and the gross-out is in the definite extreme. I don't believe for one minute that the man loves food; I believe he needs fodder for his inebriated story-telling to impress the cheffies back home. He is all swagger here, no substance.

The brutality is enough to make a meat lover reconsider, which seems to go entirely against the point Bourdain is trying to make. Wait - what is that point? That if we are going to eat meat we should participate in the slaughter? Or that we shouldn't eat meat unless we respect that we've killed a living thing? Or that we should use every single bit of a pig that is slaughtered and that makes up for it? What the hell was his point?

Here's what it did to me - made my eyes well up for the poor freaking pig and decide that perhaps I might be happier with overcooked vegetables with the... Vegans.

For all his bravado, I sensed there were many things Bourdain didn't really feel comfortable with, and wondered why he didn't just say, uh...no thanks. But then I guess when you sell your soul to Food Network you've got to eat a few still beating cobra hearts.

Bourdain thinks he covers the whole sell-out thing, by saying, yeah, I sold out - what of it - but it ruins his first book in the process. In that book he poised himself as the anti-Emeril, but the truth is, now he's playing on the same team, just hiding behind his cool factor, playing the overaged rebel who is still smoking hash, drinking like a frat boy and hoping everybody out there in tvland thinks he's quite the maverick.

The love is gone, man. It's been replaced with epic disappointment in a writer/chef I admired.

Note: I did actually become a Vegan! Thanks, Tony!

A Cook's Tour essentially provides more in-depth looks at the locales that Anthony Bourdain visited in the television show provides some insight into Bourdain's opinions as he was traveling around the world for "A Cook's Tour". Bourdain discusses multiple times how he did not like doing certain segments of the television show and how the directors would force him to eat meals that he found not to be authentic and do activities that he found as tourist traps. The television show is pretty old so I could not remember much of it to be honest, so now that I have read the book I am watching the television shows on Netflix. I would suggest reading the book first and then watching the television show if you are interested in it.

Overall I really enjoyed the segments where Bourdain travels to Japan and Vietnam. Although in the book he is searching for the "Perfect Meal", I found the descriptions of the food itself to be somewhat lacking details. Often Bourdain just describes food as being very good without describing any of the aromas or flavors within the food itself.

If you are interested in learning about different countries and the food that makes them unique I would highly suggest reading A Cook's Tour. The book also makes the television series more interesting as you know more behind the scenes details so I would suggest reading before watching.

... and that's because in print, versus video, the ever-fascinating "bad boy" we've grown to know and love (well, tolerate; nah, love) doesn't interrupt an otherwise well-crafted exposition on the country he's visiting to "pull a Fellini" (but much less artfully) and digress into all sorts of asides, semi-charming castigations and "they made me do it!" aspersions that many times weaken the overall flow of his television series. Here, Bourdain has the sense to focus almost exclusively on the landscape, the flavors, his hosts and his (extraordinarily wide ranging) reactions and leave the "inside" commentary to extended postscripts at the end of certain stories. And when Bourdain does mention his "shooter" or producer in the body of a given chapter, it's woven more appropriately into the narrative than on cable.

Bourdain is one interesting fellow, a real scamp; and he can write, too. His love affair with the Vietnamese people and their cuisine jumps off the page at you, his reverence for the French Laundry almost requires you to light votive candles, and his graphic explanation of preparing a farmhouse meal in Portugal may make you turn vegan. He can also elicit a solid series of belly laughs when the situation demands; his description of writhing intestinal misery as he grapples for the remote to nix a televised homage to Jerry Lewis during a return to France had me howling.

The best way to savor this one-of-a-kind culinary globetrotter is to watch the show, pick up the rascal's collection of grimaces, smirks, cigarette drags, loping marches down alleyways and "I'm almost high" style of voiceover, then turn off the set and start reading. Because his books - if "A Cook's Tour" is any indication - are better than his broadcasts.

To enjoy this book, you have to (A) really like food, and (B) accept that the whole exercise of Bourdain tramping around the world in a psuedo-quest for the ultimate food experience is rather artificial (which he admits right up front). So, bearing in mind that he's being trailed by Food Network cameramen, and has producers to prearrange a lot of stuff for him, Bourdain's global hopscotch of culinary exploration is a very readable and fun journey. He's not really looking for the "perfect meal" so much as looking for the experience that comes with food-from refined dining (there's a chapter on The French Laundry in Napa Valley), to home cooking (massive home-cooked meals in Portugal and Mexico, complete with barnyard slaughter), to street food (several chapters on Cambodia and Vietnam), to ritualized meals (in Japan and Morocco).
If you like your travel narratives to have classy guides, this definitely won't be your cup of tea. Bourdain's "bad boy" chef image is no doubt somewhat calculated and contrived, but he certainly manages to get good and drunk in virtually every chapter, and he's a chain-smoker to boot. Mix in a large number of sketchy gross-out foods (deep-fried Mars Bar, sheep testicles, beating cobra heart, etc.), and you've got a pretty fun little book. As evidenced in his fiction work (Bone in the Throat, Gone Bamboo, The Bobby Gold Stories), he's got excellent timing and can be very, very funny. He can also be very human and poignant, as in the chapter where he and his brother revisit their childhood summer vacation spot in France, and when he talks about his Mexican chefs. Some people have complained that he doesn't describe the food well enough, which I disagree with. Writing about taste is like writing about music, you can only hope to convey a vague impression, and he's really more concerned with the overall experience anyway. I defy anyone's mouth not to water while reading the Vietnam chapters.
Which is not to say to the book is perfect. I actually found his veering into the recent political histories of Vietnam and Cambodia to be rather clumsy but worthwhile. On the other hand, his anti-vegetarian screeching is just plain annoying and off-putting (I am not a vegetarian by the way). He treats all vegetarians as proselytizing, animal-lovers who want to ban any animal death-a portrayal wholly inaccurate of the many vegetarians I've known over the years. First of all, I've never met a proselytizing vegetarian, and second of all, most people I know are vegetarian, are that way for health reasons, not political ones. It's an even more irksome perspective in that he makes a big fuss over how upsetting it is to actual witness a pig/lamb/turkey getting killed for your dinner. It's as if he felt he had to put something feisty or controversial or nasty in there, just to keep his persona going, and it does nothing for the book.
The vegetarian thing aside, I would wholeheartedly recommend this book to anyone interested in food (and who isn't?) or other cultures. The chapters work pretty well on their own, and are the perfect length for devouring one a night before bed, although they'll likely drive you to the kitchen for a midnight snack!

One of the things that sets Tony Bourdain apart from the (other?) celeb chefs on the food-themed cable networks is that he's about the only one who will come right out and tell us when something doesn't taste good. All the others grin and rave about whatever gets placed in front of them. But Tony isn't afraid to tell us, "that's the most disgusting thing I've eaten in my entire life." That's why we love him.
Of course, unlike most of the TV chefs, Tony puts himself in positions where he has to eat disgusting things. That's the basic theme of this book, and he carries it off really well. Well beyond the "don't eat fish on Mondays" and "watch out for the hollandaise" revelations of "Kitchen Confidential," "A Cook's Tour" isn't just a good book-about-food, it's a very good book in its own right. Tony might not value (or appreciate) the comparison to P.J. O'Rourke's "Holidays in Hell," but as writers who can take awful places and experiences and make them downright funny to read about, these two have a lot in common.
I noted in my review of "Kitchen Confidential" that Tony's life was probably a lot more fun to read about than to have lived through (he might not agree with that), and that goes double for this title. Some of what Tony describes here is a little -- or more than a little -- squirm-inducing, while his travelogue of the road to Pailin was downright harrowing. Sensitive readers (as Miss Manners might say) should be aware that there are at least two graphic descriptions of the death of an animal intended for the cookpot -- though as he notes in his excellent section on his dinner with a bunch of vegans, not all killing is "murder," and vegetarianism is a luxury of rich societies. People on the edge of survival literally can't afford to pass on the chicken strutting around their yard in order to await the arrival of expensive and out-of-season veggies.
Some critics have accused Tony of hypocrisy (or selling out) for having a TV show on the Food Network tied into this book when in the past he's said some fairly nasty things about celebrity TV chefs. But the filming of the TV program actually plays an interesting role in his book -- with Tony somewhat undermining his own program by revealing how often what's shown on screen differs substantially from his actual experience in a given location.
The chapter on "The Road to Pailin" -- a section in which food itself barely plays a role -- especially reveals Tony's chops as a writer. But other chapters, especially those on Southeast Asia, are quite well done too. I really enjoyed reading this, and if Tony chooses to put himself in harm's way again, you can be sure I'll be there to read about it.

I enjoyed this much better than Kitchen Confidential, because this book is about more the food, and less about Bourdain. And when the author writes about himself, he really touches more upon the human experience that everyone can relate to rather than the "kitchen locker room" stories that started getting tiresome in Kitchen Confidential. As the author searches for "the perfect meal" and goes to great lengths to find it, we begin to understand how food relates to people live not only in the places he travels to, but all over the world. A major sub-plot is Bourdain's self-parady as a culinary celebrity as the Food Network films him on his travels which became the Cook's Tour series still shown on the Food Network.
The book starts with Tony and his brother returning to France, and the memories they had growing up, many involving food. Rarely are the words "touching" and "Tony Bourdain" used in the same sentence, but the passage where Tony Bourdain talks about his deceased father is indeed touching.
From here, we learn of Bourdain's love of Vietnam, harrowing adventures in Cambodia, a trip to St. Petersberg, Russia through a haze of vodka, eating deadly fish in Japan, and other journeys. There seems to be no place on earth the author won't go, and nothing too bizarre to ingest at least once.
The chapter on San Francisco was a riot, with a long rant against vegetarians that was entertaining because of its great energy and because it held a few nuggets of truth beneath the bluster. Anyone who watches the Cook's Tour episodes on the Food Network will appreciate the "behind the scenes" commentary, which usually involve Bourdain confessing he was drunk or stoned when various segments were shot.
Of course, the quest for the perfect meal is pointless, as Bourdain concedes at the end of the book. We also find out that trying exotic dishes isn't necessarily what it's cracked to be. Cobra bile tastes exactly as appetizing as it sounds.
Books like this are about the quest and the truths found along the way, not the final destination itself. This is a great ride.

I take it all back. Everything I said about Kitchen Confidential I take back. The scrappy edit, the attitude, the skipping over of history, the half-told tales. I take it all back. If the success of that book meant that Anthony Bourdain was allowed to write this book - well, I take it all back.
This time around, Tony (he's Tony, like Tony Soprano) is travelling the world looking for the perfect meal. What that entails (or rather, what that entrails) is eating delicacies indigenous to specific locales: he eats a still-beating cobra's heart and drinks snake bile in Vietnam, he devours the intestines of a pig (and the everything else of a pig) in Portugal, he sucks up fish eyes, he eats a whole roasted lamb with the Tuareg (a nomadic desert community) in the Sahara, he dines with Russian gangsters, he even eats vegetarian food (and you know how much Tony hates vegetarians!). But it's more than that: he eats powdered dried king prawns, chopped toro and fresh chives, he eats tiny coronets of salmon tartare, shallot soup with English cucumber sorbet and dill-weed tuile. Your mouth aches. He eats muc huap (which is steamed squid and ginger), ca thut xot ca chu (tuna braised in tomato and cilantro) and mi canh ca (a sweet-and-sour soup of fish, noodles, tomato, onion, cilantro, pineapple and scallion, together with green crabs overstuffed with roe). You are narcotic with hunger.
But there is still more. You warm to Tony more this time around. It feels like the pressure is off. He is no longer performing (or at least not in the same way). We're old friends now, almost. What problems there are (he still skips - the book is wildly episodic and anecdotal - one chapter he is here, one chapter he is there - you get no real sense of WHY he goes to the places he does, what decisions are made concerning the passage from A to B) don't seem to matter quite so much because the episodes themselves are just so damn good.

Fun, fast, light interesting book about a man on a quest, the quest for the perfect meal. The author struggles to give his definition of the perfect meal, a combination of food, company, and atmosphere, all the circumstances that end up creating a memorable meal that can be remembered for years to come. The author feels the perfect meal must be made from the local surroundings, the culture has adopted this food for a reason. Anthony Bourdon (the cook in this case) does not stick with the mundane 4 star restaurants in each locale, but often frequents the markets where the common people are obtaining their food. The book takes the reader from a Portuguese pig roast, a Bedouin lamb roast, a Scottish grouse hunt/meal, to an Asian feast on the banks of the Mekong. The meals all featured exotic foods and drinks, one case being a shot of alcohol with a still pulsating heart of king cobra. A little education is provided about the history and culture of each locale along with the sacrifices made to bring along a TV camera crew, and of course the meal along with some real amusing anecdotes. Incredibly entertaining. I read this book on a whim, I believe this author's writing syle applied to other subjects would enliven any book.

Having read "Kitchen Confidential", it is evident that Bourdain has a unique approach to being a chef. In "A Cook's Tour", he travels the world in search of the "perfect meal", or to be exact, his perfect meal. He is quick to recognize that the concept of a perfect meal is very subjective, and is different for each person
He travels through Europe and Asia, searching out some of the most unusual and incredible dishes, and he has a camera crew along for the ride. Even if this was not to become a Food Network series, it would still be a great book. Bourdain considers this whole thing to be his way of selling out, which he points out early on, with some humility. Anyone who has read "Kitchen Confidential" would know that Bourdain hates celebrity chefs, Bobby Flay and Emeril being the cheif offenders in his books. For him to do something like this is, in his own worlds, selling himself out. Is it a healthy disrespect for success, or daftness? Perhaps both. But it is a fascinating journey, and exposes different and unusual culinary practices that are interesting, and sometimes hard to stomach.
As someone who aspires to be a chef, this book has presented a neat learning curve to me. The importance of embracing new techniques, and different cuisine of different cultures, is half the battle for being a good chef. The idea for this book was excellent, and it is something that most people would want to do given the oppertunity. Though not all aspects of this book are pleasant. Bourdain visits some places that most of us would rather not. In Asia, he visits a dirty, stagnat swamp hotel just so he can try the fire-roasted duck. He talks about episodes of food poisoning, bacteria, and animal slaughtering. Not all pleasant, but it only adds to the book's intrigue.
Even if you are not a foodie, this is a great read. Bourdain has a fresh and hip writing style that never meanders and keeps the reader hooked. Though I enjoyed "Kitchen Confidential" more, I think "A Cooks Tour" is a excellent book in it's own right.

Tony Bourdain capitalized on the tremendous success of "Kitchen Confidential", an insider's look into the restaurant industry, with a devilishly interesting follow-up. The proposal to his publisher was simple enough. Tony would travel around the world in search of the "perfect" meal. A great excuse for him to leave the hot and sweaty world of his kitchens for a year. His search would lead him to exotic locales around the world and allow him to taste the simple (e.g. food of Puebla, Mexico birthplace of many in his kitchen staff), extreme (e.g. boiled fetal duck egg and pulsating Cobra heart), and over-the-top (e.g. 20 course meal at the French Laundry). In the process, he admits he sold his soul to the devil to get this project done as he traveled with two cameramen who would capture his adventures for the TV Food Network.
The book is an excellent companion to the television series offering behind-the-scene looks at adventures that obviously got left on the cutting room floor. Since Tony is quite a scamp, there are many anecdotes too violent or too disturbing for the average viewer of Emeril Live. He is also better able to articulate what he was observing and more importantly thinking at the time of his adventure. This is something that is difficult to do on video even with voiceover.

I really like Anthony Bourdain, though I suspect he'd have sneering contempt for me. I say this because, even though I've been in the same business as him for over 30 years, I lack his extreme sense of gastro-adventure. But, he writes with such skill, humor, and openness to new experiences in this book that going along for the ride is irresistable. Speaking of contempt, here, he famously and unapologetically expressees HIS for the likes of Emeril and Burt Wolf, and what he perceives to be their faux theatrics, as in Emeril's case, or lack of real ability, as with Mr. Wolf. He also has something of a love/hate relationship with "The Food Network", that mixed blessing largely responsible for both his fame and his dreaded occasional need to be "sociable." He abhors pretension of any kind, and is ready, anxious, and able to squat down in the rice paddies or the mud-hut to fest with the locals. He has a huge respect for not only the inhabitants of wherever he's visiting, but for their traditions and foods. He is well aware of what every good chef/cook should know, that, you never stop learning, sometimes in the most unlikely places, by the most unlikely people. He is definately more "blood & guts" commando, more resembling a burned out rock star, than haughty chef. It is ,however, obvious that he is not only a talented chef (though he refers to himself as a "utility cook"), but a very talented, intelligent writer, who wastes neither food nor words. As for myself, I am someone who has gained a local reputation as something of a very creative short-order wizard where cooking is concerned, so I can really appreciate his referring to himself as "cook", not "chef." (We cooks have been maligned for too long!) Unfortunately, I am definately someone whom Mr. Bourdain would call a "wuss." Though I am not exactly a vegetarian, I like my meat to resemble anything but a formerly "living" thing. And though his skillful descriptions here of the preparation and partaking of numerous meals often had my mouth watering, Mr. Bourdain also recounts in this book numerous incidences of not only witnessing the slaughter of their very imminent meal, but of often eating the fresh kill as it's barely had its last breath. Though he swears that the jumbo lambs testical or sliced calfs face he savored was something that all would enjoy, I can assure you that I'd skip those, thanks...just pass the curried cous-cous with raisins and pita bread. This is a very entertaining book, which is just as much a travel adventure as a gastronomic one. Whether exploring the dangerous underbelly of Russia, or sensually describing the search for the perfect oyster of his past, he makes it all thrilling, and this book would interest those who have never stepped foot in a kitchen. I really enjoyed this book, as I did his "Kitchen Confidential", which exposed the entrails of the restaurant world, to much humor amongst those, like myself, who have long lived it, and to the horror, I'm sure, of many restaurant goers. To Mr. Bourdain, who finally got his aging and over-used legs (I hear THAT...ache!) out of the kitchen, I say, "You go Boy!"

A Fun Read With Some Minor Flaws
Tony Bourdain's "A Cook's Tour" is a fun book to read. I plowed through it voraciously in a matter of days. I watched the companion series on the Food Network and enjoyed it thoroughly. I was concerned that the book would be a mere rehashing of the series and was relieved and pleased to find this was not the case.
Tony's adventures are well written and his humor comes through loud and clear. I particularly liked the chapters on Vietnam and Russia, probably because he enjoyed those countries so much. His return with his brother to his ancestral village in France is also a well-written and intriguing episode in the book.
The book suffers somewhat from a lack of cohesion. The book has a number of chapters on Vietnam, but it breaks them up with chapters about other countries. For me, this was rather jarring. It was exacerbated by the lack of any kind of introduction or segue between the chapters. At times, it felt like I was reading a series of magazine articles that had been compiled, rather than a book which was conceived as a whole.
At times, he also lets his preconceptions of a country get in the way of his gaining a better understanding of its cuisine - Morocco and Cambodia being cases in point.
The other complaint I have about the book is his repeated tirades against vegetarians (full disclosure: I am a longtime lacto-ovo vegetarian). He is certainly entitled to his opinion, but I think that three or four separate tirades on the subject in a slime volume is rather much. I find his primary complaint, that vegetarians are ruining cuisine, to be absurd. At the end of one of his invectives, he concludes the enemy of real cuisine is fast food and overly processed food, which is probably closer to the mark.
All in all, it is a fascinating book even with its flaws. As Tony notes, simple food, honestly prepared, is often the most pleasurable, whether it is a spring roll wrapped in lettuce with basil or a dumpling followed by a shot of vodka. I really enjoyed most of "A Cook's Tour", and I do owe Tony a debt for improving my cooking with his recommendations from his book "Kitchen Confidential" - using shallots and finishing dishes off with butter. And if he would like a wonderful food experience which happens to be vegetarian, all he has to do is stroll down to Hangawi on East 32nd Street for an amazing dining experience, honestly and simply prepared.

I found this book totally fun... totally unique. I read a bit of this book in a book store before i purchased it and was laughing so hard at someof his discriptions of food, i was crying. On one hand he is recording cultures thru their food on the other searching for what he feels is missing in more modern cultures. How some cultures continue to honor the *throw-away* type food (pigs ears... organs... feet of any kind... strange creatures of all kinds... fruits that smell so bad you cant imagine eating them until you do...)while others dont eat anything more exotic than dark meat chicken (as opposed to white meat chicken)
he cant stand bobby flay or emeral (which is enough for me to feel a kindred spirit to him) yet clearly feels some of his choices are sending him on a similar path... ie...he took his tour looking for these hidden foods but had to take them accompanied by cameras and sometimes had to re-take scenes where he thanked the host several times... it seems to have made him feel less genuine, but he is resigned to it and really funny about it... his style of writing is converstaional. its not hard to read this book fairly quickly. i wish it were longer. his humor runs the gamut between very dry to wildly slapstick slapstick...its hard to know what is coming next... he found what was wrong and missing from alot of cook books....the humanity. with all its laughs... great dishes....dreadful misses.... and of course, palpating cobra hearts!

I enjoyed this book so much, it was very refreshing to read a no-b.s. first-person account of an interesting journey. Bordain offers up the best kind of combination in a person/author: experience mixed with freshness and honesty. He gives you his thoughts uncensored, and he's as sensitive as he is tough. He's also very funny. His tour takes us on a walk through different cultures, with food being the glue that binds us. We all eat, but wow, how differently in some cases. It's true, this book is not about "a perfect meal" in the simplistic sense (entree-starch-veg, anyone?). He explains this concept from the get-go. A perfect meal always depends on a variety of external factors that are often surprising and usually out of our control. The memorable moments of life, which happen to be experienced at table. His thoughtful account of his trips to Japan, Morocco, Portugal, and other, more far-flug places, tell us about the people, their traditions, and their values glimpsed through their eating habits. I thought his choice of trips was perfect, and loved all the details he shares. His trip back to France with his brother was touching. Bordain's observations are often funny, sometimes sad, always forthright. For me, another 1/2 Euro/1/2 Yank, it is facsinating to compare life around the world to life in America, with mixed results. Here, on the downside, we may have nearly lost our connections to our food, our families, and our communities, but on the upside, you're not likely to find a killing farm retreat, or kids working all night, shuttling drunks, for three bucks. I learned a lot from this book, it was really entertaining and interesting. I highly recommend it.

Celebrity chef Anthony Bourdain has that cock-of-the-walk, been-there-done-that personality that people either like or loathe. This travel/food short story collection - 22 in all - will unlikely change anyone's opinions, but on its own, it provides a fascinating glimpse into a variety of cultures and the attitudes of natives to their food. It also makes the ideal companion to the series he did for the Food Network. The concept is simple: he travels the world searching for the perfect meal and discovers more to the countries than just the food. Each chapter is devoted to a particular country or trip.

When he sticks to his topic, the book is a fun, interesting read, for example, when he talks about Japan, he recognizes that much of their food preparation reflects the cultural obsession with quality. He manages to get us into a family home in St. Petersburg and captures the spirit within the darkness of that country. In Mexico, he paints a vivid tableau of a small town feast and how their sense of community informs all their cooking. My favorite chapter is on Vietnam where he shows a real intimacy with the people there and a certain audacity in trying soft-boiled duck embryos and live cobra hearts. Having taken cooking lessons in a number of the countries he visited, I can appreciate his sense of wonder and surprise when he tries something most of the rest of us wouldn't dare touch. Bourdain is most successful when he positions himself as a curious traveler but less so when he feels a need to exhibit how cool he is, offering self-congratulatory quips rather than real insights. Regardless, whether it's deep-fried Mars bars in Glasgow, roasted lamb testicles in Morocco, or a four-star meal at Thomas Keller's French Laundry restaurant in Yountville, California, this book offers Bourdain's adventurous palette in easy, bite-size pieces.

Have always enjoyed Anthony Bourdain and his commentary. Find his raw character to be truthful without any sugarcoating. Yes, he can be vulgar with his language, but his straightforwardness is refreshing in today's hyped media.

It took 186 pages, but the real Anthony Bourdain finally showed up.

That's an unfair comment, but based on reading a few of Mr. Bourdain's other works I feel qualified to pontificate on his strengths. The first nine chapters of 'Cook's Tour' betray none of the glorious culinary abandon from 'Kitchen Confidential' or his latest cookbook (cross-promoted with his current employer, Les Halles restaurant in New York City). When he finally arrives in England and tears into a rip-snorting endorsement of chef Fergus Henderson--and a passionate defense of "real British cooking"--I actually breathed a sigh of relief. If only the whole book had this unique energy.

But, alas, it doesn't. Bourdain perhaps senses this from the start; the introduction is almost apologetic about the book's purpose ("traveling around the world searching for the perfect meal") and though he humorously warns us in advance about the whole adventure being filmed for a food-oriented TV network (guess which one) this angle clearly impinges on the book's narrative. With this muddy purpose we get 185 pages of "I went here and this happened" stories--from Portugal to France to Russia and beyond--without any clue where we're going and worse: virtually none of the author's blood-curdling culinary opinions. Bourdain munches and sips from various things in these locales, but without any dramatic or even comedic culinary context. He apparently wishes us inspiration from reading about his childhood flashbacks (France) or politically-inspired guilt (Vietnam). Sorry Tony -- I'm just not that interested.

Fortunately when we get to England Bourdain wakes up. I found the remainder of the book as delightful, funny, and viscously honest as the beginning was navel-gazing and confused. His paeans to local cuisine in Mexico and Vietnam are breathtaking; the Mexican connection is especially poignant since he visits the home of a few of his fellow Les Halles cooks and finds himself staggered by their culinary culture. This essay ('Where Cooks Come From') is alone worth the price of the book.

Like more than a few tomes, 'A Cook's Tour' would earn top marks from me if only the author had stuck to his obvious strengths (extolling passionate cooks and funky-but-delicious food, skewering hypocritical and pretentious culinary trends) throughout. Slogging through the aimless essays where none of this is in evidence was disappointing and frustrating. I can only hope Mr. Bourdain--clearly one of our best current food writers--learns his lesson and finds (another) good subject into which to sink his razor-sharp teeth.

Bourdain's book A Cook's Tour is an exceptional tour of strange and interesting cuisine spanning the globe from Mexico to Portugal to France to Vietnam. He tells of a pig feast in Portugal, from the slaughter to the table. Of a full, entire sheep in Morocco. Of a bar-cum-shooting gallery in Cambodia with live grenades and AK-47's for sampling. And, of course, of the infamous cobra feast in Vietnam.
Bourdain's style makes the book a quick and enjoyable read; his descriptions leap off the page (for better or worse--I could almost have done without a vivid characterization of eating natto or of the questionable French food Tete de veaux) and bring to life the exotic foods, locations, and people he meets. His gritty, no-nonsense approach makes everything seem all the more real and alive.
Television fans may have seen Bourdain's show on Food Network and thus already be familiar with his culinary adventure, but the book is so much more and reveals every facet that failed to make it to the screen. If you enjoy travel or food writing, A Cook's Tour is a must-read.

I'm a huge Bourdain fan. Kitchen Confidential is one of my favorite books of all time. His initial foray into TV on the Food Network was ok at best. This book reveals some of why that was the case, giving insights into the tv production process here and there.

However, what I love about this book is that it has a soul and is revealing and emotional in ways that Food Network probably wasn't interested in. This book is much more akin to what No Reservations has become - a show about exploring food and foreign cultures and being open to learning and experiencing new things in the world.

This book is at times moving (the chapter in France - if you've lost a parent, you'll feel the same way) funny and always interesting. A great read, which I've returned to many times over the years.

Parts of this book are very funny; some of Bourdain's adventures make you wish you were on the road with him (but using an assumed name to protect yourself afterwards).
Unfortunately, the tale of the tour is awkwardly constructed. There are several chapters about his experience in Viet Nam throughout the book. He should have kept them together and made a more coherent view of his point of view. If Bourdain had wanted to use it as a touchstone against which to measure other places, he should have done that more clearly. Instead, his approach comes off as clumsy.
Certain portions of the tour are really well described; notably Morocco and the Basque country. Sadly, the discussions of his trip to Cambodia and Mexico are rather ..., even though it's apparent that these were two really exciting places. Too bad he didn't have Hunter Thompson as his editor.
While dining on exotic and sometimes disgusting things is the theme of the book, Bourdain tells us only that some meal is "the best [insert type of food here.. sushi, taco etc.] ever," or that it was really awful. The descriptions of the bad meals are more skillful than the good ones. Bourdain is never able to tell you why something is good, even though he's a master at letting you what a bad meal tastes like.
Bottom line... quite a few laughs; no real point; wait for the paperback.

As a fan of Bourdain's current television show (No Reservations), I was already predisposed to enjoy this book. But I am happy to say that I was not disappointed.

Bourdain's writing is wonderful- conversational in tone, but still informative, educated but earthy, ribald but still respectful. He eats, drinks, and smokes his way across the globe, TV crew in tow, and lives to tell the tales.

If you long to have an international adventure of your own, or already have one or two under your belt, his stories of bliss and terror (often to be found side-by-side) are sure to excite the imagination, and prompt a nod of recognition among those who have shared similar experiences.

As other reviewers have noted, this is almost two books- one is a spicy masala of travel experiences, the other a long-form love letter to Vietnam. In an apparent attempt to avoid the impression of having written two-books-in-one, he has broken up his Vietnam experiences into several parts, spread throughout the book.

But the result is that Bourdain appears to us as a man obsessed with his new love- no matter where else in the world he has last discussed, whatever horror or pleasure he has just recounted, he can't keep from going back to Vietnam. The food, the people, the overall atmosphere - a stark contrast(and odd union)between a controlled, communist society, and the laissez faire energy of the street. He clearly loves it, and cannot stop talking about it. He has gone to the supposed heart of darkness and has found it much to his liking.

But what if it is two books? I find that I like them both. Plus, Bourdain's enthusiasm is infectious - I love Bourdain's Vietnam too. It sounds like a great place. Pho, anyone?

Please note that this book does feature the slaughter of many innocent (but delicious) animals, excessive use of drugs and alcohol, and deplorable acts of gluttony. But if you are a fan of Mr. Bourdain, you already knew that. It's not for the faint of heart- but for the rest of us, this is an enjoyable read. Highly recommended.

I loved this book. Whenever I travel I like to eat the local food, good or bad. Honestly most everything is great. I loved the fact that the only thing he hated was the hygienic vegan food he ate at some constipated fancy dinner party. I feel the same way.
The book was an engaging read and I like the way he didn't shy away from the slaughter that precedes most of his meals. That is what is takes and I'm glad to see somebody is happy to describe it and then readily consume whatever animal has so recently been unceremoniously killed. It is a great book, not for the weak stomached, but great nonetheless.
I'd recommend it to almost anybody. As a person who has eaten camels, snakes, porcupines, jellyfish, insect larvae, and virtually every organ found in vertebrates I feel like Mr. Bourdain is a kindred spirit. Read the book and start your own eating adventure

Celebrity chef Anthony Bourdain has that cock-of-the-walk, been-there-done-that personality that people either like or loathe. This travel/food short story collection - 22 in all - will unlikely change anyone's opinions, but on its own, it provides a fascinating glimpse into a variety of cultures and the attitudes of natives to their food. It also makes the ideal companion to the series he did for the Food Network. The concept is simple: he travels the world searching for the perfect meal and discovers more to the countries than just the food. Each chapter is devoted to a particular country or trip.

When he sticks to his topic, the book is a fun, interesting read, for example, when he talks about Japan, he recognizes that much of their food preparation reflects the cultural obsession with quality. He manages to get us into a family home in St. Petersburg and captures the spirit within the darkness of that country. In Mexico, he paints a vivid tableau of a small town feast and how their sense of community informs all their cooking. My favorite chapter is on Vietnam where he shows a real intimacy with the people there and a certain audacity in trying soft-boiled duck embryos and live cobra hearts. Having taken cooking lessons in a number of the countries he visited, I can appreciate his sense of wonder and surprise when he tries something most of the rest of us wouldn't dare touch. Bourdain is most successful when he positions himself as a curious traveler but less so when he feels a need to exhibit how cool he is, offering self-congratulatory quips rather than real insights. Regardless, whether it's deep-fried Mars bars in Glasgow, roasted lamb testicles in Morocco, or a four-star meal at Thomas Keller's French Laundry restaurant in Yountville, California, this book offers Bourdain's adventurous palette in easy, bite-size pieces.

Have always enjoyed Anthony Bourdain and his commentary. Find his raw character to be truthful without any sugarcoating. Yes, he can be vulgar with his language, but his straightforwardness is refreshing in today's hyped media.

It took 186 pages, but the real Anthony Bourdain finally showed up.

That's an unfair comment, but based on reading a few of Mr. Bourdain's other works I feel qualified to pontificate on his strengths. The first nine chapters of 'Cook's Tour' betray none of the glorious culinary abandon from 'Kitchen Confidential' or his latest cookbook (cross-promoted with his current employer, Les Halles restaurant in New York City). When he finally arrives in England and tears into a rip-snorting endorsement of chef Fergus Henderson--and a passionate defense of "real British cooking"--I actually breathed a sigh of relief. If only the whole book had this unique energy.

But, alas, it doesn't. Bourdain perhaps senses this from the start; the introduction is almost apologetic about the book's purpose ("traveling around the world searching for the perfect meal") and though he humorously warns us in advance about the whole adventure being filmed for a food-oriented TV network (guess which one) this angle clearly impinges on the book's narrative. With this muddy purpose we get 185 pages of "I went here and this happened" stories--from Portugal to France to Russia and beyond--without any clue where we're going and worse: virtually none of the author's blood-curdling culinary opinions. Bourdain munches and sips from various things in these locales, but without any dramatic or even comedic culinary context. He apparently wishes us inspiration from reading about his childhood flashbacks (France) or politically-inspired guilt (Vietnam). Sorry Tony -- I'm just not that interested.

Fortunately when we get to England Bourdain wakes up. I found the remainder of the book as delightful, funny, and viscously honest as the beginning was navel-gazing and confused. His paeans to local cuisine in Mexico and Vietnam are breathtaking; the Mexican connection is especially poignant since he visits the home of a few of his fellow Les Halles cooks and finds himself staggered by their culinary culture. This essay ('Where Cooks Come From') is alone worth the price of the book.

Like more than a few tomes, 'A Cook's Tour' would earn top marks from me if only the author had stuck to his obvious strengths (extolling passionate cooks and funky-but-delicious food, skewering hypocritical and pretentious culinary trends) throughout. Slogging through the aimless essays where none of this is in evidence was disappointing and frustrating. I can only hope Mr. Bourdain--clearly one of our best current food writers--learns his lesson and finds (another) good subject into which to sink his razor-sharp teeth.

Bourdain's book A Cook's Tour is an exceptional tour of strange and interesting cuisine spanning the globe from Mexico to Portugal to France to Vietnam. He tells of a pig feast in Portugal, from the slaughter to the table. Of a full, entire sheep in Morocco. Of a bar-cum-shooting gallery in Cambodia with live grenades and AK-47's for sampling. And, of course, of the infamous cobra feast in Vietnam.
Bourdain's style makes the book a quick and enjoyable read; his descriptions leap off the page (for better or worse--I could almost have done without a vivid characterization of eating natto or of the questionable French food Tete de veaux) and bring to life the exotic foods, locations, and people he meets. His gritty, no-nonsense approach makes everything seem all the more real and alive.
Television fans may have seen Bourdain's show on Food Network and thus already be familiar with his culinary adventure, but the book is so much more and reveals every facet that failed to make it to the screen. If you enjoy travel or food writing, A Cook's Tour is a must-read.

I'm a huge Bourdain fan. Kitchen Confidential is one of my favorite books of all time. His initial foray into TV on the Food Network was ok at best. This book reveals some of why that was the case, giving insights into the tv production process here and there.

However, what I love about this book is that it has a soul and is revealing and emotional in ways that Food Network probably wasn't interested in. This book is much more akin to what No Reservations has become - a show about exploring food and foreign cultures and being open to learning and experiencing new things in the world.

This book is at times moving (the chapter in France - if you've lost a parent, you'll feel the same way) funny and always interesting. A great read, which I've returned to many times over the years.

Parts of this book are very funny; some of Bourdain's adventures make you wish you were on the road with him (but using an assumed name to protect yourself afterwards).
Unfortunately, the tale of the tour is awkwardly constructed. There are several chapters about his experience in Viet Nam throughout the book. He should have kept them together and made a more coherent view of his point of view. If Bourdain had wanted to use it as a touchstone against which to measure other places, he should have done that more clearly. Instead, his approach comes off as clumsy.
Certain portions of the tour are really well described; notably Morocco and the Basque country. Sadly, the discussions of his trip to Cambodia and Mexico are rather ..., even though it's apparent that these were two really exciting places. Too bad he didn't have Hunter Thompson as his editor.
While dining on exotic and sometimes disgusting things is the theme of the book, Bourdain tells us only that some meal is "the best [insert type of food here.. sushi, taco etc.] ever," or that it was really awful. The descriptions of the bad meals are more skillful than the good ones. Bourdain is never able to tell you why something is good, even though he's a master at letting you what a bad meal tastes like.
Bottom line... quite a few laughs; no real point; wait for the paperback.

As a fan of Bourdain's current television show (No Reservations), I was already predisposed to enjoy this book. But I am happy to say that I was not disappointed.

Bourdain's writing is wonderful- conversational in tone, but still informative, educated but earthy, ribald but still respectful. He eats, drinks, and smokes his way across the globe, TV crew in tow, and lives to tell the tales.

If you long to have an international adventure of your own, or already have one or two under your belt, his stories of bliss and terror (often to be found side-by-side) are sure to excite the imagination, and prompt a nod of recognition among those who have shared similar experiences.

As other reviewers have noted, this is almost two books- one is a spicy masala of travel experiences, the other a long-form love letter to Vietnam. In an apparent attempt to avoid the impression of having written two-books-in-one, he has broken up his Vietnam experiences into several parts, spread throughout the book.

But the result is that Bourdain appears to us as a man obsessed with his new love- no matter where else in the world he has last discussed, whatever horror or pleasure he has just recounted, he can't keep from going back to Vietnam. The food, the people, the overall atmosphere - a stark contrast(and odd union)between a controlled, communist society, and the laissez faire energy of the street. He clearly loves it, and cannot stop talking about it. He has gone to the supposed heart of darkness and has found it much to his liking.

But what if it is two books? I find that I like them both. Plus, Bourdain's enthusiasm is infectious - I love Bourdain's Vietnam too. It sounds like a great place. Pho, anyone?

Please note that this book does feature the slaughter of many innocent (but delicious) animals, excessive use of drugs and alcohol, and deplorable acts of gluttony. But if you are a fan of Mr. Bourdain, you already knew that. It's not for the faint of heart- but for the rest of us, this is an enjoyable read. Highly recommended.

I loved this book. Whenever I travel I like to eat the local food, good or bad. Honestly most everything is great. I loved the fact that the only thing he hated was the hygienic vegan food he ate at some constipated fancy dinner party. I feel the same way.
The book was an engaging read and I like the way he didn't shy away from the slaughter that precedes most of his meals. That is what is takes and I'm glad to see somebody is happy to describe it and then readily consume whatever animal has so recently been unceremoniously killed. It is a great book, not for the weak stomached, but great nonetheless.
I'd recommend it to almost anybody. As a person who has eaten camels, snakes, porcupines, jellyfish, insect larvae, and virtually every organ found in vertebrates I feel like Mr. Bourdain is a kindred spirit. Read the book and start your own eating adventure

Bad boy chef Bourdain has produced a true gem here.
The man who chopped and dished up a delicious Kitchen Confidential goes one better with this collection of tales of eating and cooking in an amazing array of international locales. It's not just food that makes this book so engaging. It's the travel tales, the glimpses of humanity, the quite perfect humor writing. Bourdain's account of riding shotgun in a Vietnamese sedan manages to top P. J. O'Rourke's side-splitting rules of third world driving. I think I laughed out loud during A Cook's Tour more than any other book, ever!
Only downside is Bourdain's overly elaborated love of hashish & tobacco, but the main thrust of this book is the author's world tour of eating for a cable food channel; he manages to infuse more humor into these chapters than there are calories in a Baked Alaska.
It's a truly hilarious read. Great gift for either a foodie, an inveterate traveler, or anyone who appreciates good humor.

Bouncing around the world with a camera crew in tow, Bourdain hits as many culinary adventures as you can imagine. Morocco, Cambodia, Vietnam, are all on his travel schedule as he pursues the perfect meal. Cobra heart, haggis, fugu are all on the agenda, but it's the little wonders that are truly memorable. The Tokyo fish market, the trip to the hometown of his sous chef, a wonderful look at true Mexican cooking,and Bourdain's regret and acceptance over a pig being slaughtered for his benefit in Portugal are all wonderful examples of how well Bourdain can tell a story. Bourdain constantly entertains and intrigues with his willingness to describe the food, the people, and most comically, the TV Food Network's attempts to "spice" (sorry) things up. Much more thoughtful than the "in your face" approach of KITCHEN CONFIDENTIAL, A COOK'S TOUR succeeds as a culinary adventure, with an intelligent and thoughful guide, who realizes that "Perfect, like happy, sneaks up on you."

I thought Kitchen Confidential was a good read but this book is even better.
The details he gives you on the food he tries all over the world either make you salivate or want to vomit depending on what he is tasting.
Half the fun of the book, however, is anthony's take on the countries, people, culture and adventures he has while in the countries. Some were so frightening it was like a suspense book. Others were endearing.
At times I wished I were there with him and at others so glad I was not.
Definately a fun read but also deeper than that. His chapter on going to France with his brother is more about the loss of their father and not being able to "go back home" again than about food. There are lots of chapters with similar hidden themes about life and human nature.
Pick this one up!

This book disappointed me. I'd already read and enjoyed Kitchen Confidential and The Nasty Bits. I thought I would find A Cook's Tour to be a similarly spirited and opinionated trip through Bourdain's brain, this time in the framework of amazing meals from all over the world. It let me down. Don't get me wrong: there are some great moments in this book, but as a whole it didn't work, and actually irritated me.

Bourdain wrote this book as the Food Network sent him around the world in search of the "perfect meal," or more realistically, to try unusual and sometimes scary (to Western tastes) cuisine. The book felt disjointed and mostly flat, as though Bourdain's heart wasn't in it. And it probably wasn't: he seemed unhappy about being paraded around by a television network, expected to cooperate with the camera crew, and to pursue places and dishes not necessarily on his own "to do" list.

So, while some passages are vivid and enticing, others slog along, a decent but not exciting mixture of food and travel writing. And I really didn't warm up to his hypocritical bashing of other celebrity chefs and complaints about filming, when I knew that he was increasing his own fame and fortune in the process.

For the first time, I started to lose patience with and respect for Bourdain. After three books, his grouchy, tough-but-soft persona starts to wear a little thin. Just how real is it? And his biases -- he hates vegetarians, The Grateful Dead, Jamie Oliver, etc., etc. -- start to become grating, since he wastes no opportunity to remind us of them in his every book.

It's odd, because as a vegetarian myself, I was never offended before at his rants against herbivores. Whatever. I understand that veg-heads miss out on all this great food and won't eat the cuisine he takes such pride in preparing and enjoying. I get that some vegans are self-righteous and dogmatic and try to impose their dietary practices on others. What went over the top in this book, though, was that Bourdain had a vegan meal -- but the venue he chose was clearly intended to bolster his hatred for all things vegan. He went looking for a disappointing meal and got what he was looking for. He made some nasty insinuations about the psychological problems of people who won't eat meat. And he never mentioned -- and interestingly, never visited -- cultures where vegetarianism is the norm.

Somehow, over the course of this book, I went from admiring Bourdain to being irritated by him. I still recommend Kitchen Confidential for sure... it's great stuff... but once you've gone there, and had a taste of The Nasty Bits as well, this one is a big step backwards.

This book is a journal of Anthony Bourdain's travels across to try new foods. He travels a varied and sizable portion of the world, with each chapter describing a new location and new foods to eat. It is worth noting that this book was written during, and is the perfect complement to the show "Cook's Tour" on Food Network.

This book is quick, fluid, and enjoyable. He delves into details that are fascinating, such as the history of a certain city, the rise of Mexican chefs, his French summer home, the dangers of Cambodia, and so much more.

All in all, it's a great little read that mixes a little bit of history, cooking, multi-culturalism, and Bordain's opinionated sayings. Nothing spectacular, but a good fun book.

I loved eating vicariously through Bourdain and will recommend this book to anyone who's into food/cooking/travelling. The pursuit of the perfect meal sounds rather silly and impossible, which the author also acknowledges, but is fraught with lots of fun! I like Bourdain's candid writing style and found myself snickering/laughing/giggling while reading the book. There are also moments that I think anyone can identify with him, specifically, when he was reminiscing about foods he ate in his childhood.

As a cooking/baking/food enthusiast, I thought it's really cool to have a glimpse of the world from a chef's viewpoint. Before reading this book, I didn't like Anthony Bourdain because I thought he was intentionally abrasive and rude. However, after reading this book, I can't get enough of reading him. I wish I could watch the TV series of the same name somehow but there are no DVDs of it. Anyway, this is a totally worthy, fun read from start to finish!

Anthony Bourdain does it again with "A Cook's Tour". In this book Anthony recounts his travels all over the world in search of the perfect meal. Beware...this book is at points rather graphic...and if you really don't want to know where your meat comes from, well..... From the dark depths of the Cambodian jungle to Thomas Keller's French Laundry, Bourdain leads the reader on an amazing journey of the palate. He stops at nothing in his quest, eating virtually anything and everything that is placed in front of him, all in the name of culinary journalism. The reader will likely be amazed at what many people eat throughout the world, but will certainly come away with a new respect for food, and an ambition to try things new and bizarre before passing judgment on what many other people would consider "good eating".

Anthony Bourdain's writing is steeped with the street-smart coolness that can only come from a lifetime New Yorker. In A Cook's Tour he manages to combine the travelogue with food writing without it being completely fruity.
Bourdain travels around the world sampling local cuisine and meeting interesting characters. You can tell how passionate he is about food and life and it's wonderful to read an author who really loves his subject. He's also side-splittingly sardonic about the different situations he finds himself in.
This book is also much more personal than I expected. His manic-depression shines through: one moment is a blissful celebration of life and the next is full of self-loathing. A trip to his boyhood haunts in France and a scary side trip to Cambodia are especially poignant. Bourdain gets four stars in my Michelin Guide.

It's subtitled, 'In Search of the Perfect Meal', but really, it should be, 'What's the Grossest Thing You Ever Ate?' The point here is not perfection, nor even exotica. The author does explain later...way later...in the book that a perfect meal is in attitude and not the ingredients, which is reasonable, but that still seems unfair to book-buyers who may be expecting it to actually be about food as opposed to raw snake innards. Just so we understand that the author is a manly sort of chef... his idea of a perfect meal seems to be something freshly slaughtered, something that was someone else's pet, or better still, both. Indeed, his attitude towards food is odd; like an anorexic, he seems to have both a fascination and a revulsion for it.
Once you get past expecting him to be a foodie and let him be a story-teller, he's rather entertaining, in the manner of a drunken uncle telling tales of his travels... His disappointment at not getting fugu poisoning struck me as droll and I laughed long and hard over that, but that's probably just me.

First caveat: this is not a search for the perfect meal. Tony admits that such a concept is ludicrous (p. 272). Actually, a delightful search for the elements of such a meal is the subject of WHO IS KILLING THE GREAT CHEFS OF EUROPE? (1978), with George Segal, Jacqueline Bisset, and the great Robert Morley, a tale that is structured far more effectively than A COOK'S TOUR.
This tour is reminiscent (beyond homage) of one of Michael Palin's, in which the world's garden spots are bypassed in favor of treks up foetid rivers in uncertain vehicles. Tony gushes over Vietnam, drags us to Cambodia, and skips Italy. He expresses his love of haggis and manages to stomach a still-beating cobra heart, but then joins the throng of obeisant admirers of the French Laundry in Yountville. He blisters his body in an overheated Russian sauna, then jumps into frozen waters. Sorry, Tony; include me out.
Of course, none of this matters. The book is not about food; it is about the ethos of food and Tony's reaction to that ethos. That reaction is always interesting. How many people can write a book this uneven and yet consistently sustain the reader's attention? Tony's take on food and the people who create and enjoy it has not changed substantially from KITCHEN CONFIDENTIAL, though A COOK'S TOUR pays more attention to the diner's perspective than that of the cook. For a cinematic representation of the New York kitchen of KITCHEN CONFIDENTIAL, see the excellent film, DINNER RUSH. (And when you make your pilgrimage to the notoriously noisy Les Halles, simply skip lunch, eat an early, quiet dinner, and enjoy. Yes, the wait staff all love Tony and yes, the frites are fabulous.)
In short, this is a book for those who can't get enough of Tony and his take on things. Their number is large and growing. That take is more or less libertarian, the point (as was often said in the 60's) where the far right and the far left meet. The result is a point of view that is politically incorrect, gonzo, but also commonsensical. It is a welcome voice in many ways, but Tony--forget the haggis and the still-beating cobra hearts. Take us to Vina del Mar for some pisco sours or to any of the restaurants in Cortona. Let Michael Palin get eaten by bugs. Take us to the Dordogne.

I first read Kitchen Confidental, which I found was
a wonderful book, sooo I was looking forward to a Cooks
Tour. I found it wonderful as well. He tried food
that I would not touch if it was living, much less
dead. The fact that he tried blow fish, which in his
book mentions that fact you could die if not cooked
right. It was very brave on his part. I have to say
that at times I was reading this book while I was
eating lunch and at times had to put it down. The snake
wine, no thank you. If you want to read a book about
food and how many food there is out there, you will
be amazed. Some places over seas, the do not waste one
part of the meat, example was pig. Tony's writing is
fun and you will enjoy this book. Also watch his new
show on the Food Network called a Cooks Tour. You will
be hooked as I am. Enjoy! Let me know if you have
ever tried Goats Rectum!

Who else but Tony Bourdain could get away with starting off a piece on food in Cambodia with a bitter rant against Henry Kissinger? Much less regale the reader with his various temper tantrums, drunken escapades and intestinal woes for more than 300 pages and still come out smelling like a rose. Bourdain only gets better in "A Cook's Tour," a book whose limp title hardly reflects the bacchanalian revels within. The highlights in this book are often Bourdain's lowlights, his frequent bouts of melancholy and fits of pique against the indignities imposed by the TV crew trailing him around the word. And no one writing today has captured the sleazy half-life of expats in third-world Asia better than Bourdain in a few brilliant paragraphs on Phnom Penh. Travelers, food fans, fans of great writing, you'll treasure this book.

I purchased Kitchen Confidential and A Cook's Tour at an airport based on the recommendation of a chef who was cooking in our ski chalet. I read the two books by the time we'd returned home.

As I read the reviews here, I'm amazed by some of the negative comments. Bourdain's offensiveness, the "shock value" of the cuisine and the fact that there are no recipes in the books seem to be common points of issue. One reviewer even recommended the purchasing of Jamie Oliver's books because they have cooking information in them.

Bourdain likes to smoke, drink and use some occasional drugs. That is part of the adventure. I was laughing every time he recounted one of these stories. He's offensive, that's why he's funny and the writing is so entertaining. He also made an extraordinary number of friends in these countries (many are thanked in the notes at the end of the book) so he was hardly just trashing every foreigner he came across.

As to the "shock value", sure he ate Cobras heart and other gruesome items that clearly would "shock". But in most cases he did it because these items were regional delicacies/specialties e.g. beating cobra heart. By and large he discusses "normal" food and I found this balance extremely interesting. Tales of the seafood, soups and other dishes that he eats in Vietnam comprise the majority of those chapters, not the cobra. Get past the occasional shocking item.

I own all of Jamie Oliver's cookbooks and when I want to cook, I use those. When I want to have a bit of a laugh, Jamie Oliver's recipe for home made pasta isn't going to provide the entertainment I'm looking for. Bourdain will.

Kitchen Confidential and A Cook's Tour are obviously not designed to be recipe books. If you've bought them for this reason then that's your mistake and not the fault of the writer. What they have done for me, is piqued my interest in cuisine from different regions of the world that I have struggled to appreciate in the past. Now if I want to practice cooking these items I'll get a suitable recipe book.

I think the two stories are thoroughly entertaining. I laughed myself all the way back home.

I can't wait for the next book.

Anthony Bourdain's tour of meals around the world is an homage to food, to meals, and to "the good guys" who prepare those meals. I read the book before I saw the companion series on FoodTV, and they're different enough that I wanted to read the book while I was watching it unfold on TV. His chapter on England is great, particularly his praise of Fergus Henderson, the king of blood and guts cooking, and his takedown of a vegetarian dinner party is worth the price of the book. Given the choice between Kitchen Confidential and A Cook's Tour, I'll take the former, but I'd rather have, and re-read, both.

This is a great book for anyone who's ever chosen a vacation spot based on the cuisine, or driven 100 miles out of the way for a special meal. Bourdain is willing to try anything, and I liked living vicariously through his food lust. (Though a lover of food, there are definately things I would never eat)
The only chapter I had fault with was his chapter on French Laundry. Having fantasized about that restaurant for years, I was hungering for a more detailed description of the 20 courses that he sampled- what exactly were those 20 courses? And the courses of the other guests.
My one hope is that Bourdain decides to keep searching for great food!!

The colossal irony of the Food Network series on which this book is based is the heart felt statements in the author's previous book `Kitchen Confidential' that he will never get his own Food Network series. He goes on in that book to say some rather unflattering things about Emeril Lagasse that seem to be a guarantee that his prediction will come true.
Well, Anthony Bourdain got his own Food Network show, and it is, to my lights, the most enjoyable travelogue style show they have ever done. I will warrant the prediction that it will also be the most enjoyable travelogue show they will ever do. I think the original 16 to 18 episodes are even better than the `second season' episodes he did which were not in this book. In the follow-up episodes, Bourdain (or his handlers) tend to start parodying themselves and make more coy, self-referential statements such as the cute business when Tony is in New Orleans and he gets slugged by matronly women for dissing their favorite son, Emeril.
In case you are not familiar with the Bourdain persona, I can quote a local paper's comparison to Emeril as the Food Network's star student, Alton Brown as the class nerd, and Tony Bourdain as the perennial juvenile delinquent. That is not to say Bourdain's view of things is juvenile. It is, in fact, as insightful as any other culinary commentary. The difference between Bourdain and other culinary travelers is that Bourdain is telling us about things from the inside, from the point of view of palate, tongue, nose, ears, and tummy. He is also talking from the inside in that he has been a working cook and chef for his whole life, who has seen just about everything the other culinary journalists have seen and more, including a stint at a childhood in France. The sardonic twist which gives Bourdain's reporting an outlaw flavor just adds to the entertainment value.
One of the more successful realizations of this book is the author's interpretation of `Extreme Cuisines' in the subtitle. This includes all the expected venues such as a boatride up the Southeast Asian River to Cambodia, with more than a few references to `Apocalypse Now' and trips to Spain, Morocco, Russia, Mexico, Japan, and Scotland. How can you expect an exotic foods show not include haggis. But Bourdain also includes the very tame and very safe venue in Napa Valley called the French Laundry. While this site may be free of iguana meat or eels or lamb testicles, it is not safe for Bourdain's psyche and self-respect. This is the home ground of Thomas Keller, arguably the most distinguished chef in the country.
To insulate himself from facing the Olympian cuisine of Keller alone, and to insure that he gets his invite for himself and his camera crew, Bourdain sits down to the meal with three very well-connected colleagues. These three musketeers are Scott Byron, the chef at the New York City restaurant Veritas, Michael Ruhlman, a journalist / chef and co-author of Keller's cookbook, and Eric Rippert, one of the most highly regarded chefs in New York City. As predicted, Bourdain is humbled by the French Laundry tasting menu. As an at best journeyman chef in a somewhat better than average New York bistro, Bourdain ponders his wasted talents when he sees what Keller has done with food. I'm sure Bourdain is crying all the way to the bank with proceeds from his journalistic products.
One of Tony's colleagues has said Bourdain is a better writer than he was a chef. I believe it, because his writing is as entertaining as the professional writer Ruhlman, and even a touch more insightful due to his true insider's point of view.
Not quite as good as `Kitchen Confidential' but it does have all the stuff the Food Network could not show on television. Highly recommended.

This book didn't only make me want to eat, it made me want to learn more about Henry Kissenger.
Bourdain weaves the historical and political into his narrative to explain the whys and hows of the food (and, importantly, its quality and lack thereof) in the countries he visits. Compare and contrast his visits to Vietnam and Cambodia, both countries devastated by American geopolitical interests, whose histories have had definite impacts on their cuisine.
He's a funny, scathing, moving writer - his love of food and travel enfuse his writing with a power rarely found in either cookbooks or travelogues.

Although not as engaging as "Kitchen Confidential" "A Cook's Tour" is a fun jaunt around the gourmet globe. Traveling near (San Francisco) and Far (Cambodia) Bourdain chrinicles his tasting of local food and sipping of local drink.
If you are a "foodie" or restaurant junkie, you may be put off by this book as it will not tell you the best restuarants to visit or the best chefs to look up. This book is all about the FOOD.
And, although I would not eat half the things Mr. Bourdain put in his mouth, reading about it something I savor.

I'm new to reading travel books. I read "Blue Highways" in college and Bill Bryson's book about the Appalachian Trail recently. I guess I've been lucky so far...this is a good read in that vein. Neither of my last two finds are Earth shattering, but that's what makes them inspirational and sort of a bit-more-than-commonplace. What I mean is, it inspires you to try new things that you really can do on a realistic scale.
I've seen the Food Network show that the book builds upon. You'll read about what your not seeing. That's the beauty. On the TV show you may see Tony grimace through eating igauna for a moment, but in the book you get a great description of just how horrible it was. Or how he had to re-shoot his entrance to a restaurant---after a full course meal with waitress-induced drinks.
It's all about taking the cooking show out of the kitchen and getting adventurous. Can you see Emiril(sp?) sleeping in a floor-to-ceiling tiled dive hotel and then helping kill what he eats? Or haggling to buy a whole goat, riding camels over sand dunes all day (i can't see either Emeril or Mario doing that...unless it's on a Supercamel), and finally drinking beer, smoking hash, and eating the goat? Me either. And it's done with a great description of getting the goat and even the mud covered oven it's cooked in. The night sky. The campfire jokes.
In a nutshell, if you like cooking shows, like cooking, and like travelling, then give this book a whirl. This would be a great book to take traveling as it will inspire you to dig beyond the well-travelled main streets in search of the authentic experience wherever you are. Sights, sounds, smells, and tastes. Tony's NY city-boy point of view only accentuates the more rural experiences in the book.
A good read on it's own, it's really fun to watch the episodes after reading about them---or vice versa. The writing style is easily read and satisfying. A taste of what it's like to be in Vietnam or Russia in search of good food. I'd like to go on a trip like this---and with a knowledgable street-wise chef like Tony. I can't afford to yet (maybe never). Reading the book is OK for now. NOTE: Tony's experiences that involve animal slaughter are not handled lightly. Tony takes it very seriously and explains coming to terms with the realization that all meat comes via a death. Slaughters in the book, and there are only two or three, are done not in large slaughter-houses but by every-day people in various countries getting their freshest food the best way they can---live at a market or in their yard. They then have Tony eat in their homes, around their tables.

In some ways, I don't even know why I'm writing a "review" of this book. I loved it. I was destined to love it. This makes my opinions even more biased than usual. I'll try to impart some advice though, that will help you decide whether or not you should read this wonderful piece of travel narrative-cum-food worship.

The television show that coincided with this book, also called A Cook's Tour, aired on Food Network somewhere around the time that I started getting hooked into this station on a regular basis. I had no idea what the premise was; I was just witnessing this cynical guy eating strange food in strange places. As I kept watching it, I came to realize that it was more than a tv series. In fact it wasn't a series at all. It was a project or journey: find the best meal in the world. Of course, I'm sure the pitch to Food Network executives was a bit more detailed, but if you asked Tony Bourdain that's probably how he'd sum it up.

On each episode of this show, Tony would visit a different place, usually a different country, and find the best food, the most local food, the stuff deeply rooted in the community itself. He was always hosted by locals; a Russian grandmother, a Brazilian beach bum, Vietnamese veterans. He usually assists in the procuring of the ingredients too. He visits fish markets or barters for lamb. More than a food show, this is truly an observation of food culture in other parts of the world. Tony is, or at least tries to be, as unobtrusive as possible, to blend in. Frequently, this is ruined by overinquisitive children or wary old folks, but the effort shows. It views as much like a documentary as a food show.

All this love for the show made me fearful of the book. I resisted reading it a bit, because of how much I loved the show. I read Kitchen Confidential first. I was afraid that the book would simply be a transcript of the show or, at best, first person perspective of all the events I had seen during the show. Not so in the least!

After reading the book, I discovered that it manages to be the perfect compliment to the show. Not only is it not just first person accounting, it's new stuff, not even alluded to on the show. Sure we see the meals, but they're almost glossed over in favor of recounting the introduction to the location or the absolute disgust Tony has over what he might be forced to eat at the time.

The opposite side of this coin of course, is that I'm not sure how it reads for someone who hasn't seen the show. I could see how the visuals in the book could not be as effective if you didn't have actual images to pair them with. Don't let this discourage you though, it's a great read in and of itself. It's obvious the writing talent that Bourdain has developed over five books. It serves as a plenty good travel narrative also, if that's how you come to it. Either way, it's a worthwhile read for just about anyone who finds some interest in some facet of the subject matter. To get the full experience though, pair it with the show.

Tony has a few little twitches, doesn't he? He (quite rightly) disdains vegetarianism and the PETA folks, but he's not all that comfortable actually watching a pig or cobra or something get whacked. And it's a bit ironic that having (apparently) gotten over or at least past hard drugs, he's still a smoker. Oh, well. He still writes like Hunter Thomson without (most of) the mind altering rubbish, and ah, does he know food and cooks. Whatever you think of Chef Bourdain, you can't call yourself a cook or a gourmand unless you've read him.

A humorous, dark and entertaining read. After becoming obsessed with his travel channel show "No Reservations" I was drawn to delve deeper into the depths of Mr. Bourdain's twisted brain. I would say that the subtitle of my 2001 edition, "in search of the perfect meal" is slightly inaccurate. I see that the 2002 edition was renamed "Global adventures in extreme cuisines." While that may be more accurate, I would say that the book is more of a personal journey for Tony. The food descriptions are delicious, the stories are shocking and funny (sometimes in a dark way) and the book is terribly hard to put down. I loved it will probably tear through a few more Bourdain books.

It's never quite clear whether Bourdain is really after the 'perfect meal' or just expanding his repertoir of local libations. Either way, he sounds like he's having a heck of time eating, drinking, and razing the Food Network crew trailing him. Not every chapter is stellar, nor is there a particularly coherent thread, but the good chapters are bitingly hilarious and will make you want to eat things you didn't know were edible!

Two dictums attributed to the father of gonzo fit best: "Never let the facts get in the way of reporting the truth;" and "when the going turns weird, the weird turn pro." Bourdain embodies both as the delinquent chef-turned-author who manages to capture a piece of the soul of eating (and drinking) around the world.

Enjoyed hearing a taped version of A COOK'S TOUR by Anthony Bourdain, the chef who left his job to discover the perfect meal . . . his journey took him to Japan, Cambodia, Saigon, France, and many other locales . . . that part was interesting; what was even more so was the author's description of the many foods he sampled (many of them reminding me of stuff that folks devour on FEAR ACTOR), such as blowfish, the live heart of a cobra and a bird's nest . . . my only regret that I've never gotten to see the TV show that came about as a result of Bourdain's travels.

Vegans should know that a chef touring the world looking for food from different places trees will not be the only items on his plate. This is not for the faint of heart(literally!). As someone who only eats fish, this book had me wincing and groaning many times! I have better understanding of the hows and why people of other cultures eat the foods that they do. And Tony did try some vegetarian fare in California, so the book is balanced.
A lively, well written, amusing read!

I was first attracted to Mr. Bourdain, when i recieved "Kitchen Confidential" for Christmas a few years back. However I didn't read it for at least a year. When i read it I read it through three times in a row. When I found out that he had written a book about his TV show, and that he was coming to my town to promote his book, I jumped on the chance to meet him, and get my books autographed. Let me tell you, what you read in the books is the way he is in real life. There was a dinner in his celebration, and he went into the kitchen after every course was out, and proceeded to get drunk with all of the cooks. I loved "A Cook's Tour" it really motivated me to try different food items, throwing caution to the wind about the results of eating it later, and boy have I felt some of that pain. I completely recommend this book for someone who would love to be able to eat across the world, but eat the real food that people eat everyday. And to be in the search for the perfect meal.

Any deal Tony had to make with the devil (A.K.A the Food Network) to get this book made was totally worth it. And I did enjoy the show version of the book too. There, I said it!

Being from New York is Tony's principle advantage in undertaking a world tour of food. Firstly, being from NYC he has probably already encountered most if not all the indigenous peoples of the countries he travels, so really no surprises there. Plus, as we all know from "Kitchen Confidential", Tony will eat ANYTHING! Which he proves in fine style from a beating Cobra Heart to a snot-like breakfast in Japan.

Finally, how could anyone not like Tony Bourdain? He is the aptheosis of cool! He moved the U.S. up several notches on the diplomatic scale just going out and letting people bask in his coolness.

Way to go, Tony! Thanks for taking one for the team.

I can honestly say that this is one of my favorite books that I have read in the past year. Anthony Bourdain is a great writer, and he really takes you on a journey with him as he travels the world searching for "the perfect meal", and if there even is such a thing. Yes, other reviews have said that Bourdain is "a whiner" and "snarky", but that is the beauty of Bourdain's writing style. He tells it as he sees it, if he doesn't like something, he will let you know. There's no sugar coating in his writing, and of all of Bourdain's books, I have to say that this is my absolute favorite. The chapter on Morocco is one of my favorites, as well as the multiple chapters on Vietnam, a place that Bourdain came to adore during his world travels. I would say that I am a discerning book critic, and I love this book. I've read it at least 5 times just to absorb everything, and I think anyone, foodie or not, would love this.

Anthony Bourdain has fallen pray to the same trap as Bobbie Flay and Emeril Lagasse (as he will remind readers of the book throughout in small segments describing the pains he went through to help the TV series), but at least he is honest about it.
The premise of this book, and the TV series that it is a companion to, is for Bourdain to travel around the world looking for the perfect meal. His travels take him throughout asia, into Europe, Africa and even parts of the US, as he looks for culinary delight. He describes with admirable detail the food, people, and culture of the places he visits, often with vary favorable comparisons to our own culinary culture. He regrets the US' "refridgerator culture" and how we have lost track of where our food comes from. Mixed in with the food talk is some other random rantings and ravings, as can be expected from him. The paragraphs on Henry Kissinger, and the comparison of Cambodia to Vietnam are probably the most off topic in the book, but you can tell that he wrote them which a lot of personal feeling.
Bourdain is a pretty engaging fellow, and his writing, while not some stellar example of perfect prose, has a very personable feel to it that makes the book quite the pleasant read. What comes out more in the book than the TV series, was that this was his plan to exploit his fame from "Kitchen Confidential". He knows full well that he has become that which he has professed to despise, but his open and honest acknowledgement of it deserves some respect. It's hard to fault the guy for taking this opportunity when he could, for it's plain that he truly enjoyed touring the world, and most of the food that he found.

I almost gave the book two stars but the one or two good belly laughs I got from some of Tony's adventures came to mind, causing me to have mercy on the guy. For the most part, however, I found the book a disappointment. I didn't read Bourdain's first work so I didn't know what to expect. The title is misleading. "A Cook's Tour" comes across more as an excuse for the author to travel to exotic places on someone else's dime. Contrary to the premise of finding the perfect meal, it seems that Tony took the Food Network up on the opportunity to play around in far-flung locales he's always wanted to visit. The chapter on dining in France at a beach resort he remembered from childhood was only interesting in the context that he described in his introduction. What makes a perfect meal? It's not only ingredients and preparation. It's atmosphere, nostalgia, expectation, memory, etc. His first stop, Portugal, lived up to the book's stated mission. He quickly lost focus, however. What does a potentially dangerous trip up a Cambodian river to the gangster-run town of Pailin have to do with "the perfect meal?" Predictably he found nothing there but second rate Thai food. A Russian mafia club? A Mexican hotel's iguana mascot? The much talked about beating cobra's heart? It's a travelogue of the outrageous and atrocious. Searching for the perfect meal would entail research, attention to detail, seriousness and lengthy tours through New Orleans, in my humble opinion. Profanity, descriptions of illegal drug use, in countries where you could do some serious Third World hard time, and drunken stumbles through foreign capitals don't cut it in my book. Sorry. Some chapters I skimmed through after tiring of the incessant ranting.

The typical anti-hero, Bourdain reminds me of House, deeply flawed but possessing a precious talent which justifies his behavior. His writing seems very real, he mouths off Inappropriately with those who can take it, but reluctantly gives credit to other chefs as they deserve. He also has these personal gods, Vietnam and the Hispanic chefs, and in every book you can see how important they are to him.

I can't imagine sitting through a 20 course tasting menu, but it was fun and interesting to read about the inner workings of various famous restaurants.

This is a travelogue about eating. Bourdain decides he wants to sample the best of what's out there, and he travels far and wide to find what he's looking for. He doesn't exactly find THE perfect meal, but he does get to eat a lot of perfect meals and taste some darn good cooking. On the other hand, he also sampled some truly vile stuff, like raw cobra bile, that wiser souls would not allow past their lips. Bourdain's style is rather wild- -if profanity offends you, this book is not for you.
Bourdain is an evangelical meat eater. Indeed, a central theme of the book is his relationship to the animals that are slaughtered for his consumption. In the beginning of the book, he attends his first pig slaughter, describing to us such details as pulling the excrement out of the dead pig's anus. Similar stories are told of slaughtering a lamb in Morocco and a turkey in Mexico, culminating in his swallowing a still-beating cobra heart in Vietnam. At several points, he dissolves into a rant about the evils of vegetarianism, and he declares that the worst meal that he ate in the tour was a vegan meal in California. On the issue of to eat or not to eat meat, I am open-minded- -I will eat steaks or vegetarian lasagna with equal gusto. The question for me boils down to whether the cook knew what he or she was doing, has chosen fresh items, and is capable of preparing them appropriately. Everyone needs to make their own choices about what they put into their bodies, and nobody (with the possible exception of your own parents) should have the presumption to tell you what you should or shouldn't eat. Bourdain might have saved his anti-vegetarian rants for a specifically political tome. After all, I'm sure he enjoyed a number of completely vegetarian dishes in Asia, but considered them acceptable because their ethnicity was Asian and not vegan.
For a world tour to find the perfect meal, Bourdain picked an odd itinerary. Yes, France, Portugal, Mexico, and Vietnam were all musts. He only had one year, so he couldn't fit in Italy, Thailand, or Argentina. But somehow he found time for Russia, England and...Scotland? He must have had ulterior motives for choosing these locations besides looking for good food. Let's see- -in Russia, every good meal was accompanied by enough vodka to drown a sailor, so it's hard to believe he could remember the meals afterwards accurately enough to write about them. And in Scotland, I'm sure even the deep-fried Mars bars that he tried tasted good with enough beer. And in the end, it's hard to take this guy seriously as food connoisseur because he's a smoker. Face it, Tony, your taste buds are dead. If you want to really taste good food, you've got to give up the smokes.

While commuting I was listening to the Tape of this book. The description of the Russian Sauna and his dip in the cold lake made me laugh so hard I almost drove off the road! I liked Kitchen Confidential, I loved this book! Bourdain is funny, not PC, thoughtful, raunchy, wistful and very articulate. From his first book I understand he's been married to his wife for years. She's got to be a hearty, tolerant soul!

The subtitle is innacurate, Bourdain says so himself.
He's just happliy traveling the globe on someone elses dime, following his taste buds. And we get to quietly tag along.
Instead of a food book with travel, this is a travel book with food. Lots of food, live food, very dead food, dangerous food.
I spent half the time just shaking my head, saying "God I am glad that's not me and the rest of the time saying I wish I was there."

this was a fun, enteraining read. if you enjoy Tony's show on Food TV, then this is added excitement. After seeing a few episodes, I had to get the book. Tony's writing is as colorful as the locations.

read about the Pho soup experience in Vietnam. Picture him choking down that snake's heart and blood. and finish it off with some canivore dishes in England.

YUM! (I won't be having any of this on my next vacation overseas.)

If you like the show you will like the book. His writing is similar to the things he says in the show. If you've seen some episodes of the first few seasons you will even recognize some of the chapters like Vietnam and San Francisco. Great read if you like foodtravel.

This guy is funny, outrageous and politically incorrect. Even if you're not a "foodie," his take on life is hilarious. Sometimes mixing pathos though with bittersweet reminisces of searching for his father and encountering a scarred man in Vietnam.
I would give it SIX stars if I could.
It will taste good a leave you hungering for more....

Anthony Bourdain goes on a world tour in search of the "perfect meal". He goes from the culinary delights of the French Laundry in Napa Valley, California to eating iguana in Mexico (not good).He has a very good self-effacing writing style, even when he is at the French Laundry, having the best restaurant meal of his life he finds it a bitter sweet experience as being a chef himself he could never reach the creativity of the meal in front of him.
The experience in Portugal is interesting as he watches the slaughter of a pig and he loves Vietnam.
All in all an excellent and entertaining read for food and travel lovers.

On a road trip from Phoenix, AZ to Fargo, ND and back I found that I had a need for entertainment outside of my current CD collection. So at a truck stop along my journey I purchased "A Cook's Tour". And until I listened to these CD's I had never heard of Anthony Bourdaun. How sad for me. I thoroughly enjoyed his humor and views on his travels and food exploration. He makes you salivate as you listen. And since he himself is narrating you get a very real and vivid depiction of his experiences. I am now in the process of reading more of his work. I also watch his show 'No Reservation' on the Travel channel. His willingness to branch out and try new food and experiences inspires me to do the same. This is an excellent pick and it made the perfect roadtrip companion.

I am in the middle of this and am loving it. Bourdain is crude, audacious, and sometimes lewd, but never fails to entertain and make me laugh when writing about his gustatory travels. Some of his meals are less than appetizing, and this is definitely not a book for the die-hard vegetarian (the slaughter descriptions, cooking, and eating of some animals is a little hard to read). Nonetheless, I am enjoying every culinary adventure.
(...)

.... While yes the "Naked Chef" guy's recipes are delicious, where is he cooking for a living? Besides on TV? Being a chef myself I appreciate and respect the hours Chef Bourdain has ACTUALLY put "on-line" cooking his [butt] off. And his love AND respect for the food he prepares comes through not only on the plates at Les Halles but also in his words. This guy has truly represented the chef, not as some untouchable man-god genius but as we really are, smart-... hardworking, hard-drinking can-do-anything-because-we-say-we-can people. We are not "artists" we're con men, we sell illusion. And as such, I couldn't think of a better, more honest spokesman the Mr. Bourdain. The Naked Chef? Emril? All I can say is thanks for making my paycheck bigger now that the average person knows what foie gras is. I'll just add some garlic and "BAM" boost the price.......

The best way for me to describe Chef Bourdain's antics is unreal and incredible. I must admit to an overwhelming twinge of jealousy that a feat like this was accomplished and recorded first hand, and that I wasn't there to behold its magnitude and non stop insanity.
His writing style, unpolished, vivid and direct, at times moved me from tears of hysterical laughter to deep contemplation, like an out of control pendulum.
A published record of adventure beyond imagination in this day of globalism and CNN; that delves below the layer of politics and shows us the people living under said layer is rare indeed.
But to eat your way around the world, what a gluttonous pleasure to indulge in.
Thank you Chef Bourdain for sharing this adventure with us, even if you did sell your soul to the devil. It was, after all, for a good cause.

I read this book after watching the show on the Food Channel. I must admit that I greatly enjoyed it. Others have voiced their disgust for his irreverent behavior, but then I ask u, if he doesn't have that kind of attitude, how would he get the guts to eat all that stuff (from lizards to bull testicles to cobra heart). However, he also had plenty of fine dining experience and everything in between. I love the show and the book because he will try anything once. Very exciting!!!

Bourdain is funny, caustic, and yet very articulate in this entertaining book that takes travelers around the world. The quality and honesty of his writing is admirable. Although COOK'S TOUR is focused on food experiences, it has loads of cultural and personal insights. I like the show, but this book is actually better. I wish he would do another book like this that covers the whole experience of travel and the unusual experiences with interesting people he meets.

Many readers complained of the Vietnam trip being added throughout the book. Having just finished the book, it's clear that the eats in Vietnam, and the people, stood out for him. There's really something special about his writing of Japan too. This book is a riot and I am pleased that he doesn't "dumb down" his biting humor for the reader. Questions to him would be, 1/ Why no pictures? 2/ Why not India? Lastly, very refreshing to hear a chef give the respect to the Hispanic folks that have been cooking beautifully for years.

Loved it, loved it, loved it! I am addicted to Tony! The book is funny with just the right amount of seriousness. I have him, and every one of his experiences, pictured in my head and can't want to his other books! Keep 'em coming, Mr. Bourdain!

I'm stunned. Gob-smacked, really. It's been a very, very long time since I read a book so engaging, so funny, so thoughtful and thought-provoking, AND on a subject that just sends me. Bourdain swoops from utterly enraptured adoration of incredible food experiences, right down into the often unapologetically brutal reality of their origins, and right back up into reveries on the heart-fulness of the friends he makes along the way, and their amazing other worlds. I'm chomping at the bit for more Bourdain! BRAVO!!!!

Much better than the show. During the show bourdain is still a little reserved, much different than no reservations. But the book is rich in detail, this is my first Bourdain book, and it was a good one to start with.

I enjoyed the book which I bought after reading his better known book KITCHEN CONFIDENTIAL. He certainly can write and knows his subject. He is trying way too hard to always be cool rather than give us insight into his reactions to the various locales and cuisines.

I am a total foodie- love the food network. Love Bourdain and almost anything he writes.... I especially turn to his books as an antidote to the nauseatingly perky, over exposed food network eye candy (ie: Rachael Ray).... On a serious note- the writing is great, the human commentary is right on track and he does know food.

A globial adventure in extreme cuisines...INDEED! Asking the question, "What would be the perfect meal?" Bourdain "Kitchen Confidential," newest book, "A Cooks Tour," is a joke at best. Going from one EXTREME to another made little or no sense at all to me. From Asia to Europe, Africa, and, parts of the U.S.A and god forbide I forget to mention Harry Kissinger and Bourdain's comparison of Cambodia to Vietnam all in the name of CULINARY JOURNALISM ! HELLO, Mr. Doofis, I thought I was going to get a few interesting ideas on "WHAT THE PERFECT MEAL WOULD BE," not an adventure in "AS YOUR STOMACH TURNS !"

This was a great, relaxing read. All the joys of a food trip (without the physical flavours and the life-and-death risks) without all the costs of an around-the-world trek. The great adventures of this chef can only inspire you to go find your own perfect meal.

Tony Bourdain as a culinary writer who delves out books deserving of at least four stars ratings. He serves his adventures seasoned with humor and honesty, only to make the reader craving for more. If you're curious as to who in the world would ever eat that? Anthony Bourdain, the man with a steel stomach will! He makes you laugh with tears streaming out of your eyes as if you were dicing onions.
[...]

If you're a Bourdain groupie you'll love even this paltry 'dropping' but if he bores you with his meglomaniacal egoism, you'll be bored to tears as I was...Definitely mostly pissiful attitude (again) from the buy low sell for less BoreDane breed. I'd rather watch Naked and Afraid jungle antics...

_Kitchen Confidential_ was almost as much about the Vietnam War as it was about cooking: "They [the cooks] were like Marines digging in for the siege at Khe Sanh" (32) and "We're gonna fight Dien Bien Phu over and over again every night. I don't care if we lose the war--we're professionals, man" (217) are just two occasions for the cooking as Vietnam War metaphor that pervades the book. In _A Cook's Tour_, Bourdain actually goes to Vietnam and to Cambodia in search of food. I'm uncomfortable from the very start. The first sentence refers to "those not-so-adorable scamps, the Khmer Rouge"--"scamps"!? Are we also going to talk about those "rascals, the Nazis"? Authors of one of the terrific holocausts of the last century...Bourdain's cultural deafness is ever striking; he goes so far as to suggest that the US involvement in Vietnam was part of a lovers' quarrel (he thinks Vietnamese women are beautiful). Bourdain's tone is, of course, ironic, but I, for one, don't think he can get away with irony in such cases. His books are worth reading, but with caution. The metaphors can kill you.

How does one top the success of Kitchen Confidential? Take the act on tour of course. Climb aboard the Bourdain express for a culinary road show that would have Bing, Bob and Dorothy scratching their heads in disbelief. The places that this man is willing to go and the things that he is willing to eat go above and beyond culinary passion. It's extreme eating. Durian fruit, live heart of a cobra (still beating), embryonic birds, assorted bugs. . . and these are just the appetizer! All these experiences and more are described in a style that will be familiar to Kitchen Confidential readers. Bourdain manages to come across as funny, honest, prickly and even sweetly sentimental (for a smart-[aleck]). It was fun to go on the journey with him. Too bad I can't take him along on my next trip, almost anything I do is going to feel dull in comparison.

The author's lack of open-mindedness made this book very judgmental. I was very disappointed because there was little information on the food he ate. Instead, the pages are filled with cliches and stereotypes (many of these have nothing to do with food), but little insight is presented because he only sees things through his pre-conceived notions. This book is highly recommended if you want to learn how to feel good by making fun of other cultures and peoples, but for those who want to learn a bit about different culinary traditions, reading this book is a waste of time. The book can be cut down to 50 pages if these cliches are removed. I am more interested in what he ate or observed (descriptions!) rather than his explanations on why these people came up with these customs and dishes (sort of cultural determinism). Many people should have helped him in these countries he visited, but I wonder whether he has the nerve to translate the content of this book into their native languages. The author should be able to criticize if he wishes, but it is not fair to make fun of the people who helped him in a book which, he knew, they would not read.

I have the feeling that Mr. Bourdain would hate the title that I have given to this review. I have the feeling that he is trying for something harder-edged and more gritty than "a fun culinary romp". All the same, this is how I would characterize it.

A Cook's Tour has obviously had heavier editing and more attention to structure than Kitchen Confidential. It serves the book well, because while in Kitchen Confidential I struggled over Bourdan's attempt to create Fear and Loathing in the Kitchen, I had no such problem with A Cook's Tour. His skill and tone are best suited to these small chapters-- little moments of eating spread out across the world.

The reflexive nature of his observations about the creation of his own television show work well. It is easy to imagine him wondering what he has let himself in for, and the uneasy relationship between his self-image and his new role as the charmingly bad boy chef of American television. I particularly enjoyed the writing about Vietnam and the chapter on the French Laundry. I enjoyed less his political opinions, even when I agreed with them (surprisingly often). It didn't seem to fit with the book and felt like a desire to add a justificatory footnote to the television program.

Recommended for foodies looking for a light, entertaining read.

Complete garbage. His writing is that of a self-important jerk and really enjoys that he's famous for that.
It just wasn't that good or interesting. I had to ask myself many times why I was reading it.... and eventually I just stopped torturing myself and dumped it in the garbage. It wasn't even worth donating.

It's certainly an interesting idea - send a chef out to sample various exotic cuisines in search of the perfect combination of food, place, setting. But they picked the wrong guy.

I cannot believe this man can taste food, much less be a professional chef. He is destroying his taste buds, through the abuse of alcohol and nicotine, not to mention myriad forms of cannabis and the occasional cocaine amuse-nez. His idea of a good time is to get so drunk he can't remember what he did, swear a lot, and in general behave like the kind of jerk you wouldn't want at the table next to you. I think he suffers from testosterone-poisoning.

A CULINARY TRIP AROUND THE WORLD WITHOUT HAVING TO GET ROT GUT YOURSELF, OR ANY OTHER DYSENTERIC ILLNESS. THAT'S WHERE ANTHONY COMES IN. HE DOES THE TRAVELING AND TASTING FOR YOU. IT'S ALL WRITTEN IN HIS SPECIAL, WITTY STYLE.

First caveat: this is not a search for the perfect meal. Tony admits that such a concept is ludicrous (p. 272). Actually, a delightful search for the elements of such a meal is the subject of WHO IS KILLING THE GREAT CHEFS OF EUROPE? (1978), with George Segal, Jacqueline Bisset, and the great Robert Morley, a tale that is structured far more effectively than A COOK'S TOUR.
This tour is reminiscent (beyond homage) of one of Michael Palin's, in which the world's garden spots are bypassed in favor of treks up foetid rivers in uncertain vehicles. Tony gushes over Vietnam, drags us to Cambodia, and skips Italy. He expresses his love of haggis and manages to stomach a still-beating cobra heart, but then joins the throng of obeisant admirers of the French Laundry in Yountville. He blisters his body in an overheated Russian sauna, then jumps into frozen waters. Sorry, Tony; include me out.
Of course, none of this matters. The book is not about food; it is about the ethos of food and Tony's reaction to that ethos. That reaction is always interesting. How many people can write a book this uneven and yet consistently sustain the reader's attention? Tony's take on food and the people who create and enjoy it has not changed substantially from KITCHEN CONFIDENTIAL, though A COOK'S TOUR pays more attention to the diner's perspective than that of the cook. For a cinematic representation of the New York kitchen of KITCHEN CONFIDENTIAL, see the excellent film, DINNER RUSH. (And when you make your pilgrimage to the notoriously noisy Les Halles, simply skip lunch, eat an early, quiet dinner, and enjoy. Yes, the wait staff all love Tony and yes, the frites are fabulous.)
In short, this is a book for those who can't get enough of Tony and his take on things. Their number is large and growing. That take is more or less libertarian, the point (as was often said in the 60's) where the far right and the far left meet. The result is a point of view that is politically incorrect, gonzo, but also commonsensical. It is a welcome voice in many ways, but Tony--forget the haggis and the still-beating cobra hearts. Take us to Vina del Mar for some pisco sours or to any of the restaurants in Cortona. Let Michael Palin get eaten by bugs. Take us to the Dordogne.

Amazing book ...
Always been a fan of Bourdain, seen every show, and even travel to all the South East Asian destinations that he mention on his shows, try to eat at the same places. As Tony once said I’m also. “Pork slut” I like his shows because I identify with him, it was like I was looking at my self. This is my first time reading a Bourdain book, the only thing I regret is that I didn’t read it before. The book is insightful, gritty and the story telling style of Tony makes you feel like you are there, the way he describes the locations, the food, the people is amazing, I felt as if i was actually there. I could see the KR in Cambodia, feel the adventure, and taste the food in Vietnam. What a gifted story teller. RIP Mr Tony

Anthony Bourdain was a NYC chef and writer whose prose could've come from the 60's, and often did. Was he stuck there? I don't know. But I liked a lot about this book, save for the slaughtering of animals, which I skipped over. Soo, not for the normal among us, but rather, for other chefs in the business. May he rest in peace.