Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations
Cast & Key People
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Our Review
Anthony Bourdain on this show is not the guy you think he is. Before Parts Unknown polished him into a travel journalist with a food angle, No Reservations was a funny fat man with a bad mustache kicking down doors in Lisbon, Tripoli, Botswana and the Bronx, and the show is better for the swagger than the polish would ever be.
The engine is his gift for talking to strangers over food like he has all night, which was actually travel journalism wearing a barstool. The Congo, Libya, Cambodia and Vietnam hours are the peak, the Vegas and New Jersey locals episodes are his sitcom muscle, and the running bits (his assistant Archie, the chicken, the one star hotel) are scaffolding he never needed.
The later seasons show a man tired of performing himself and getting better at listening. Both versions are worth watching. Start anywhere, the map is the plot.
Our score: 8.5/10.