jtobin625 wrote:Well, to be fair to you and your opinion, a grand total of 2 people have posted in that thread as of this reply.

And that thread has been locked. A new thread on the show is somewhat more positive.

No debate, just disappointment as a regular viewer of the show and lover of Chicago and the people on this forum who WERE insulted. I'm done and moving on now.

from http://discussions.travelchannel.com/ev ... 4371905259

"To see Tony sitting in a restaurant where some ***-clown assembles his meal with an eyedropper and a pair of tweezers is just wrong! Please don't ever do that to us again, I'd rather see you go back to Iceland than suffer through that crap again. I love the show, but that was unbearable.I wouldn't eat that crap if it was free!"

glad I'm on this board and not that board, which as a whole looks devoid of any useful information anyhow.

bensmom9 wrote:No debate, just disappointment as a regular viewer of the show and lover of Chicago and the people on this forum who WERE insulted. I'm done and moving on now.

Thank you for being insulted on our behalf. Safe travels.

=R=

I thought, given that he had only one hour, that Bourdain did a very good job capturing a taste of Chicago food across the spectrum from holes in the wall to cutting-edge fine dining. He made some thoughtful observations about Chicago as a city and about how we like to eat. Husband, son, and I all enjoyed watching it, and kudos to Louisa and ReneG. And it was fun to see some familiar ... er... forms and faces during the Burt's sequence.

Evy

riddlemay wrote:A (very very mild) note of criticism, or perhaps disappointment: Somehow I felt the Burt's segment didn't fully capture the "flavor" of Burt's. Can't quite put my finger on it, but despite the focus on Burt's ingredients, crust, etc., and despite the talk with Burt, I felt that anyone discovering Burt's by way of No Reservations for the first time wouldn't really "get" the full measure of what those of us who have been to Burt's love about the place. Heck, maybe I just needed to see Sharon interviewed some. Maybe I needed to see a quick insert shot or two of decor. Maybe I needed to hear a word about Burt's "reservations" system. Maybe all of the above was shot and didn't make the edit. Or maybe what makes Burt's Burt's is uncapturable on television. Very likely so. But that was my feeling.

That said, great job on the show, Louisa, and congrats.

I felt the same way while watching. I always tell people, imagine a pizza place, in the suburbs, that doesn't deliver. It requires reservations most nights. But here's the catch, the phone number is unlisted. Oh yea, even if you do find the number, if it gets too busy, they just take it off the hook. Now, I'll bet you're picturing some Yuppie snob place with velvet ropes and a doorman. Well, guess again.

I also felt that Burt's personal place in the history of pizza in Chicago wasn't touched upon at all. He's just not some crazy old man that decided to make pizza in retirement. He's been doing this for 40 years and had a hand in some of the longest running operations in the area. He doesn't just happen to make a good pizza, he actually knows what he's doing.

And no mention of the onion rings. Well...that's just wrong!!!!

Dude, he's totally jealous. He knows Chicago kicks NYC's ass...

To be clear, I wasn't suggesting that IB was a notable omission or that it should have been included. I haven't even seen the show (and I'm trying to decide whether watching it will just make me more homesick than I already am). I just meant to point out that while pizza and dogs certainly get massive national press, and IB coverage seems overdone in the Chicago area, my (admittedly limited) experience suggests that an IB segment on a national show like that wouldn't have been the least bit redundant, is all.

Thanks so much again to all for watching and commenting - nice or not - I really appreciate the impassioned critique. Trust me when I say that every single segment was considered as seriously as a presidential cabinet pick - maybe more so.

whiskeybent - aka Karl Klockars - interviewed me for a Chicagoist podcast on the behind the scenes process. Thanks Karl - great job. My segment starts at 11:00. Link on my blog - with other BTS info links:
http://www.movable-feast.com/2009/02/an ... eview.html

Seattle friend, while the episode was airing: "this no reservations chicago makes me want to fly over and say hi for 1-365 meals"

so, I'd say it was a success.

gleam wrote:Seattle friend, while the episode was airing: "this no reservations chicago makes me want to fly over and say hi for 1-365 meals"

so, I'd say it was a success.

Just tell him/her not to order the fish (JOKING!)

bensmom9 wrote:Perhaps you are all just a little too excited about seeing people you know from this board for a half a second, and places that you like and have been to that the majority of Chicagoans have never even heard of, but folks on the "No Reservations" Travel Channel message board agree with me that Chicago was unappealing, one poster calling it the worst show ever.

http://discussions.travelchannel.com/eve/forums/a/frm/f/6811975208

Um, I'm not from Chicago. I didn't see myself. However, it made me wish I could book a flight immediately.

Reading your comments about places looking like "dumps", people's fingernails, etc, I really don't think you represent typical No Reservations viewer. The guy who freaked out on the forums about the "eyedropper" obviously didn't watch the one-hour special Bourdain did at El Bulli.

Looking at the food forums, where people don't just write to bitch about the show and tell the Travel Channel how they'll never watch again because some cow got butchered in Argentina, people seemed to like it. If people want the usual suspects served from someone who says, "Hi, my name is Brittany, I'll be your server..." they watch Rachel Ray. They expect something more unusual and authentic from Bourdain.

As to the fat comment, doesn't he know it's "broad shouldered".

Also, I think Mike G nailed it when he said:

Talking about this or that thing that was left out of an hour program is missing the point.

That's right. The show highlighted the uniqueness and variety of Chicago, from little dives serving crazy tube food to destination dining, plus the people, both foodies and food professionals, that make the scene gleam. Chicago is a city. You can get anything in Chicago and some things you can only get in Chicago.

I thought that episode was the coolest thing ever...think of how deep LTH runs through almost every part of it (of course, thanks to Louisa the fixer) Not just Hot Doug's foie dog and Calumet Fisheries' smoked shrimp, and of course Burt, but all I could think of when I saw Cantu's roadkill dish was Cathy2's love of raccoon.

If I ever get homesick, all I'll have to do is turn on the DVD and see my friends in their natural habitats. Chicago's a big place and there are too many things here to talk about, but I think No Reservations made an excellent start.

bensmom9 wrote:And I believe he called the patrons at Burts and most pizza-loving Chicagoans fat.

So at least he got one detail right. . .

I thought it was a great show even though I found the selection of Mancow annoying. If he was going the DJ route Steve Dahl would have been much more interesting.

If he was going the DJ route Steve Dahl would have been much more interesting.

Uh... not to judge by the show where he talked about foodies.

Mike G wrote:

If he was going the DJ route Steve Dahl would have been much more interesting.

Uh... not to judge by the show where he talked about foodies.

Would have been an interesting perspective though.

I thought it was fun to see him in Paul Kahan's back yard. I didn't get the Mancow bit as i didn't even know Mancow was still in Chi.

Mhays wrote: all I could think of when I saw Cantu's roadkill dish was Cathy2's love of raccoon.
.

Even seeing the previews, whenever they showed Cantu asking about road kill, I thought the only possible source of inspiration was Cathy and her raccoon -- which, for those who were there, you will remember was transformed into road kill, with highway lines and everything.

DML wrote:I thought it was a great show even though I found the selection of Mancow annoying. If he was going the DJ route Steve Dahl would have been much more interesting.

If I remember correctly, someone way up thread said that Mancow and Bourdain were friends, which would explain why he got picked over Steve Dahl. It was buddies hanging out, rather than an attempt to wedge in one more slice of Chicago.

Cynthia wrote:

DML wrote:I thought it was a great show even though I found the selection of Mancow annoying. If he was going the DJ route Steve Dahl would have been much more interesting.

If I remember correctly, someone way up thread said that Mancow and Bourdain were friends, which would explain why he got picked over Steve Dahl. It was buddies hanging out, rather than an attempt to wedge in one more slice of Chicago.

That's interesting, because I thought those two were about as different as people possibly could be.

DML wrote:

Cynthia wrote:

DML wrote:I thought it was a great show even though I found the selection of Mancow annoying. If he was going the DJ route Steve Dahl would have been much more interesting.

If I remember correctly, someone way up thread said that Mancow and Bourdain were friends, which would explain why he got picked over Steve Dahl. It was buddies hanging out, rather than an attempt to wedge in one more slice of Chicago.

That's interesting, because I thought those two were about as different as people possibly could be.

True it be, though.

=R=

Louisa Chu wrote:whiskeybent - aka Karl Klockars - interviewed me for a Chicagoist podcast on the behind the scenes process. Thanks Karl - great job. My segment starts at 11:00. Link on my blog - with other BTS info links:
http://www.movable-feast.com/2009/02/an ... eview.html

Nice job, whiskey!

hi all.

first post here. been lurking for for quite a while.

lth has been a great resource and food entertainment for me.

the no res. chicago was just "OK" by me.

mancow...why...he's not even broadcast here (btw, i checked him

out when he first came to town, and that lasted about 10 min.)

for me personally, any place that plates dishes with an eyedropper

and tweezers = way over-priced and not very filling, probably tasted good though.

why not more of chicago's ethnic foods.

greektown for an example.

and what about the old day stock-yards?

a bit about a nice steak and potato place would have been nice.

most of us here do like a good steak and potato now and then, right?

my 2 cents....dave

I've been to Moto. It's filling (and I have a big appetite), and I felt that it was a great value for the experience. So... don't judge a book by its cover.

My problem with the steakhouse suggestion is that Chicago just isn't that great of a steak town... the best steak in town is served up at a restaurant run by a New Yorker. I'm much more interested in seeing tony go to Peter Lugar's or Bern's than Gene and Georgetti's (which has the best atmosphere for his type of show) or David Burke (which has the best steak).

djl wrote:mancow...why...he's not even broadcast here

Unfortunately, he is. My barber always has AM 890 on all day long. Heard Mancow when I was there last Thursday. It was somewhere between 9:30 and 10:30 in the morning.

Even seeing the previews, whenever they showed Cantu asking about road kill, I thought the only possible source of inspiration was Cathy and her raccoon -- which, for those who were there, you will remember was transformed into road kill, with highway lines and everything.

I assumed that was a result of Cathy's inspiration as soon as I saw it. I think it's awesome it became a part of their regular schtick.

I thought it was an interesting show. Frankly other than the scenes of Lk MI, the skyline and the L, I was not familiar with any of the other places, just heard of them. But that is what is so great about Chicago, you can live here all your life and there is so so much more to explore...it truly is a metropolis. I'm glad the show pointed that up.

Most of the food looked very tempting. I'd love to try a mother in law. I'm still thinking about Moto. It begs the question "what is food?" What is cuisine? I'll reserve judgement because I have never been there. Taste is the bottom line but I think he also delivers entertainment in a form. The food is entertainment itself, the experience of it.

I think the Moto chef didn't listen when Mom said not to play with your food. He has taken it to a new level. But if it does not taste good then..............?

I think in a year or so Tony should come to Chicago again and do another show. I wonder why Alinea was missing.

Cynthia wrote:

Mhays wrote: all I could think of when I saw Cantu's roadkill dish was Cathy2's love of raccoon.
.

Even seeing the previews, whenever they showed Cantu asking about road kill, I thought the only possible source of inspiration was Cathy and her raccoon -- which, for those who were there, you will remember was transformed into road kill, with highway lines and everything.

Here's the evidence.

Moto Raccoon Road Kill (Raccoon provided by Cathy2)

I wonder how soon Cantu will come up with a naked-Robin-Williams-inspired dish?

Louisa Chu wrote:whiskeybent - aka Karl Klockars - interviewed me for a Chicagoist podcast on the behind the scenes process. Thanks Karl - great job. My segment starts at 11:00. Link on my blog - with other BTS info links:
http://www.movable-feast.com/2009/02/an ... eview.html

Thanks, Louisa. I meant to post about the piece and you beat me to it. For what it's worth, if you haven't checked it out yet there is a LTH-centric question about the impact of the forum on the show (which is kinda self-explanatory now). It's at about 18 minutes in.

Also: If you like, you can subscribe by following the links here, if you enjoy the piece. I promise, much more foodie-centric coverage to come.