A Cook's Tour is a travel and food show that aired on Food Network. Host Anthony Bourdain visits various countries and cities worldwide where hosts treat him to local culture and cuisine. Two seasons of episodes were produced in 2000 and 2001 and aired first-run in January 2002 through 2003 in the U.S. on the Food Network. As of 2023, the series is formally available across multiple online platforms such as YouTube[1], Tubi[2] and Local Now[3] through distributor Questar Entertainment under the GoTraveler brand.
Production
NYU film program graduate Lydia Tenaglia,[4] working at New York Times Television,[5] picked up the book Kitchen Confidential, and, learning that Bourdain was proposing an Innocents Abroad-style travel journal as a follow-up project, picked up the phone and made a cold call.[6][7]
The show was filmed with two Sony PD100DV camcorders.[8]
Reception
In Variety, Phil Gallo says, "For once, Food Network is putting on display food you can’t do at home — and they show that acquiring the ingredients isn’t all pretty before the meal hits the dining room table."[9] Bourdain's account of his trip to Cambodia in Episodes 5 and 6 of Season 1 has been criticised by professor of French and Film Studies at Clemson University Joseph Mai as "filled with tawdry stereotypes" and largely ignoring Cambodian cuisine.[10] Mai then uses these episodes and contrasts them to the later No Reservations to reflect on Bourdain's transformation in ethics and understanding towards Cambodia and her history.
^ Episodes are categorized by region in the DVD box set; one or two regions per disk. Disk 1: The United States; Disk 2: Mexico and the Americas; Disk 3: Europe; Disk 4: Morocco and Russia; Disk 5: Australia and Japan; Disk 6: Asia
^ Early versions of the DVD box set were shipped mistakenly missing episode TB1A04, Eating on the Mekong. Replacements were made available by Questar.
^Gallo, Phil (7 January 2002). "A Cook's Tour". variety.com. Retrieved 23 August 2018.
^Mai, Joseph (August 2018). "Humble pies". Mekong Review (12). Retrieved 23 August 2018. Unfortunately, his account of his trip to Cambodia in 2000 is filled with tawdry stereotypes: abject poverty in the city, comparisons to the Stone Age in the countryside, dirty hovels for hotels, reminders to keep clean condoms, news stories from the Phnom Penh Post about acid attacks and child rape. ... Cambodian cuisine? Barely mentioned.
^"A COOK'S TOUR – Episode Descriptions". Entertainment in Motion. Archived from the original on 2018-08-22. Retrieved 2018-08-22. 18. San Francisco: "The French Laundry Experience"; Country: USA; Chef Tony Bourdain makes a pilgrimage to meet the man he considers to be the finest chef in the western world: Thomas Keller, chef and owner of The French Laundry in Yountville, California, located in the Napa Valley outside of San Francisco. … Tony has also invited several chef friends, including Scott Bryan of NYC's Veritas and Eric Ripert of NYC's Le Bernardin, to join him for a special menu prepared by Keller himself. The high point in the meal comes when Keller sends Tony a specially-crafted custard made from tobacco leaves and coffee.
