I was speaking with a chef the other day and we were discussing food, of course, and I mentioned Anthony Bourdain’s book about Typhoid Mary. I stated that the book was actually quite interesting, as it poses that Typhoid Mary was not a malicious person, but rather that she was too proud of a cook to admit that she was killing people. Yes, simplified in one sentence, that sounds weird. However, he does make a good point.

At some point, I mentioned that Bourdain was an asshole. The chef asked why I thought that. I had seen maybe one or two shows of his, and read some back and forth of his opinion of Paula Deen, so I guess I had based my opinion of him on a feeling of “holier than thou” and him appearing drunk in the shows I had seen.

I then mentioned that I liked Gordon Ramsay, and I thought that he wasn’t really an ass, but rather having high standards. Of course, this chef then pointed out that standards would include making the Hell’s Kitchen contestants wear hair nets, which is not done. I thought for a second and realized he as right.

I defended my argument with “but Ramsay looks good in a bikini”, which brought signs of disgust from this chef. He stated that he would never treat his staff like Gordon Ramsay treats his. I then told him that it was a show. A persona that he was putting on for ratings. And that everyone who goes on his show knows that’s what they are getting. While explaining this to him, it suddenly hit me that Anthony Bourdain was not really what I perceived. It was part of his “show”.

Ok. I get it. Carry on.