Anthony Bourdain’s No Reservations in San Francisco Episode Recap

11Aug09

It’s no secret that San Franciscans love their city. This was more than evident when I arrived at Bloodhound, which feels like a cross between a hunting lodge and chic lounge, for a viewing party for famed author & traveler Anthony Bourdain’s No Reservations in San Francisco. In countless bars around the country you’ll find people gathering over beers and buffalo wings watching “the big game,” but only in San Francisco will you find a bar full of people anxiously and excitedly watching the newest episode of a Travel Channel show.

Scattered amongst the crowd was a collective of local media, chefs, cooks, famous bloggers (hello), and many others, a Who’s Who of people who would care about watching this episode of No Reservations in San Francisco.

After a bit of socializing and cocktailing, the episode began and all eyes immediately turned to the TVs, curious to see what Bourdain thinks of our fair city. For many of the chefs and people featured on the show, it was an anxious experience knowing that Bourdain could single-handedly thrust them into a new tier, for better or worse.

He visited many well-known and highly respected restaurants and eateries, and a couple not-so-well known, to me at least. A few segments really stood out to me:

Pirate Cat Radio Café – A cafe that broadcasts free radio without a license from the FCC, they serve vegan treats and a Maple Bacon Latte, which is what Bourdain tried. It’s a double espresso latte made with maple syrup and bacon, which he enjoyed. I’m also glad we share the same viewpoint as he says, “I’m famously unenthusiastic, shall we say, about vegans.” Aren’t we all?

Tadich Grill – He met with Oscar, who joins him at other stops during his tour of the city. Oscar, whom I’d met at the viewing party and is a really nice guy, had this beautiful metaphor for San Francisco:

The thing about San Francisco, it’s like a beautiful, mysterious woman. Will you ever possess her? No. But, keep company with her. There’s more than enough because you realize there are layers that you’re still not gonna get to. You think you’ve figured everything out, you haven’t.

House of Prime Rib – I immediately questioned his decision to go there, with so many other great places to get juicy slabs of meat and classic cocktails. Then I realized that it didn’t matter where he went, it wasn’t just about the food (which he thought was great and I agree). House of Prime Rib is a classic institution that is very San Francisco in its own right, hearkening back to the old days of San Francisco before vegans and organic free range locally grown cruelty free everything took center stage. Plus, the salad, bread, creamed spinach, and prime rib are ridiculously good. Bourdain summed it up when he said over his prime rib and martini, “This is the American Dream right here.”

R & G Lounge – I was really curious about where he would go in Chinatown, and I was surprised and excited when I saw R & G Lounge. I used to frequent this place A LOT when I worked in the Financial District. Don’t let its fancy looks fool you, it’s not P.F. Changs, this is a legit Chinese restaurant that serves up great food, especially the dungeness crab that was featured.

That’s It Market – I’ll admit, I didn’t know about this place and am slightly embarrassed since I claim the Mission to be one of my favorite neighborhoods, especially to eat! He described the Mission as “a traditionally welcoming place for the displaced and disenfranchised.” That’s It Market is a liquor store that houses a countertop and grill, where they make The Cuban, an insane 7 lb (wtf!?) torta stuffed with everything. I definitely have to go check this place out, eating inside a liquor store sounds like too much fun, even though Oscar says, “There isn’t enough Lipitor in the world.” The best part was when Bourdain and Oscar went to the beer fridge and grabbed a Tecate and Modelo, at least they kept it real!

Red’s Java House – One of my favorite in places in town to grab a burger when I get the urge (the other being Darla’s in the Inner Sunset), I was thrilled to see Red’s Java House get some love. It’s a no-frills place where you can grab a good burger, chili cheese fries, and a beer without worrying about the “locavores” (those who prefer to eat locally grown/produced food) clamoring for justice. He calls it a “wonderful, old school, high fat, high protein, beer for breakfast kind of a place” and also says, “An espresso is nowhere to be seen” and “any time you begin to doubt the wonderfulness of San Francisco, really, all you gota do is come here.”

Bourdain’s final thoughts on San Francisco:

What do I really think about San Francisco? I know it to be a great food town, a great chef town, a place with a sense of humor for sure, as the locals endure my merciless poking fun at them with regularity. What do I really know of San Francisco? Well, you saw the show, you tell me. I can say with assurance only that I always, always have a very good time here.

There were other great places he visited and liked that I didn’t mention, including Sebo, the Ferry Building Farmers Market, Zam Zam Club, Oakland taco trucks, and Incanto. One thing in the episode I could have done without was the in-your-face product placement for the Ford Mustang zipping up and down the hills of San Francisco. Even though Bourdain acknowledges that San Francisco is “a tough town for a stick shift,” I could have done without the shots of a sporty domestic car darting around town. At least it wasn’t a wimpy hybrid! Perhaps that was intentionally ironic?

There are also a couple things I would have loved to see in the episode that were not featured. He did cover the fact that San Francisco likes to drink (a lot!), but it would have been cool if he took a deeper look into the huge mixology scene we have going on, and visited some of the well-known bars leading the way. Also, if it were filmed this year instead, they would have been forced to include a segment on the exploding street food scene. That would have been awesome to see the Creme Brulee Cart and Magic Curry Kart get some exposure on TV!

Overall I felt like it was a good episode that represented San Francisco pretty well. He visited different neighborhoods and ate different cuisines, which is exactly what San Francisco is all about. You can easily film an entire neighborhood in one episode of No Reservations, but they did a good job of taking a cross-sectional view of the city and presented it in a way that gave viewers a nice taste of what San Francisco has to offer. Locals know, however, that it barely scratched the surface and like Oscar said, “There’s more than enough because you realize there are layers that you’re still not gonna get to. You think you’ve figured everything out, you haven’t.”

If you watched the episode, what did you think? If you haven’t, set your TiVo to catch a replay!

Special thanks for John Birdsall from SF Weekly’s SFoodie blog for the invite to the viewing party! Photos courtesy of Travel Channel, L.L.C.

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