Tony Bourdain to Shoot Show in the Mission

Rick Abruzzo got in touch to tell me about some upcoming free pancake thing at El Rio, and then he’s all oh and by the way, “ANTHONY BOURDAIN WILL BE AT PCR STUDIO EITHER 21ST OR 22ND END OF MARCH* TO START A SHOOT FOR AN SF NO RESERVATIONS” (double emphasis added).

Oh my god, right? Who doesn’t watch Tony’s show the whole time wishing he’d come do an episode about super burritos and chicharrones and bacon-wrapped hotdogs and perhaps certain other local street-food outlets?

Rick continues, “I know the story arc is his on-going war with vegans. Wouldn’t be surprised if he tried to torch Herbivore, slander Millennium or bitch about the price of Greens.”

Uhh, what about Cafe Platitude? I’d love to see Tony try to order an I Am Jack’s Raging Bile Duct.

And for that matter, I’d love to see Tony have a picnic in Dolores Park with Meave.

In any case, he’ll for sure drop by Pirate Cat for an “early morning appearance to try [their] Bacon Maple Latte and bitch about vegans on the air.”

Rick, thanks for the tip, and PLEASE steer Tony toward everything great (and great to vilify) about the Mission.

Tony’s Travel Channel blog is here.

Photo of Melanie Dunea‘s photo by Dulamae.

*UPDATE: Source says date range may have been too specific.

28 Responses to “Tony Bourdain to Shoot Show in the Mission”

  1. Lollipop Gomez says:

    Meave and Tony Bourdain would be a sight to see. In fact, I’d like for him to come to any event hosted by the Vegansaurus gang. I think he may enjoy it more than you may think. One of the vegansaurs could drink him under the table!

  2. mei says:

    he should come to baconcamp!

  3. megan says:

    That picture is straight up terrifying.

  4. meave says:

    JESUS CHRIST, Allan, are you trying to induce citywide vomiting? UGH that photo is THE WORST.

    I feel like seriously engaging with AB about eating vegan is not possible, not with his Super Outrageous and Offensive!!!!! persona to maintain. For him to give an inch in that argument would be akin to losing an inch, I imagine, and when you are trading on your machismo you cannot afford to change your mind, ever — that is some womanish behavior, changing your mind, seeing in shade of gray, and people who eat basashi and bosintang and Weißwurst do NOT change their minds, EVER. We are too hardcore into eating The Taboo.

    Regardless, if he will eat vegan food with me, I will not make rude comments about the origins of his shoes. We’re a civilized people. And Hassan Nasrallah is a hero to the Muslim world, anyway.

  5. Allan Hough says:

    I dunno, I think he looks pretty decent for such an old dude. Also, I’ve been a fan of his shows since the beginning, and I’ve definitely seen him change his mind. Granted, it’s unlikely he’d budge on the principle, but if you served him up some A+++ vegan cuisine that was worthy of praise, I don’t think he’d hate.

  6. guero says:

    Yeah sure…he’ll throw the vegans a bone(hopefully not THAT bone!!!)…but then he’ll go get some real food. I’m so psyched!!!

  7. guero says:

    Also, I think the producers need to get Johnny O. to take for a ride-a-long. Man I am hoping they do San Francisco right…

  8. johnny0 says:

    Only if I get my own bone.

  9. [...] Mission Mission (wow never thought I would type “Mission” three times in a row) has the scoop. Yes, yes there’d be more to say, except MM’s already said it, including hippie raw [...]

  10. zinzin says:

    i once sat next to the guy on a plane and he did have some begrudging it’s-not-ny-but-its-ok heart for sf. he respected the quality and variety of the food, but kinda thought people from sf were sort of…self centered & living in a bubble. and if you think about it, it’s pretty much true. at least speaking for myself.

    you gotta figure if they’re doing a show here, he’ll at least keep an open mind. that said, i dont think our delicate flower of a city is going to get away without snarky comments from the guy. which is fine.

    hopefully they’ll be centered on fishermans wharf and north beach where they belong.

    all that said, i don’t think he’s gonna even mention vegan or even vegetarian…and that’s probably for the best…unles it’s a snark piece on the wont-die-hippie-movement…which is bullshit, but makes decent tony-tv.

    i figure the obvious possibilities are:

    bi-rite / delfina / 18th street
    burrito in the mission, maybe…taco truck if we’re lucky
    snarky piece on the culinary travesty of wharf or NB
    ferry building
    maybe something outside the city, wine country (french laundry?) or something south bay (SB may get the mexican food piece)
    tommy’s joint
    grubstake

    my guess is the show will say “they have good food but man, every thing is so precious”. there’s no need for the guy to be even close to pc (like when he ate uncleaned entrails in africa), since he’s in his own country, and ny-ers love to fuck with sf.

    just my $.02…anyone wnat to start a pool?

  11. Katie Ann says:

    He’ll definitely go to Incanto.

  12. zinzin says:

    good one. probably right.

  13. johnny0 says:

    A few years ago on KQED (City Arts & Lectures?) he was asked if food was better in NY or SF.

    After the wave of gasps settled in the audience, he had what I thought was a pretty solid answer. Expensive food is better in NY, and normal priced food is better here.

    I wish he had been asked about the best burrito, alas I was not there.

    He should review El Tonayense and the John O’Connell school lunch program.

  14. Zig says:

    I recall on his Chicago show he stated there are only two real cities in the US: NYC and Chicago.

    I think he referred to New Orleans and SF as interesting food “towns”.

    I think I agree.

  15. zinzin says:

    Zig – i agree too.

    that said, i’d put LA up there with NY & CHI. maybe not food-wise, but as a “city” for sure.

    (i love talking about food.)

  16. olu says:

    I disagree, LA has no “city” its a really big connected series of towns – some of which are really cool, but they never coalesce into one “city”.

  17. zinzin says:

    different kind of city? maybe you’re right. but it definitely has a feeling of scale…even though at times there’s no “there” there.

    i’m loving LA lately though.

  18. olu says:

    As for where Tony will go, we know he loves Al Pastor tacos, street food, and alcohol.

  19. [...] Anthony Bourdain should try to eat the O’Connell “lunch” when he’s shooting his show here the week after next. [...]

  20. guero says:

    I think zinzin is right: I think Bourdain will eat some vegan cuisine, nod his head up and down and say he is surprised that it actually does not suck. Then he will politely excuse himself, run hastily around the corner with his crew in tow and glom a burrito in order to experience flavor and sustenance.
    Yeah…LA has scale for sure. I used to tell people that Los Angeles was more of a planet. I love LA too. BTW, The LA Times has a great neighborhood map out. It’s not perfect, and they admit it, but it’s still pretty cool. When I lived there, I lived all over: Palms,Studio City,Mar Vista and Mt. Washington.

  21. Katie Doze says:

    He’ll probably choose some places not in the mission: either a fancy downtown place or a tenderloin/haight place.

    The photo reminds me of that leathery tanning guy who used to be in Dolores Park everyday reading a newspaper and standing like a sun-dial. I miss him.

  22. guero says:

    The LA NEIGHBORHOOD MAP, that I mentioned above if anyone is interested: http://projects.latimes.com/mapping-la/neighborhoods/

  23. zinzin says:

    i love that they call it “historic” south central.

    this is cool. thx guero.

  24. RICK! says:

    Not sure how much mexican he’ll hit in the Mission. He already kinda did the mexican taco truck/street food in America when he toured LA. Kinda hard to compete with them on the awesomeness.

  25. [...] by way of Mission Mission.  Allan also noted recently that a certain food celebrity is swinging through town.  Tony, stop by for a beer dinner at Mission Street Food on Saturday! [...]

  26. mmolly says:

    if he’s including the East Bay, he’s got to hit the trucks along International Blvd (especially the shrimp ceviche at Sinaloa), and Cheeseboard in Berkeley. I hope he goes to Monk’s Kettle (beer and small plates pairing) on 16th, and lunches on banh mi at Turtle Tower… and yes, of course, MSF…

  27. [...] Tony Bourdain to Shoot Show in the Mission Rick Abruzzo got in touch to tell me about some upcoming free pancake thing at El Rio, and then he’s all oh and [...] [...]

  28. meave says:

    Millennium does vegan fine-dining so well, it is hard not to eat yourself into a food coma. Also Ubuntu, if he goes out to Napa; Jeremy Fox has received a mountain of praise for his work there. The chickpea fries are amazing.

  29. evi says:

    House of Prime Rib. Mark my words.

  30. [...] upcoming episodes of No Res, Tony’s travels to Chile and San Francisco have been [...]

  31. Annie Cull says:

    Hey my husband and I stood next to Tony and his Asian gal “friend” yesterday morning. My husband went to the farmers market in back of the ferry building and were pleasantly “crushed” right next to him while his white van was picking him up. He gave us a big smile and a little quip. He’s as cute in person.

  32. [...] Mission was speculating back in March on Bourdain’s still-to-be-aired San Francisco episode, which he was filming then. [...]

  33. V.E.G. says:

    Bourdain’s hairstyle is almost like the cartoonist O. B. Barkley.

  34. Kaylee says:

    I agree that the picture doesn’t look good.