Meet
In the KITCHENof GOODand EVIL Chef, TV host and all-around badass Anthony Bourdain takes on Vegas—and Eric Ripert By GRACE BASCOS Photography CLAY PATRICK MCBRIDE
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prickly Bourdain a run for his money. they square off against each other in what Bourdain calls “alternating hostile interrogations.” “I sit him down in the most uncomfortable chair in the world under a naked light bulb and subject him to a classic police line of inquiry.” But it’s all in good fun, and an intimate way to learn about how one views the other. “We are very different people with very different professional backgrounds, to say the least,” Bourdain says. “so I think much of the fun is taking an adversarial stance. eric is diplomatic—he has to be. ... I do not have to be diplomatic.” this means that Bourdain, who will host shows on Cnn and ABC in the spring after the final leg of No Reservations on the travel Channel, won’t be pulling any punches with his sparring partner, with whom he has been close friends for years. (It was Ripert, in fact, who introduced Bourdain to his wife.) Although the culinary tête-à-tête has been on the road for some time now, it is hardly canned. “We certainly know what works, but by the same token we’re always aware of where we are,” Bourdain explains. “I will definitely be asking eric why he doesn’t have a restaurant in vegas. he should have done it years ago! how come he doesn’t have a 900seat fish house and a branded merchandising wing?” Catch some sound bites at the hottest chat ’n’ chew in town. It’s an evening you won’t soon forget. February 9, 8 p.m. tickets start at $59, the Pearl theater in Palms Casino Resort, 702.944.3200; palms.com
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In the epIsode of No ReseRvatioNs devoted to Las vegas, Anthony Bourdain embarks on a hunter s. thompson-esque journey—he visits the double down saloon, plays poker with little people in a seedy motel room and spills red wine all over the white tablecloth at Bouchon. It’s trademark Bourdain tv, full of scenarios that only the outsize personality can pull off. these days, when the tv star and best-selling author of Kitchen Confidential and Medium Raw makes it to vegas, his itinerary is less Fear and Loathing and more Fight Club when he and his MMA fighter wife, ottavia, come out for the UfC fights. for Bourdain, these trips are pretty straightforward. “Generally [we] come in, grab a bite to eat, go to a fight and bug out,” he admits. “I’m good for one destination meal and maybe a utility meal or two, then catch the main event.” on february 9, Bourdain comes to town for another kind of UfC—call it Ultimate fighting Chefs—when he and eric Ripert take the stage at the pearl theater in palms Casino Resort for their national speaking tour Good vs. evil: an evening With anthony Bourdain and eric Ripert, [now in its third year]. the celebrity chefs represent two sides of the same coin of the cooking industry—you can guess who is good and who is evil—sharing their personal stories in the world of professional kitchens, as well as their insights on the state of food. Ripert, executive chef of the internationally acclaimed Le Bernadin in new York and a television personality himself, gives the unapologetically