Customer Reviews

Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations - Collection 3

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This DVD includes:

Russia
Los Angeles
New York
Shanghai
Hong Kong
French Polynesia
Cleveland
Brazil
Argentina
Singapore
South Carolina
Berlin
Tuscany

My question is:

Where are Saudia Arabia and Egypt?

If you love a good fun, honestly cynical view of the world and it's food and local ways, your going to love Anthony Bourdain. Even when he is visiting a place he is not enjoying he always finds a way to entertain hiimself and the audience with some honest and wry observations. A fun travel host and great writer. I recommend his show and writings for a fun relaxing time. Party on.

The third installment of Anthony Bourdain's No Reservations dvd collection continues his travels around the world including a fair amount of U.S. destinations. I prefer the more philosophical adventures he has and the food-centric ones are understandable as it is his forte. The only episode issues I have are the trivial and generic ones, such as his visit to South Carolina. It is a tired exploration of the clichéd Southern hospitality, replete with a fox chase, garden party, Civil War re-enactment, and various other good-ole-Southern-charm fluff that is straight from Samantha Brown's itinerary. There are too many travel shows and food network garbage that specialize in this kind of shallow fare and it is a disappointment to see this from No Reservations. I understand the corporate push to broaden the market, but stuff like this never seems to be a good fit for Bourdain. Thankfully, the South Carolina show is the weakest of a strong bunch, thirteen in all.
The always fun Zamir adventure takes place in Russia and there are three trips to Southeast Asia including the frantic and food loving paradises of Singapore and Hong Kong. There is also an episode billed as Shanghai, but it is more an exploration of western China than the city per se and is one of the better inclusions on the collection. There is a funny trip back to a disappointingly clean and family-friendly New York then there is the piece de resistance of the collection; a brilliant graphic novel themed trip to Cleveland featuring American Splendor author Harvey Pekar and a cast of characters. Thankfully, Tony went there in the dead of winter and got the full-on Lake Erie wind chill joy that life in that city entails. Other episodes are Berlin, Tuscany, Brazil (Sao Paolo), and Argentina. Along with Cleveland and Shanghai, is one of my favorites. It targets French Polynesia and weaves a connective thread to Paul Gaugin, eschewing the tropical paradise predictability.
As with the previous collections in this series; these discs come without commentary, deleted scenes, or any other extras. Furthermore, the contents don't seem to jibe with what I've seen listed on other sites as being from season three per se. My guess is that the chopped up broadcasting schedule which airs a handful during one period than another group some months later creates confusion as to when one season ends and another begins. To be fair, the dvd box does say "collection" and not "season," so there seems to be a method to their compilation, although I don't know what that is.
When No Reservations truly excels, it goes beyond a travel show or a food show and become more of a sociological and anthropological exploration. Bourdain seeks to find out what makes a community tick, what keeps people staying in places that often seem bleak and hopeless to the typical over-indulged American viewer, and what unites humanity on a sociological and cultural level. He does his historical homework and sits down with the people he meets to get at the heart of who they are and how they define themselves. By avoiding the tourist frivolity and focusing instead on the anthropological development as seen from the very people who shaped or have been shaped by it, we are provided with more than pretty sites and mouthwatering food. We are given a small sampling of the kind of deeper exploration of new places and new people that is truly at the heart of why those of us who have the travel bug aren't likely to be found in the obvious places. It is through this lens of higher level thought-provocation and contextual examination that we are able to see not only what makes one place different from another, but moreover, what makes it all the same. I'm confident you'll enjoy the trip. Bon voyage.

I've been a pretty big fan of Bourdain's food-centric travelogues since Food Network debuted the A Cook's Tour show and the accompanying book (A Cook's Tour: Global Adventures in Extreme Cuisines). From his auto-bio/expose on the restaurant business Kitchen Confidential Updated Ed: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly (P.S.), to his unrestricted palette of taste, through to his no nonsense style of writing food inspired crime fiction, Bourdain has cut an interesting niche in the foodie world. With No Reservations, he's left behind the insanity of the Food Network and taken his travels in search of good food and culture to the Travel Channel.

What I find interesting about this new show is the balance he's seemingly struck between his own tendencies and the requirements of filming a network driven travel show. On A Cook's tour it came across as butting heads with the network and producers resulting in a lackluster second season filled with excursions to ridiculous destinations like the Mall of America, content that felt forced and sad. No Reservations, though occasionally still succumbing to these depths, frees Bourdain up to getting to the heart of the matter which is examining true local culture and the food that sustains and elevates it. It combines the point of view of a 70s punk rebel with a soul searching existentialist, while also ditching most of the pretension and being generally entertaining TV which is pretty darn rare.

If you're looking for the insanity of A Cook's Tour (the swallowing of still beating cobra hearts, etc.) than you might be a bit disappointed, but if the first thought when entering a new city or country is locating a good genuine meal that speaks to the local culture than this is the show for you. It's not a how-to for finding the tourist traps of the world, but a how to avoid these and eat like a local. Highlights from this set include French Polynesia, Russia, and surprisingly Los Angeles.

There are currently 3 other seasons available: Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations - Collection 1, Anthony Bourdain - No Reservations Collection 2, and Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations - Collection Four.

I own all three seasons of No Reservations and I think this one was the best. Mr.Bourdain just keeps getting better. Five well earned, well enjoyed stars.

This guy is wonderful. If you have a little bit of an open mind his shows are a true pleasure.

Better DVD product from the Travel Channel. Most of season three's episodes are included in this collection. (Four episodes from season three can be found in collection 2). I also found it odd that the Travel Channel decided to include two episodes from season four (Singapore and Berlin) in this collection, but this is the best "No Reservations" DVD offering so far. I am looking forward to the next collection, which will hopefully include the remaining 15 or so episodes from season four.

Great collection of Anythony Bourdain from his 3rd season. I love it! My only complaint is that there isn't a play all feature in the menu, so you have to select an episode manually. Must buy if you love this show!

I really enjoy watching this 3 DVD collection. My favorite show on the collection, is Cleveland because of the extra work with cartooning that was done on the show. If you like the show on TV, you'll love the DVD without those annoying commercials. Definetly buy this collection, you won't be sorry.

This collection of the superb No Reservations contains some of the best episodes the series has ever produced. The Cleveland episode would certainly vie for the top ranking. It features Mt. Bourdain verbally sparring with his "nemesis", the author Michael Ruhlman. Mr. Ruhlman is a Cleveland native and he invites Mr. Bourdain out to Cleveland to show him how great of city it is. Throughout they go to book store that is housed in an old Hostess factory complete with Twinkie filling still in the pipes and eat with the legendary Harvey Pekar (who provides commentary and scenes are show in cartoon ala his American Splendor series). Mr. Bourdain goes to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame with one of his idols Marky Ramone and then shares a meal with him at Michael Symon's Lola restaurant. At the end, Mr. Bourdain & Mr. Ruhlman cook up a delicious looking feast at the Ruhlman home. Berlin is another standout episode with Mr. Bourdain showing how the city has come together all these years after the Wall fell. The Russia episode finds him teaming back up with his old friend Zamir and the New York episode is a crossover with Bizarre Foods as he does some eating of weird animal parts with Andrew Zimmern.