TV Interview: Anthony Bourdain & Tom Colicchio

Top Chef's Tom Colicchio and Anthony Bourdain (photo courtesy of Life)

by Sophia Sparks

Top Chef's Tom Colicchio, Padma Pakshmi and Gail Simmons

Top Chef All Stars premieres tonight at 10E/9C, bringing back some of the most talented chefs from seasons past. The 2010 Prime Time Emmy-Award winning show will heat up the competition (and drama) as the best of the best battle it out with incredible dishes and their egos at stake. This season the judge’s panel will consist of Gail Simmons, Padma Lakshmi, Tom Colicchio and Anthony Bourdain.

Anthony Bourdain is a New York Times best-selling author, chef, and TV host of Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations. The New York native graduated from the Culinary Institute of America before working around various restaurants in the city. He will lend his international culinary expertise and sharp tongue to keep things interesting at Judges’ Table.

Tom Colicchio is one of the most celebrated figures in the culinary world. He has received various accolades, from glowing reviews from critics at the New York Times to The James Beard Foundation’s Award. Colicchio grew up in New Jersey and was self-taught using Jacques Pepin’s French cooking manual, La Technique. He made his debut at the age of seventeen and began his career working at some of New York’s most prominent restaurants.

Top Chef Season:8 - Pictured: (l-r) Spike, Richard, Casey, Tiffani, Dale L, Carla, Angelo, Antonia, Stephen, Fabio, Tre, Jamie, Mike, Elia, Jen, Dale T, Tiffany, Marcel

Top Chef's Anthony Bourdain

Rock ‘n Roll Ghost’s Sophia Sparks: Hello Tom and Anthony.

Tom Colicchio: Hi, how you doing?

I’m good thanks.

Tom Colicchio: Are you a Replacements fan?

Yes.

Tom Colicchio: Oh, okay “Rock ‘n Roll Ghost” is sung by The Replacements. Anyway, go ahead.

Since we’re out of Chicago, if you guys were up and coming young chefs would you pick New York City because it’s a better culinary scene? Or, would you pick Chicago because there is more opportunity, and you’d think you’d stand out more here?

Tom Colicchio: Why do you assume there is a better restaurant scene than New York City? (laughs)

Sophia Sparks: Well a lot of people do.

Tom Colicchio: And you’re from Chicago? Wow, okay (laughs). You know, what’s interesting nowadays is when we start a cooking… I’ll speak (for) myself, when I started cooking it was out of New York, San Francisco maybe Los Angeles, and that was pretty much it. And nowadays if there is an up and coming cook, you can pretty much work anywhere and find great food. You can find great stuff in Cleveland, there are some good chefs there. You can find great food…

Anthony Bourdain: Milwaukee right?

Tom Colicchio

Tom Colicchio: …in Milwaukee, exactly. So I don’t think you’re limited to just the sort of big cities anymore or, the New York and San Francisco (scenes). You know, it’s interesting I’m from the east coast, so I would probably gravitate towards New York since it’s home.

Anthony Bourdain: For me it’s a close call these days because Chicago has the kind of customer base that you basically need in order to have the training ground, a proving ground for high-end cooking. Clearly you need a lot of wealthy people. You need a big megalopolis if you’re going to have a lot of really good restaurants competitively fighting over the same dollar and Chicago’s got that.

Of course I’d go with New York because I’m a New Yorker like Tom. But like I said, it’s a close call. I’m fascinated by the whole Michelin thing that just came out. I mean I just saw (L2O‘s) Laurent Gras last night and he just walked away from three Michelin stars. And from what I hear, the Michelin director has said to have said to other people that it was the single best meal he had in America all year.

Sophia Sparks: Oh wow.

Anthony Bourdain: So, you know, big respect to Chicago.

Tom Colicchio: What’s interesting in Chicago right now (is that) there seems to be more openness for the sort of avant garde cooking that you see at Alinea.

And you know, in New York we have Wylie Dufresne (WD-50)who is kind of on the forefront. But he has a tough location, and I think Chicago is just a little more receptive to it. You have Moto and a few other restaurants that are on the cutting edge of cooking. And so, I think if you were interested in that as a cook, Chicago may be a place for you to start out.

Anthony Bourdain: Agreed.

Anthony Bourdain entertains Queens of the Stone Age's Josh Homme for Christmas

Sophia Sparks: Since both of you are noted fans of pork products, how do you manage to stay slim with your busy schedules and traveling?

Anthony Bourdain: Wow…I never been asked that! (laughs) How do I stay so slim? I have never been in a gym in my…no, I went into a gym for 20 minutes once. My wife bought me some training sessions and I decided that there was nothing attractive about laying on the floor trying not to vomit in front of total strangers (laughs). I basically Google Keith Richards everyday. If he is still alive I figure there is hope for me.

Tom Colicchio: Exactly. I’m the opposite. I’m you know, just a hamburger away from 250. So I have to work out. I box actually. I used to run, my knees can’t do it anymore, but I try to box three days a week with a trainer.

Tom, knowing that you know all of these chefs very, very well who would you say has changed the most since we saw them on Top Chef?

Tom Colicchio: Dale (Talde) comes to mind. He seems to have matured a lot since the Chicago season. They all seemed to have grown, some of them I mean, Spike (Mendelsohn) has obviously done a lot since his season aired. Professionally I think he’s doing really well.

They all seemed to have matured a bit. I think they’re all more on top of their game, but Dale definitely.

Anthony Bourdain: I’d have to agree with that, given what we can say and what we can’t say about what is going to happen, I think it would be fair to say that there is a lot of surprises on this season. I mean people who were surprisingly strong, talented people who fell down that you wouldn’t expect. It was just as a Top Chef fan boy even though sitting at Judges Table I was enjoying this season.

Chicago chef/restaurateur Paul Kahan and Tom Colicchio in matching Chicago Bears shirts

Everybody loves it when you come on because you’re just so brutally honest, and that’s what people need to hear. Is there any chance that you might take a seat when the normal season of Top Chef returns?

Anthony Bourdain: You know, it’s strictly a matter of – I mean in a perfect world I would be there all the time because I’m a huge fan of the show. And frankly I just enjoy hanging out with Tom, enjoying the whole process. So it’s really just a matter of logistics. I’m shooting my show and doing other things for about 175 to 225 days a year. So, to the extent that I can squeeze that in, you know, that’s the determinant.

If you had to step back and pick the one chef that you’d want to hang out and have a drink with late night after a long day of cooking, who would you pick?

Tom Colicchio: Tony.

Anthony Bourdain: I’d, you know I…

Tom Colicchio: I mean I’d rather have a drink with you (laughs).

Anthony Bourdain: Yes (laughs).

Tom Colicchio: I find, I think as most people do, I find Fabio (Viviani), very loveable.

Rooster, it's what's for dinner

Tom Colicchio glazes over dreaming about the wonders of Millionaire Matchmaker

You both have young children. I’m wondering what are they eating right now and what are they up to?

Tom Colicchio: I left the house about fifteen minutes ago and he was toddling around eating anything he can, you know, stuff in his mouth. But seriously he’s on an organic-only diet for various reasons. We believe that there is a whole environmental factor that leads…is part of a perfect storm that can bring on autism. And so we’re trying to keep any kind of metals or any organic materials from sort of getting into his system, especially at a young age. So that’s what we’re all feeding him.

Anthony Bourdain: My wife is Italian and takes a dim view of American dietary and eating and cooking practices, and we’re basically raising an Italian baby. So she’s in school, she is 3 1/2 actually; she is a little girl now. She is in school and her little lunch box, you know, she had some homemade organic pasta. I think the thinking around here regardless of the way I may feed myself and even choose to feed others comes from my little angel. She is eating organic, and she is eating Italian.

With the holidays coming up, what would you put on your menu if you were going to throw a glitzy holiday cocktail party?

Anthony Bourdain: I tell you right now I’m eating turkey, I’m not a communist. I mean, my God, let’s fill up with turkey, stuffing, gravy. It doesn’t even have to be good turkey! Stuffing and gravy. It’s – you know, it’s the holidays. This is America.

Tom Colicchio: Yes, Christmas Eve, if we’re talking Christmas Eve for me it’s all about thirteen fish, being Italian. Anthony I think you’re going to run into this one soon. It’s the big Christmas Eve Fish Dinner. So it starts off with with about five different fish. We do salt cod, it includes lobster and scallops and shrimp and mussels and clams. It’s Christmas Eve for me.

Tom Colicchio likes to rock out with his crocks out

Anthony Bourdain and wife Ottavia Busia at the 2009 Emmy Awards

Anthony, you got a big shout out in the movie Morning Glory. You know, Harrison Ford’s character said he was a friend of yours. Is there a back story to that?

Anthony Bourdain: I was completely unaware of this (laughs). Really, wow? Harrison Ford toasted my name? Awesome.

Well his character does – yes.

Anthony Bourdain: Wow (laughs).

Tom Colicchio: Apparently he had some interview with Conan (O’Brien) last night. I haven’t seen it yet, but I heard he’d seemed pretty out of it.

Anthony Bourdain: Well there you go. There is an explanation right there.

Was there anyone from the previous seasons that you really wanted to get, but for some reason or other they couldn’t make it?

Tom Colicchio: We’re not involved in casting. So that’s something that you probably have to talk to one of the producers about. I think we have a great lineup. It would have great to have Bryan Voltaggio back, but I’m sure he is busy with the restaurant right now.

Anthony Bourdain: When I saw who it was my first episode, I was really pleased with the lineup.

Tom Colicchio: What’s difficult about this season and we sort of – I think we’ve all felt this, all the judges is that we –doing the regular season-we’re not allowed to interact with the contestants at all. They are kept from us. We only talk to them when we’re on camera.

And after the season is over when we do the reunion the guard is let down, and we get to know them a little bit. And some of the chefs I’ve seen them at festivals and things like that and gone out and hung up with them. So that made it very, very difficult to judge them. It’s much easier to judge someone if you don’t know them at all. But then you get to know them and you actually start to consider them your peers. It’s very, very difficult.

Anthony Bourdain: And weird.

Tom Colicchio: Yes, yes. So it is hard. So I think, if anything, I think the judging this season is a little more constructive at least from my point of view. I know when I was getting reviewed I’d rather hear constructive criticism then the normal stuff you get in a review.

Tom Colicchio

You touched on judging and the fact that you do know these people now. Could you elaborate on that a little bit?

Tom Colicchio: Well, you have to really just remind yourself that you can be objective as possible. But we kind of know them of all, so it is an even playing field. But I think you just focus on the food and the food only. And that’s pretty much it. There is nothing to do but to prepare yourself for it.

I mean there are times when I’d get a dish and say to myself I can’t believe this person is going to go home. I thought they would make if further I thought you know, they’d be really strong. And so sometimes you felt like oh, I can’t believe this is going to happen but you have to just go about your business.

Anthony Bourdain: It’s all about the food. At the end of the day, there is a lot of back and forth at Judges Table, some pretty passionate arguments. The end of the day it doesn’t matter, how likeable the guy, how close – it just doesn’t matter. I mean if you serve me bad food, I will cheerfully drag a rusty butter knife across their throat (laughs).

Tom Colicchio: And you know I do this in my restaurants. I have chefs who run my various restaurants for me. And there are times I have to go in there and sit them down and say hey, I don’t like what you’re doing here. It’s just professional.

I love these guys who run my restaurants, that’s my team. But occasionally you have to give them some harsh comments. I look at all the contestants as if they work for me. And sometimes they need encouragement, sometimes they need a little tough love and sometimes they are receptive to it, and sometimes they’re not.

Anthony Bourdain is happy with you

When you appeared on an episode of season seven, your friend Eric Ripert seemed petulant and pouty, while you were positively perky by comparison. Has your snark returned or is “nice” Tony here to stay?

Anthony Bourdain: The most perverted thing I could do is to make Eric the bad guy on that show. I saw my opportunity – he is always the good one you know, he’s a very good friend, he’s always seen as the good guy, the nice guy, the loveable one. And he was being…I thought he was being pretty harsh. So I saw my opportunity to make him, you know, Darth Vader. He enjoyed the rare moment of me being the good guy, the kinder gentler one.

One of the rituals of watching the show has become following the live Twitter comments that people make. I wondered if you guys watch that and do the tweeters get it right or wrong in their second guessing?

Tom Colicchio: Wow, I’m oblivious to it.

My other question is for Tony. Are you going to be blogging or tweeting this year, or are you leaving it all to Ruth Bourdain?

Anthony Bourdain: Maybe blogging a little bit.

Blogging a little bit, not tweeting?

Anthony Bourdain: I don’t tweet.

Tom Colicchio: You know, I have tweeted and usually people get very angry. Which I find, you know, very fascinating when you’re actually…when you give up who won, and they’re like,’Don’t give up the winner!’ It’s like, ‘Get off my blog. What are you doing here, if you don’t want to know.’ And I won’t give it away, I wait until it’s over and say my comments. And then (it’s) ‘You gave it away, I’m on the west coast!’. So – WOW.

Anthony Bourdain: My wife tweets. If I need to feed something in the Twittersphere, I call my wife and say put this up.

Top Chef head judge Tom Colicchio

Can you guys talk a about the return to New York? Why go back where you’ve already been? Why not go to a new city?

Anthony Bourdain: It’s New York. It seemed to me as an outsider, and someone who is not a regular, it seemed that there was a real attempt to get New York right this time. Most of the challenges are very much uniquely New York. They made it an extra effort and it shows to really capture the uniquely and special New York things. So there is going to be a lot of New Yorkers who will be happy for sure, and anybody who is interested in New York. It’s the big leagues and I think the show plays to that strength.