Chef-author-TV host Anthony Bourdain is never boring. If you doubt that, catch his long-running show "No Reservations" on the Travel Channel.
Better yet, cash in two opportunities to see him during his swing through Northern California. Bourdain will appear at 10 a.m. June 17 at Book Passage in Corte Madera (www.bookpassage.com). Much closer to home, he will justify his nickname - "the Bad Boy of Cuisine" - at 8 p.m. Sept. 17 at Memorial Auditorium. For tickets and details: http://events.sacbee.com/sacramento-ca/events/show/117230745-no-reservationsan-evening-with-anthony-bourdain.
You'll recall his best-selling memoir, "Kitchen Confidential," from 10 years ago. It turned the restaurant world upside down and gave foodies ... well, lots of food for thought.
Now Bourdain has cooked up more controversy with a new book, "Medium Raw: A Bloody Valentine to the World of Food and the People Who Cook" (Ecco, $26.99, 304 pages; on sale June 8).
In it, he visits the "back of the house" of well-known restaurants, takes on celebrity chefs and restaurant critics, laments the decline of "the great American hamburger," and recalls enjoying authentic dishes in cities around the world (perfect pasta in Sardinia; exquisite pho in Hanoi).
The best meal of his life? That would be a feast at chef Thomas Keller's award-winning French Laundry in Yountville, in the Napa Valley (www.frenchlaundry.com).
What was on the menu? You might be surprised.
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