A Cook's Tour (TV series)


A Cook's Tour is a travel and food show that aired on the Food Network. Host Anthony Bourdain visits exotic countries and cities worldwide where hosts treat him to local culture and cuisine.
Two seasons of episodes were produced in 2000 and 2001 and aired first-run in January 2002 through 2003 in the U.S. on the Food Network.
In the summer of 2008, the Food Network stopped re-running the series and rolled out a completely overhauled website omitting all but a single reference to Anthony Bourdain from March 2008 entitled, "Anthony Bourdain's Rant", tagged under Food Network topics "vegetables" and "simmer," likely due to the emergence of Bourdain's similarly themed series, , on sister network Travel Channel. Questar Entertainment released a DVD box set of A Cook's Tour on DVD in January 2012. Early versions of this DVD box set are missing the episode TB1A04, Eating on the Mekong. Replacement DVDs are available from Questar starting in late February 2012. As of March 2012, episodes of A Cook's Tour began airing on the Travel Channel.
In January 2017, both seasons of the show were released on Netflix. Both online stream and download formats were available but have been discontinued.
Seasons 1 and 2 are now available on Amazon Prime

Production

NYU graduate film program graduate, Lydia Tenaglia, working at New York Times Television, picked up the book, Kitchen Confidential, and learning that Bourdain was proposing an Innocents Abroad-style travel journal as a follow-up project, Tenaglia picked up the phone and made a cold call.

Reception

In Variety, Phil Gallo says, "For once, Food Network is putting on display food you can’t do at home — and they show that acquiring the ingredients isn’t all pretty before the meal hits the dining room table."

Episodes

Season 1

#Prod NumDVDTitlePlace Visited
1TB1A01Disk 5A Taste of TokyoTokyo
2TB1A02Disk 5Dining with GeishasAtami and Tokyo, Japan
3TB1A03Disk 6Cobra Heart - Foods That Make You ManlyHo Chi Minh City, Vietnam
4TB1A04Disk 6Eating on the MekongMekong River, Vietnam
5TB1A05Disk 6Wild DelicaciesPhnom Penh and Siem Reap, Cambodia
6TB1A06Disk 5Eating on the Edge of NowherePailin, Cambodia and Tokyo, Japan
7TB1A07Disk 3Cod CrazyPorto and Douro Valley, Portugal
8TB1A08Disk 3San Sebastian: A Food Lover's TownSan Sebastián, Spain
9TB1A09Disk 3Childhood FlavorsArcachon, France
10TB1A10Disk 3Stuffed Like a PigPortugal, south-western France
11TB1A11Disk 4A Desert FeastMorocco
12TB1A12Disk 4Traditional TastesMorocco
13TB1A13Disk 4The Cook Who Came in From the ColdSaint Petersburg
14TB1A14Disk 4So Much Vodka, So Little TimeSaint Petersburg
15TB1A15Disk 2Tamales and Iguana, Oaxacan StyleOaxaca, Mexico
16TB1A16Disk 2Puebla, Where the Good Cooks Are FromPuebla, Mexico
17TB1A17Disk 1Los Angeles, My Own Heart of DarknessLos Angeles
18TB1A18Disk 1The French Laundry ExperienceNapa Valley and San Francisco
19TB1A19Disk 1My Hometown FavoritesNew York City
20TB1A20Disk 1My Life as a CookNew York City and Provincetown, MA
21TB1A21Disk 3Highland GrubScotland
22TB1A22Disk 3A Pleasing PalateLondon

Season 2

#Prod NumDVDTitlePlace Visited
1TB1B01Disk 2Food Tastes Better with Sand Between Your ToesSt. Martin
2TB1B02Disk 1No Beads, No Babes, No Bourbon StreetNew Orleans
3TB1B03Disk 2A Mystical WorldSalvador
4TB1B04Disk 2How to Be a CariocaRio de Janeiro and Niterói, Brazil
5TB1B05Disk 1Elements of a Great BarNew York City
6TB1B06Disk 1The Struggle for the Soul of AmericaMinneapolis, MN
7TB1B07Disk 1The BBQ TriangleKansas City, Houston, and North Carolina
8TB1B08Disk 5Mad Tony: The Food WarriorSydney
9TB1B09Disk 5Down Under: The Wild West of CookingMelbourne
10TB1B10Disk 6Singapore: New York in Twenty YearsSingapore
11TB1B11Disk 6Let's Get LostChiang Mai, Thailand
12TB1B12Disk 6My Friend LinhHanoi, Vietnam
13TB1B13Disk 6One Night in BangkokBangkok, Thailand and Singapore