Here's What Anthony Bourdain Really Thought Of The Chew
The late and great Anthony Bourdain was known for his insatiable curiosity about the world and his one-of-a-kind, no-holds-barred honesty. Whether on his show No Reservations, or on Parts Unknown, or The Layover, fans of the TV personality and chef knew that they would not only learn a thing or two along the way, but would be in for some brutal honesty as well. According to Eater, it was known to many, far and wide, that Bourdain liked to stir the pot a bit, especially since he didn't like to sugarcoat his opinions on anything. So when ABC's The Chew hit airwaves, Bourdain certainly felt some type of way about it.
Mashed reports that he was confused as to why incredible chefs like Mario Batali and Michael Symon would sign on to do such a show. Bourdain tells Mercury News that he was "shaken" by their decision to participate as he deemed both of them to be as great as the late Julia Child. Upon hearing this, Symon responded in defense of the show and his decision to join, an Eater report cites. Symon stated that he jumped at the opportunity to be on The Chew because he "wanted to cook delicious food, very affordably." He poked at the fact that Bourdain didn't do much cooking on TV and jested that he was happy Bourdain left that job to him and Batali.
Bourdain wasn't the only one who felt strongly about The Chew
When the show initially aired, critics were less than thrilled about it. FoodBeast reports that the show seemed mundane and too obvious, with people saying the show was like The View (but with food). A TV critic for the Chicago Sun-Times claimed that the show carried rehashed cooking demos that made it feel like America has never seen or witnessed what a cooking show was like.
Despite having an all-star cast — Batali, Symon, Top Chef's Carla Hall, What Not To Wear's Clinton Kelly, and Daphne Oz — critics still felt the show was somewhat of a tough chew. A NY Daily News report gave a rundown of the first episode, reporting that the show was ambitious in how it wanted to present itself by wanting to be everything for everyone (in a way), but just came off as overstuffed. In the report, the publication stated that the show would need to evolve a bit before it could get to where it wanted to be (which it eventually did).