When was anthony bourdain in beirut

The experience, however, had changed him, something he talked about at length in a freewheeling interview with Blogs of War. After Beirut in the summer of , Bourdain decided it was time to tell more complicated stories, as he put it in that interview. Perhaps Beirut had taught him what every Lebanese knows: that conversations around and about food allow people to let their guard down. Discussions about the secret source of your spices, or how to pound your meat, erase all differences.

He was horrified by what he saw in Gaza, and even more dismayed when he was criticized for showing Palestinians doing ordinary things, like cooking, as though that meant he had chosen sides. But he understood it just the way I did. I suspect people in other countries Bourdain visited felt he understood them too, spoke for them, and saw them for who they were: ordinary people with real names, lives filled with hope, love stories, heartbreak, and laughter.

He broke down the barrier of the other, especially in countries with long-standing political enmity with the United States, like Iran and Cuba.

Bourdain may not have wanted to use the footage they shot in Lebanon to make a show, but the executives at the Travel Channel saw it differently. Anthony Bourdain's Beirut experience changed his approach to making television forever.

He realized his shows didn't need to always focus on food, even though that was the main reason he started making the programs in the first place. Photos Add Image.

Top cast Edit. Hussein Charafeddine Self as Self. Michel Elefteriades Self as Self. Joumana Haddad Self as Self. Nasser Shorbaji Self as Self as Chyno. Tom Vitale Self as Self. Tom Vitale. Storyline Edit. Nicknamed "The Paris of the Middle East," Beirut's nightlife is infamous, the population beautiful, and its cuisine legendary.

Read More. More than a million Syrians have fled to Lebanon, influencing nearly everything about the country, including its cuisine. Chef Philippe G. Massoud of New York restaurant ilili shares his recipe for this quintessential Lebanese dish. This warm and comforting Lebanese recipe was created by Chef Philippe G.

Massoud of New York restaurant ilili. For many people from the region, beer is the least sophisticated of drinks. Najem says. We have no area in the world. We have no place in this universe.