In case you missed it, chef, author, and all-around-bad-ass, Anthony Bourdain spoke last Saturday at the Michigan Theater as part of the "Ann Arbor Conversations" series. Walking out with a beer from the Ann Arbor Brewing company, he seemed thrilled to be in Ann Arbor, home to "one of the greatest bands ever, The Stooges." And Ann Arbor was thrilled to have him, the ultimate rock star of the food world. 
 
Bourdain opened by stating that he would lay off the Rachael Ray jokes for the night, for the sake of them being too easy. Instead, he opted for a story about food network personality (I'm not going to say cook) Sandra Lee. On multiple occasions, Bourdain has publicly called Lee "the hell spawn of Kathie Lee and Betty Crocker", and her show "Semi-Homemade with Sandra Lee" "a war crime on television." At the recent premiere of "Julie and Julia," Lee approached Bourdain, who was sitting with his wife, and began to run her fingers all over his body, telling him that "he had been a bad, bad, boy." She then tugged on his earlobes, asking if they were red yet, before moving on. Bourdain sat there, frozen, and at that moment realized that "It's Sandra Lee's world and we all just live in it."

Bourdain then moved on, regaling his audience with tales from his travels.  He showed his dislike for the term "bizarre foods" to describe the things he eats on his show, "No Reservations." He explained that another culture would find a 500-pound man eating a Cinnabon horrifying. He also cleared up the misconception that he must get sick all the time during his travels. He admitted that while he did occasionally become ill, these experiences were usually alcohol related rather than food, and that one is more likely to get sick eating the spaghetti bolognese at the Hilton than eating pig's head tacos from a  street vendor . 
 
Bourdain ended his talk by discussing his general philosophy of traveling, or what he calls, "the grandma theory." The key to traveling, he said, is to be a good guest. He explained that when you go to grandma's house for dinner, her turkey may be burnt and dry, but you are going to eat it and you are going to ask for seconds. The same principle applies when traveling  because more often than not, your hosts are offering the very best of their hospitality, and they will be watching to see how you react.
 
Ultimately, Bourdain's words left me inspired to go out and have an adventure, eat a pig head, and let things go wrong because in the end those will be the most memorable meals of my life.