A Neurotic Jew and A Cynical Gentile Walk Into A Bar

Anthony Bourdain, host of CNN's Parts Unknown, was interviewed by Helen Rosner for Eater dot com. The stunning takeaway from the interview is his refusal to eat in Trump's DC restaurant. This is a cultural kill shot. It will be construed as Bourdain saying he wouldn't even break bread with Trump, were he invited to do so.

Bourdain's comment is a reply to Rosner's question, "So what do you make of Alessandro Borgognone bringing Sushi Nakazawa into the Trump DC hotel?"

Bourdain replied, "I will never eat in his restaurant. I have utter contempt for him, utter and complete contempt."

"I don’t look good in a brown shirt."

The way the news media is framing this, is that Bourdain "pledges to boycott Trump's DC restaurant." Bourdain has tried to clarify, saying he's "not boycotting anything. I choose to not patronize chefs who tacitly support deporting half the people they've ever worked with." Damage control. Maybe he should have passed on the interview with the nosy yenta.

Rosner's interview with Bourdain is filled his fretful "observations."

"People rise up and kill their neighbors all the time. People they’ve lived with their whole lives, yesterday they were fine, today they’re the enemy. You’ve seen it in Yugoslavia, you’ve seen it in Borneo. Now you’re seeing it here." What are we seeing here, exactly? Not Yugoslavia-level ethnic violence, that's for sure. More like projection.

"This is a country founded in violence," Bourdain says. What country wasn't founded in violence?

I can't help but "noticing" that Rosner is Jewish, and she confirms that most Jewish stereotype, that we are all neurotic. These are some of her questions.

"As this far-right political wave is engulfing the world, do you think this list, the lineup of places where the cost of you visiting is too high, is going to grow?" Engulfing the world. Panicky little zaftig.

"Your daughter is nine, which means she’s coming of age probably right when the shit hits its peak."

"Do you have a point in your day where you’re on your third cup of coffee and you’re like "Oh, that’s right, we’re on the path to fascism"? It's always 1938 to these worry-warts.

Bourdain replied, "No, I’m not that panicky about it."

Rosner turned to the Trump cabinet, with her statement and follow-up question, "Rex Tillerson is the most evil name. It’s straight out of DC Comics. Do you think they know they’re evil?"

I came away from reading the interview with only mildly less respect for Bourdain, who at least comes by his cynicism honestly. He does lose a few points for his remark about Oman. "If I can convince a few people to go to a country like Oman, which has a completely non-sectarian version of Islam, which is incredibly tolerant and super cool..."

Oman is Ibadi, which is a Sunni sect. Maybe he doesn't understand what the word "sect" means. Or perhaps any country that doesn't send waves of suicide bombers to the West is "super cool."

Nevertheless, he does understand reaction. "I lived through the ‘60s. There ain’t gonna be no revolution."

And little Bolshevik Rosner never disappoints. "It laid the groundwork for a revolution, though."