Anthony Bourdain is stirring up trouble again. He recently scribed a blog post criticizing "The Ultimate Melting Pot" theme for the 2011 James Beard Awards, claiming that he would rather go to a "Renaissance Fair in Hell" than attend. He then moved onto criticizing certain food journalists for filling up "their plastic lined pockets with free food and swag" and having the "gold standard" of a "shady garbage contractor."
Well, a food journalist and member of the James Beard nominating committee fired back. Kat Kinsman of CNN's Eatocracy questioned "where the hell" Bourdain is doing all of his reading.
Then, Bourdain fired back at Kinsman and waged a bit of a Twitter war, in which he asked Kinsman to "step up and REPORT on this 3 decade year old blight on your fucking profession!!"
Next, other food journalists piled on. Atlanta food critic John Kessler called Bourdain a "coarse loudmouth." San Francisco Chronicle restaurant critic Michael Bauer pointed out:
Ironically, connecting food to culture is kind of what Anthony Bourdain does in his television programs, so it's a little surprising he would be so dismissive of traditional recipe creators and put them in the same category as freeloaders.
This comment prompted Bourdain to extend an olive branch on Twitter before this food fight got too crazy." Good argument from Michael Bauer. Point taken."