Tony's kind of menu

ADVENTURE | Chef Bourdain's food travel show is well planned, not always easy to swallow

It's lunchtime on the west bank of the Calumet River. The warm August sun and brilliant blue skies make the bleak industrial stretch a picaresque setting for what seems to be an impromptu curbside picnic for a tall man, a woman and a television crew.

Anthony Bourdain grabs a cluster of whole deep-fried smelts, jabs them into hot sauce and stuffs the whole mass into his mouth, never breaking sentence as our three-person camera crew silently rolls digital videotape.

» Click to enlarge image

Louisa Chu and Anthony Bourdain enjoy smoked salmon, smoked shrimp and smelts at Calumet Fisheries.
(Courtesy Diane Schutz/Travel Channel)

Tony and I tear through hunks of chilled smoked trout and salmon, with smoked shrimp up next. The silky flesh and fragrant fish oils look and taste as good as ever, but I swallow back a gnawing worry that we don't have the infamous smoked chub, or "fish crack," as dubbed by my friend and fellow LTHforum.com board member Kristina Meyer. It would have given Tony a dual opportunity to riff on chub and crack.

Finally, Tony was filming the long-awaited Chicago episode of his food and travel series "Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations," now in its fifth season. The episode premieres at 9 p.m. Monday on the Travel Channel.

As an occasional fixer for the show, it is part of my job to worry as well as play on-camera sidekick -- but most importantly to set the stage for "video gold," as Tony likes to call especially good scenes.

At Calumet Fisheries, we're witness to the disappearing art of the Illinois riverside smoke shack. While Tony eats quickly and drops snarky comments, I try not to spit-take fish on camera.

Disasters happen despite the best planning, whether Tony's forced to eat roasted sand-, fur- and fecal matter-encrusted warthog rectum or enter a bat guano-slicked cave in Jamaica. The great Midwestern chub shortage of 2008 ranked nowhere comparatively.

We'd planned everything Tony would eat for two months, but in reality, the menu has been four years in the making.

We shot the show's first episode in Paris, where I also worked as a fixer, and we knew Chicago was on the master list of future destinations -- if the show was picked up. Back in December 2004, that was not a guarantee.

The Chicago show started as a blank slate. Tony suggested a few places from his book tour visits. He wanted to shoot at Hot Doug's, Avec, Matchbox and Moto.

He also wanted the show to capture the feel of Chicago-born director Michael Mann's debut film, "Thief," an incredibly dark film noir set in the underbelly of Chicago.

As serious cinema fans, Tony and his team model each city's episode after a film. To that end, a sleek black Cadillac DTS sedan played a supporting role for our weeklong shoot.

Central to "Thief" was a coffee shop. And so, we shot a scene at Ramova Grill. We even had a few fans staked out in a booth behind us, but sadly they did not make it into the final episode.

Regardless, Tony and the crew ate one of our favorite meals at Ramova. Executive producer Chris Collins, who has worked and eaten with Tony since "A Cook's Tour" on Food Network, especially loved Ramova's famous spice-scented, Cincinnati-esque chili, which is reminiscent of Bolognese sauce. In his behind-the-scenes book, No Reservations: Around the World on an Empty Stomach, Tony revealed that spaghetti Bolognese is Collins' favorite dish, and he orders it wherever and whenever he can.

En route to another scene, Tony drives the Caddy with his friend and fellow chef Eric Ripert riding shotgun. I navigate from the backseat while a cameraman shoots beside me.

Ripert just flew in from New York and will fly back out early in the morning to tend to Le Bernardin, his Michelin three-star seafood restaurant.

We arrive at L20, the experimental French- and Asian-influenced seafood restaurant in Lincoln Park whose chef, Laurent Gras, is an old friend of both Tony and Eric.

Much later, in our private tatami room, our kimono-clad server uncovers a surprising sixteenth course, a quarter-pound slab of perfectly grilled, succulent Wagyu beef.

After nearly five hours, 22 courses, six kinds of bread and a procession of artisanal sakes, I drive the Caddy and the boys back to the hotel (having switched to water early on).

Tony reclines in the passenger seat, but Eric leans forward over the center armrest like a kid on a roadtrip. Exhausted but our adrenaline still rushing, we do a play-by-play of the dinner. Winding through our familiar streets, I can't believe I'm witnessing, much less part of, this thrilling private exchange.

All in a day's work with Anthony Bourdain.

Louisa Chu is a chef and free-lance writer based in Chicago.

Have you ever watched Anthony Bourdain eating on "No Reservations," your stomach growling and mouth watering, and wondered, "What's he having and can I get some of that?"

Here's everything Bourdain consumed for the Chicago episode:

Pizza-in-the-pan (cheese, spinach, mushrooms, mixed bell peppers)

Pizza-in-the-pan (cheese, sausage, pepperoni, onions, garlic)

Great Lakes Burning River Pale Ale

At Calumet Fisheries, 3259 E. 95th, (773) 933-9855, www.calumet fisheries.com:

Smoked salmon

Smoked trout

Smoked shrimp

Fried smelts

A&W Root Beer

At Chef Paul Kahan's backyard, Chicago:

(Kahan's backyard is private but you can eat the same or similar food at his newest restaurant, the Publican, 837 W. Fulton Market, 312-733-9555, www.thepublicanrestaurant.com.)

Mettwurst

Boudin blanc

Boudin noir

Morteau

Ham chop cooked in hay

Fresh and pureed creamed corn

Fresh cranberry, cannellini, Romano, dragon tongue and pinto beans braised with chili, onion and garlic

Pickled cucumber, squash, cipollini onions, mustard seed, cardamom, juniper

Beer

At Fat Johnnie's, 7242 S. Western, (773) 737-6294:

Mother-in-law (tamale on a bun with chili)

Mighty dog (hot dog and tamale on a bun with cheese and chili)

Tamale sundae (tamale in a bowl of chili)

Suicide (cola, diet cola, fruit punch, grape, lemonade, orange, root beer, 7UP, strawberry)

At Hot Doug's, 3324 N. California, (773) 279-9550, www.hotdougs.com:

The Dog (Chicago-style hot dog with all the trimmings)

Foie gras and Sauternes duck sausage with truffle mustard and foie gras au torchon

Duck fat fries

Fountain soda

At L20, 2300 N. Lincoln Park West, (773) 868-0002, www.l2orestaurant.com:

Tatami Room Menu -- 22 courses:

Oyster, Sake, Rice Wine Vinegar

Tuna, Kampachi

Mussel

Escolar, Espelette

Medai Roll

Fluke, Caviar, Shiso

Akagai

Sashimi, Fluke, Kinmedai, Kampachi, Shimaaji

Morel, Asparagus, Parmesan, Parsley

Clams, Jamon Bouillon

Kampachi, Foie Gras, Mojama

Tofu, Miso

Aka Yagara

Tomato, Santa Barbara Prawn, Parsley

Amadai, Crispy Scales, Yuzu, Black Lime, Tapioca Pearl

Wagyu, Beetroot

Lobster, Uni, Aori Ika

Pickled Chanterelle, Salmon Roe

Toro

Dashi, Junsai

Strawberry, Tomato

Pistachio Macaroon

Bread service (anchovy brioche, pain de campagne, bacon-mustard epi, pain au lait, demi-baquette, whole wheat)

Sake

At Moto, 945 W. Fulton Market, (312) 491-0058, www.motorestaurant.com:

Edible Menu

Roadkill of Fowl

Cuban Cigar

BBQ Beans and Slaw

At Ramova Grill, 3510 S. Halsted, (773) 847-9058:

Ham omelet with chili

Sausage patties

Hash browns

Toast

Fresh orange juice (squeezed to order)

Coffee

At Silver Palm, 768 N. Milwaukee, (312) 666-9322:

Colossal shrimp cocktail

Hickory smoked baby back ribs with spicy BBQ sauce

Braised veal breast sandwich on Italian loaf with natural jus

Three Little Piggy sandwich with onion rings and french fries (fried in lard)

Jacqueline Gevercer's traditional apple pie (with bacon fat crust), served with Pedro Jimenez sherry and caramel sauce

Pabst Blue Ribbon Beer

At Tom Tom Tamale & Bakery Company, 4750 S. Washtenaw, (773) 523-5675:

Tamales

Louisa Chu