Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations is an American travel and food show that airs on the Travel Channel; it also airs on the Discovery Travel & Living channel around the world. In it, host Anthony Bourdain visits overseas countries, cities worldwide, and places within the U.S., where hosts treat him to local culture and cuisine. The series premiered in 2005 on the Travel Channel. The format and content of the show is similar to Bourdain's 2001–2002 Food Network series, A Cook's Tour. The Travel Channel announced that season 9 would be the show's final season. Season 9 premiered on September 3, 2012 and concluded with its series finale episode (Brooklyn) on November 5, 2012.
The special episode Anthony Bourdain in Beirut that aired between Seasons 2 and 3 was nominated for an Emmy Award for Outstanding Informational Programming in 2007. In 2009 and 2011 the series won the Emmy for "Outstanding Cinematography For Nonfiction Programming".
Three special episodes were aired in 2006, one before the season, and two after.
Season 3 was aired in two parts: six episodes in the winter of 2007, and nine in the summer/autumn of 2007. Two special episodes were also aired in 2007, book-ending the regular episodes.
As with Season 3, Season 4 was aired in two parts: nine episodes in the winter of 2008, and ten in the summer of 2008. Various sources have referred to the summer episodes as Season 5, but in a post on his blog regarding the September 1, 2008 episode, Bourdain refers to it as the final episode of Season 4. One special episode followed the regular 2008 episodes.
Season 5 is another split season, with 10 episodes aired in the winter of 2009, and 10 episodes following in the summer.
Some episodes of Season 6 included in-show product placement for the Chase Sapphire credit card.
After Bourdain announced in May 2012 that he would be leaving to do a new show for CNN entitled Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown, the Travel Channel suspended Season 8 and repackaged the remaining seven episodes left to air as "The Final Tour" to capitalize on the publicity surrounding his departure. In addition to the seven episodes from Season 8, three episodes — "Sex, Drugs And Rock & Roll", "Seven Deadly Sins" and "Off The Charts" — made out of old footage, were reedited to look like new and added to Season 9.
As of March 2013, Travel Channel has released seven collections of the series on DVD. Despite that the series has been shot mostly with high-definition video cameras, it is not available for purchase in high definition format like Blu-ray disc.
In March 2013, Netflix canceled instant streaming of the show without explanation, but restored a 25 episode "No Reservations Collection" in October 2014. Hulu offers 5 episodes from season 7 and 8
The DVD releases do not have subtitles enabled for the hearing impaired. (Broadcast episodes do have closed-captioning available.)
Collection 1 (4 discs) (2005)Disc 1- Paris, New JerseyDisc 2- Sicily, Las VegasDisc 3- New Zealand, MalaysiaDisc 4- Iceland, VietnamCollection 2 (3 discs) (2006)Disc 1- Sweden, Puerto Rico, Quebec, U.S./Mexico BorderDisc 2- India (Rajasthan), India (Kolkata/Mumbai), Korea, Indonesia, IrelandDisc 3- Ghana, Namibia, Lebanon, Pacific NorthwestCollection 3 (3 discs) (2007)Disc 1- Russia, Los Angeles, New York, Shanghai, Hong KongDisc 2- French Polynesia, Cleveland, Brazil, ArgentinaDisc 3- Singapore, South Carolina, Berlin, TuscanyCollection 4 (3 discs) (2008)Disc 1- Vancouver, New Orleans, London/Edinburgh, Greek Islands, Jamaica, HawaiiDisc 2- Into the Fire, Laos, Tokyo, Uruguay, ColombiaDisc 3- Spain, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Washington D.C., US Southwest, Bonus FeaturesCollection 5 - Part 1 (3 discs) (2010)Disc 1- Romania, So Long Summer, Mexico, VeniceDisc 2- Azores, Chicago, Food Porn, PhilippinesDisc 3- Disappearing Manhattan, Sri Lanka, Sardinia, Chile, Bonus Materials (Alternate Universe)Collection 5 - Part 2 (3 discs) (2011)Disc 1- Australia, Buffalo/Baltimore/Detroit, Down on the Street, San FranciscoDisc 2- Thailand, Montana, NYC Outer Boroughs, Vietnam: No Place Like HomeDisc 3- Brittany, Obsessed, Provence, Bonus Materials (Alternate Universe)Collection 6 - Part 1 (3 discs) (November 29, 2011)Disc 1- Panama, Istanbul, Prague, New York Hudson Valley, EcuadorDisc 2- Harbin China, Maine, Food Porn 2, Caribbean Island Hopping, HeartlandDisc 3- Bonus Features: Burning Questions, Techniques Special, Holiday SpecialCollection 6 - Part 2 (2 discs) (2012)Disc 1- Where it all Began, Liberia, Dubai, Rome, MadridDisc 2- Kerala,India, Paris 100, Back to Beirut, Bonus Features(What were we thinking, Making of India)Collection 7 (3 discs) (2012)Disc 1- Haiti, Cambodia, Nicaragua, Vienna, OzarksDisc 2- Brazil: The Amazon, Boston, Japan: Hokkaido, Cuba, MacauDisc 3- Naples, El Bulli, Ukraine, Kurdistan, Cajun CountryOn the Season 3 New York City episode, Andrew Zimmern appeared in one segment. Bourdain appeared as a guest on the New York City episode of Zimmern's Travel Channel show Bizarre Foods with Andrew Zimmern, which aired the same day. The two shows were edited such that one show led nearly seamlessly into the other.Bourdain's wife Ottavia Busia, who is a native of Sardinia, Italy, appeared anonymously on the Season 3 Tuscany episode, as one of the disgruntled diners eating the food he prepares. She is also featured prominently in the Season 5 episode when the Bourdains visit Sardinia. She was also featured in the Season 6 Rome and Season 7 Naples episodes.Bourdain's brother Chris was his companion on the Season 4 Uruguay episode. In addition, Chris and his family appears in the first Holiday episode.Chefs who appeared on the program include Ferran and Albert Adrià, Éric Ripert, Gastón Acurio, Thomas Keller, Jacques Pépin, Mario Batali, Masaharu Morimoto, José Andrés, David Chang, Marco Pierre White, Jun Sakamoto, Wylie Dufresne, Homaro Cantu, Michael Symon, Juan Mari Arzak and Elena Arzak, Andoni Aduriz, April Bloomfield, Fergus Henderson, Gabrielle Hamilton, Jiro Ono, Scott Conant, Chris Cosentino, Pino Posteraro, Hidekazu Tojo, Vikram Vij, Edward Tuson, Martin Picard, Joël Robuchon, Alvin Leung, David Munoz, Olivier Rollinger, Paul Kahan, Chris Cheung, Michael Lomonaco, McDang, Chef Wan, Matt Moran, Neil Perry, Luke Mangan and Emeril Lagasse.Musicians who appeared on the program include Alice Cooper, Ted Nugent, Queens of the Stone Age, Black Keys, Marky Ramone, David Johansen, Neon Indian, Talib Kweli, The Sword, Sleigh Bells, Sami Yaffa, Los Pericos, Koo Nimo, and Paul Godfrey from Morcheeba. The show's holiday specials also included performances by Queens of the Stone Age, Norah Jones and Das Racist.Authors who appeared on the program include Jim Harrison, António Lobo Antunes, Chuck Palahniuk, Jerry Stahl, Harvey Pekar, George Pelecanos, Daniel Woodrell, Ian Rankin, Michael Ruhlman, Gary Shteyngart, Evan Rail and Nick Tosches.Actors who appeared on the program include Bill Murray, Sean Penn and Michael K. Williams.Politicians who appeared include German politician Gregor Gysi and Sicily's governor Salvatore Cuffaro.In the Puerto Rico episode, Tony boxed with and had lunch with boxer Miguel Cotto. When Tony visits EA Sports Canada in the Vancouver episode, NBA superstar Kevin Durant can be seen getting his motion capture suit adjusted.Awards and nominations
2007 Emmy Nominated, Best Long Form Documentary2008 ACE Eddie Nominated, Best Edited Reality Series2009 Emmy Winner, Outstanding Cinematography for Nonfiction Programming2009 Emmy Nominated, Best Editing2009 Emmy Nominated, Outstanding Nonfiction Series2010 Emmy Nominated, Outstanding Writing for Nonfiction Programming2011 ACE Eddie Award Winner, Best Edited Reality Series2011 CLIO Award Winner2011 Emmy Winner, Outstanding Cinematography for Nonfiction Programming2011 Emmy Nominated, Outstanding Nonfiction Series2011 Emmy Nominated, Outstanding Picture Editing for Nonfiction Programming2011 Emmy Nominated, Outstanding Writing for Nonfiction Programming2011 PGA Nominated, Outstanding Producer of Non-Fiction Television2011 TCA Nominated, Outstanding Achievement in Reality Programming2012 Critics' Choice Award, Best Reality Series2012 Emmy Nominated, Outstanding Cinematography for Nonfiction Programming2012 Emmy Nominated, Outstanding Nonfiction Series2012 Emmy Nominated, Outstanding Picture Editing for Nonfiction Programming2012 Emmy Nominated, Outstanding Writing for Nonfiction Programming2012 PGA Nominated, Outstanding Producer of Non-Fiction Television
