A DRAM AND A SHOW
Bourdain hosts ‘Craft’ screening for Hub fans
Apparently all it takes is a superb whisky to get Anthony Bourdain to the Boston area. The chef-turned-journalist was in Chestnut Hill last night for a special screening of “Raw Craft,” the online series brought to us by The Balvenie singleScotch whisky distillery.
“You had to be there, man,” Bourdain said of the episode while nursing a dram of 21-year-old PortWood finished whisky.
In the featured “Raw Craft” episode, Bourdain visited Southbridge to watch Mike Ciprari, co-founder of SJC Custom Drums,a-kind make a oneof- drum kit for Tre Cool, drummer for the rock band Green Day. The entire process, including burning designs inspired by Cool’s tattoos into the sides of the snare, took about 50 hours.
“What’s beautiful? It’s not perfection,” Bourdain said about SJC’s dedication to true craftsmanship — that is, creation without the modern conveniences.
“It’s that barely perceivable imperfection that makes a thing really, really special,” he explained. “It’s that human element to an instrument, to a work of art, to a book, to something you care about. Perfection is (expletive) boring.”
When Bourdain isn’t interviewing modern craftsmen and diving into their art for “Raw Craft,” we all know him from his hosting gig on CNN’s “Parts Unknown,” which has him bouncing around the globe. Translation: He’s living the life. “I decide where we go. I decide what we do when we get there,” Bourdain said. “Anywhere I want to go, however I want to shoot it and whatever I want to play with when I’m there, I get to do that.”
But let’s not get confused. Bourdain did his time slaving away in kitchens before he got to take part in la dolce vita.
“I mean, look, I know what work is,” he said. “This is after 30 years of showing up every day, cooking food I didn’t particularly like for people I didn’t particularly like in restaurants that were failing.”
Now, he knows he’s got it made.
“Life is pretty good,” he said, “so if now and again, my latte’s not perfect, I can handle the disappointment.”