There's a whole lot about Brazilian jiu-jitsu in the Bay Area episode of Parts Unknown, because this is something that Anthony Bourdain is really into, besides eating and drinking that is. He says his main reason for coming back to SF this time is to do some training at Ralph Gracie Academy with instructor Kurt Osiander, whom he takes out to dine at Coi in the episode.
Bourdain drops some new choice quotes about San Francisco in general, which he called when he was last here in 2011 "a two-fisted drinking town, a carnivorous meat-eating town, it’s dirty and nasty and wonderful."
His 2015 quotes:
"San Francisco is an outrageously dirty town. It's grimy. You guys have actual street hookers in this center of town. It's a two fisted, heavy drinking, three martini, big steaks, heavy smoking, old-school 20s mentality town.""San Francisco was built on toughness. It's a boozy town, a saloon town, red meat, sex, and dirt."
"I like to think there's hope. At least hope that once in a while the old guys will have a good day."
Here's a video clip from the opening in which Bourdain asks, "Will San Francisco be awesome forever [or will be it be ruined by feral tech yuppies]?" And he doesn't answer that.
He also returns to his favorite spot, Swan Oyster Depot, sits down with Twitter-lebrity chef Richie Nakano, and with local writer/memoirist Sean Wilsey, and he heads to Oakland for a big meal at Juhu Beach Club with chef Preeti Mistry, and conversation about "authenticity" in cuisine. (The restaurant is now offering a tasting menu of everything Bourdain ate.)
And yes, as we knew from when they were shooting a few months back, Bourdain stopped in to grab a beer at Sinbad's with Twitter pal and fellow food writer John Birdsall. And it appears this stop was meant to be an illustration of the kinds of places that are endangered in our current tech boom even though the specifics of Sinbad's closing, and losing its lease, have nothing to do with that and everything to do with the Port needing a new ferry terminal.
Says Bourdain, "Sinbad's. Lost in time, yet its time running out. Living out its last stand on San Francisco's Pier 2, just south of the hordes of neck beards and man bun vapers buying artisanal drip coffee a few hundred yards away."
Says Birdsall, about Sinbad's, "I tell anyone to come and meet me here, my friends, and they sort of laugh at me. They're like 'Sinbad's?' But it's this thing that doesn't really exist in San Francisco anymore. It's not self-consciously divey. It has this kind of faded glamour. It's kind of worn out; it smells kind of sour." Exactly the kind of place you want to eat! Note: They don't eat there.
Over at Eater you can see the full map of Bourdain's SF tour.
Look for the episode to replay at some point.
[CNN]
Previously: Sinbad's Thwarts Eviction AGAIN By Seeking Bankruptcy Protection