We remember a few years back, when Nelson Starr took his first turn as a food tv host in an online contest, beckoning celebchef Anthony Bourdain to capture Buffalo’s food scene on camera for an episode of his popular Travel Channel program, No Reservations. Starr’s bid not only led him to make a series of webisodes about our region’s ethnic food ways and favorite eateries, but it also curried enough favor with Bourdain, that even without winning the contest’s ultimate prize, the chef and his film crew chose to come here anyway, making Buffalo part of an episode featuring a handful of U.S. cold weather cities.
Starr’s success in this venture has led him to a variety of other food-related opportunities, and he’s enjoying this new addition to his already busy musical career.
Recently, with the release of his book, Medium Raw, Bourdain opened his arms to his adoring fans again, daring anyone with a passion for cooking to pen a forward that would appear in the paperback edition of the book, to be released next fall.
Over a thousand have entered, and Starr’s attempt to answer the query posed by Bourdain is one of the more solid and well thought entries, in my opinion. Bourdain’s question of “What does it mean to cook food well?” has brought on a flood of answers, most almost too personal or badly written to ever feasibly appear in the front of someone else’s book. Starr’s entry, on the other hand, quotes author William S. Burroughs, and Starr’s passion for the philosophical examination of mankind’s internal struggle peeks through. I am guessing that Bourdain would like the piece, and Starr hopes that you will too, as this contest requires its entrants to be voted to the head of the class. We’re sure you will have your own opinions, based on the fervent commenting that generally follows any of the articles Starr chooses to share with us here at BR. So please feel free to note your comments here, but click over and vote for the poor schlubb over there too, on the Medium Raw contest website.