A Cook's Tour

In an attempt to escape the stress of city life, Tony visits the island of St. Martin. In this Caribbean paradise, Tony eats a healthy Rastafarian meal with a freedom fighter, helps prepare grub for a food caravan, discovers foodstuffs not available at American supermarkets and, finally, relaxes at a beach bar.

In New Orleans, Tony catches a Bayou alligator, cools off with a world famous sno cone, gets in trouble with the law, eats jambalaya with a dancing chef and, finally, relaxes to some local jazz.

Known as Brazil's capital of happiness, Salvador da Bahia offers fruitful local markets and rich Bahian cusine: fried shrimp, palm oil, chili peppers, and coconut. Here, Tony takes part in a traditional ceremony and experiences the culinary talents of the famous Bahian, Chef Dada.

What is a Carioca? These natives of Rio are lovable scamps who somehow find ways to avoid work altogether, preferring the beach, flirting and hanging out at restaurants and bars. Tony, under the tutelage of an exemplary Carioca, gives the lifestyle a try, enjoying a savage tan, Brazilian barbecue and one too many caipirinhas!

Join Tony on his quest to characterize the perfect bar. With him, discover the importance of a "maniacal bartender", the proper chemical makeup of drinks, the joys of seedy dive-bars and the need for late night snacks.

Tony travels to the grain belt capitol, Minneapolis, to inspect the conflict between creative independent operators and generic franchises. Beginning in the food nightmare within the Mall of America, Tony vows to find good cuisine within the city.

Chef Tony Bourdain embarks on a pilgrimage through Australia so he can indulge in a meal made by one of the world's best chefs, Tetsuya Wakuda. When Tony's car breaks down in the outback, he is found wandering about by a veteran of the bush who feeds him a slap-up meal of bush tucker, including kangaroo and wattleseed-bush tomato. Days, miles and many Australian meal later, Tony finds himself unable to describe Tetsuya's delicious and well-earned meal.

Chef Tony Bourdain decides to find the real Singapore with its multicultural restaurants and markets. He samples prescription food dishes, explores the Geyland Serai Market, rides the clean and efficient subway and sees Singapore's diversity in the "Little India" neighborhood.

Melbourne boasts a bunch of hard-living, good-natured and eccentric food-lovers-Tony's kind of people. In search of the outlaws of food, Tony explores a pasteurization-free cheese factory and an old-world cured jamon workshop. Alas, no trip to Australia is complete without an authentic "barbie", so Tony settles down with new found friends for an afternoon meal of surf n' turf.

Jumping into a Thai tuk tuk taxi, Tony attempts to soak up Thai culture and get lost in the cuisine of Chiang Mai. From spicy soups and noodles in the busy city marketplace to the hospitality and delicate salads of the countryside, Tony learns to appreciate all things Thai.

Tony returns to his beloved Vietnam to visit his friend, Linh, for the Vietnamese lunar New Year holiday, Tet. Together, the friends enjoy the holiday and indulge in all the exotic delicacies Vietnamese culture offers.

Which style of BBQ reigns supreme-Kansas City, Houston or North Carolina? Tony journeys to all three, judging the secrets behind sauces, wood pits, and slow smokers.

A spontaneous layover in Bangkok leads Tony into the city, where he tries strange meals of deep fried frog skins and pla rah-a fish paste that has fermented for three months to a year.