Bourdain on the Good Life; Video of Foreign Adventures

Superstar food critic, culinary traveler, and chef Anthony Bourdain spoke with us Monday from New York. Tom asked him about how his famously tough and no-nonsense approach to food criticism has changed over the years: "Are you still as tough?...Are you lightening up a little bit?"

Here's Bourdain's response:

"First of all, I've been living a ridiculously good life for the last ten years. That alone — not going home exhausted and broke and collapsing into bed every night — that changes a person. Seeing how other people live around the world — living your dreams, but at the same time seeing how hard it is for people in other countries — having been frequently the recipient of random acts of kindness from strangers, that changes one's view. Seeing how, the similarities and differences of people around the world from very different backgrounds. And then of course, I'm the father of a three-year-old little girl now, and that more than anything changes a person. "

Speaking of foreign travel and food, a few of Bourdain's specific journeys abroad for his Travel Channel show No Reservations were topics of conversation during our interview today with him. Below are some video excerpts from a couple of those.

Here's Bourdain in Vietnam:

And here he is in Saudi Arabia: