Anthony Bourdain at the counter

We like food and we like some television and occasionally we like when the two are put together. It was quite exciting then, to have Anthony Bourdain and crew visit Russ & Daughters to film a segment for No Reservations. Bourdain came to the counter with author Joel Rose (who created, notably, the great Lower East Side quarterly Between C & D) and explored food that hit a little closer to home than the fare we’re used to seeing him try in his travels. Bourdain (chef, author, world traveler, punk music aficionado, straight shooter), a quintessential New York character, admitted that it was this food that he always craves after a long spell away tasting odd parts of exotic animals and such in foreign lands. He described his theory that there are only a handful of truly elemental primordial flavors, and that herring is certainly one of them.

Joel Rose and Anthony Bourdain at the counter with Joshua Russ Tupper

The two kibbitzed over herring and caviar before heading on to other stops in the neighborhood — all for an upcoming episode about the Lower East Side. No Reservations airs on Mondays at 10:00 p.m. on the Travel Channel. The episode that features Russ & Daughters will appear in January. Until then, read Anthony’s blog and his crew’s entertaining blog too.

See more photos of the shoot after the jump.

- Jen Snow