Bourdain/Ripert Recap

In trying to come up with a review of last nights event with Anthony Bourdain and Eric Ripert I came up with this list of highlights:

1) Anthony and Eric are hilarious when they get together
2) Watching two men with decades of kitchen experience and memories to share grill each other in a mock trial format makes even the worst cook feel included in that world at least for a while
3) The mixture of fun, joking conversation with serious discussion of food sustainability and responsibility made the serious topics approachable for every person in the audience
4) They opened themselves up to public ridicule as well as praise, which to me demands respect even from the people who may disagree with their particular views on the tough subjects that were brought up… and there were many
5) They drank local beer while up on stage. Awesome!
6) These two men stayed on stage about an hour longer than they were asked to. They also remained in their seats signing autograph after autograph for their loving masses longer than they had to while making a personal connection with each person and never forgetting to give them a sincere smile and “thank you” for being their fan. These guys are genuinely nice.