These two have long had a pleasant back-and-forth. Richman called Bourdain “a living, breathing low blow.” Bourdain named a chapter in his 2010 book Medium Raw “Alan Richman Is a Douchebag,” in which he noted the critic as “uniquely gas-engorged.” In a March 2008 GQ review of Bourdain’s restaurant Les Halles, Richman noted the celebrity’s role with the restaurant has diminished, followed by a slam: “It’s hard to know what a place that specializes in the hoariest of French dishes would need from an American who wasn’t much of a chef back in the days when he worked at being one.” Bourdain replied in kind: “It was like being mauled by Gumby. Afterwards, you’re not sure it even happened.” →
I wrote for Gourmet Live’s November 2011 issue on The Best Food Feuds of All Time. It was fun. They gave me five pages.
