Flashback Friday: Anthony Bourdain and Nick Tosches at Sophie's

You may have seen food personality Anthony Bourdain in the neighborhood of late ... filming scenes (to air this fall) for his CNN series "Parts Unknown" ... among his stops: Ray's Candy Store, John's of 12th Street, Veselka and Max Fish. (You can read more about all this over at Eater, Bowery Boogie or Bedford + Bowery ... or Bourdain's Instagram account.)

A post shared by Harley Flanagan (@harleyfflanagan) on Apr 4, 2018 at 3:34pm PDT

So for this Flashback Friday, we'll head back to February 2009, when Bourdain's previous show, "No Reservations," aired an episode titled "Disappearing Manhattan."

In the last segment, he stopped by Sophie's on Fifth Street to meet with writer Nick Tosches... here is a grainy clip showing 90 seconds or so of the three-minute scene...



As Bourdain said, "Sophie's in the East Village remains a good place to stop time." Still mostly feels that way too.

[EVG Flashback] "Sophie's...remains a good place to stop time"

Originally posted on Feb. 25, 2009...

I finally watched the "Disappearing Manhattan" episode of "No Reservations" (this after blabbering away about it the last three months!). It debuted Monday night, and will air several more times. Grub Street yesterday provided a nice synopsis of what the episode covered.

In particular, I was interested in the last segment, in which Anthony Bourdain shoots the shit with Nick Tosches at Sophie's. It was all of about three minutes (and the shoot at Sophie's took nearly three hours, I was told).

Here's most of what transpired at Sophie's....

"Sophie's...remains a good place to stop time"

I finally watched the "Disappearing Manhattan" episode of "No Reservations" (this after blabbering away about it the last three months!). It debuted Monday night, and will air several more times. Grub Street yesterday provided a nice synopsis of what the episode covered.

In particular, I was interested in the last segment, in which Anthony Bourdain shoots the shit with Nick Tosches at Sophie's. It was all of about three minutes (and the shoot at Sophie's took nearly three hours, I was told).

Here's most of what transpired at Sophie's....

The Bourdainster blogs about "Disappearing Manhattan"

The Bourdainster blogs about tonight's episode of "No Reservations"...

We're calling Monday night's show "DISAPPEARING MANHATTAN," but this is not to suggest that Katz's Deli, or Keen's, or Russ & Daughters are going to fade away anytime soon (if ever). What I am saying with this "Special" episode is that these are exactly the kind of old school, hometown places I love; uniquely New York institutions who have survived the brutal caprices of style and changing tastes -- and are still worth going out of your way to patronize. Let me make this clear: "Old" does not necessarily mean "good." Just cause it's a "New York institution" doesn't mean you want to eat there. If it did, New Yorkers might actually eat at Tavern On The Green -- and Luchows would still be open.

Previously on EV Grieve:
"No Reservations" at Sophie's

"Disappearing Manhattan" and opium chitchat with the Bourdainster (and is the Brooklyn Bridge going to disappear?)

The Anthony Bourdain/"No Reservations"/Travel Channel site posted more information on their "Disappearing Manhattan" episode that debuts Monday at 10 p.m. Based on the publicity still above, should we assume that the Brooklyn Bridge is going to disappear? What does he know!

Also, after poking around the Travel Channel site, I discovered that the Bourdainsters had already posted a snippet of the interview that Bourdain did with Nick Tosches at Sophie's. According to the description of the two-minute clip that was shot last November, "Anthony Bourdain sits down and grabs a beer with author Nick Tosches, to chat about Southeast Asia and Tosches' new book, 'The Last Opium Den.'"

Presumably there's more of this interview (maybe not so publicist friendly?) with Tosches during the "Disappearing Manhattan" segment. Meanwhile, Daniel Maurer at Grub Street had more information on the episode...

Previously on EV Grieve:
"No Reservations" at Sophie's

"No Reservations" at Sophie's: Feb. 23

Back on Nov. 25, I reported that globetrotting chef Anthony Bourdain filmed a segment of his show "No Reservations" at Sophie's. The Bourdainster was joined by Nick Tosches to discuss great old haunts of NYC.

Well! It appears as if that segment is ready to air this Feb. 23 on The Travel Channel...The segment, titled "Disappearing Manhattan," starts at 10 p.m. Don't worry -- it will be repeated many times, according to the schedule...

"No Reservations" at Sophie's

A tipster tells me that globetrotting chef Anthony Bourdain filmed a segment of his show "No Reservations" at Sophie's this past weekend. He was joined by Nick Tosches to discuss great old haunts of NYC. After Bourdain and the film crew left, Tosches reportedly stuck around for more beers and some pool. The episode filmed at Sophie's will air in February.

Well, this is all good for Sophie's of course, but I keep thinking about what Jeremiah wrote in his post on the closing of the Holland:

This just after Anthony Bourdain, mourning the loss of Siberia, praised the Holland, which he called: "A classic old-man bar." He also hailed the Distinguished Wakamba Lounge, a former after-work haunt of mine, and now I'm worried. What if Bourdain has reaper powers?

"One last breath of life in this dying hick-town mall that used to be Manhattan"

Was flipping through this week's Time Out -- "your ultimate bar guide" -- when I came across this ad for Circa Tabac on Watts Street. I'm a big Nick Tosches fan, and don't recall having ever seen this ad: