Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations - New York Outer Boroughs

For some reason, The Blot’s post on last night’s episode of Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations didn’t post yesterday afternoon as it was supposed to. So instead, here is a teaser for last night’s episode “New York Outer Boroughs.” It turns out that Tony knows the jungles of Malaysia and the streets of London better than he knows what's just outside his home in Manhattan, so he enlists some locals to help him explore New York City’s five boroughs.


While in Queens, Tony enjoys traditional Chinese, Indian and Korean foods such as pig’s feet, head cheese, lamb noodles, fried pancakes, wriggling chopped octopus and piles of steaming seafood. When traveling to Staten Island, Tony meets up with David Johansen, the lead singer of the former band the NY Dolls. Their first stop is New Asha, a Sri Lankan restaurant, where they enjoy the Sri Lankan specialty black curry goat and discuss the true roots of rock and roll.


After Staten Island, Tony goes to Brooklyn and joins Chris Chung for a delicious dim sum breakfast of duck feet, tripe, fried bread, pork meatballs and hargao in Sunset Park. Bourdain then meets up with Carlos, his close friend and chef at Les Halles, to have lunch at Los Hermanos, a tortilleria that both manufactures and serves tacos.



Back in Brooklyn, Tony and Peter Meehan, food writer and critic, are treated to a delicious meal of seared beef heart and bone marrow, which are enough to render Tony speechless. Peter and Tony then dine on some unique dishes like pig’s head fettuccine, brussel sprouts and grits, and a deliciously juicy rib-eye steak, all while discussing whether or not Tony missed the boat to Brooklyn. New York City has always been known for its exquisite foods, but sometimes the amazing restaurants and chefs of its outer boroughs are overlooked. Thankfully now the rest of the world will know of the great things going on in NYC’s five boroughs.

Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations airs every Monday night at 10/9c on the Travel Channel.

Sons of Anarchy Season 2 Premiers Tonight

FX’s Sons of Anarchy is one of those television shows The Blot can’t figure out why more people aren’t watching. It’s been almost a year since the show’s first season ended, but thankfully SOA Season 2 debuts tonight, Tuesday, September 8th, at 10/9c. I saw SOA as the obvious replacement FX’s original dark, action packed hour long drama The Shield, which was one of my favorite shows and ended last year after 7 seasons, but for some reason Sons of Anarchy just hasn't gotten the same type of hype from the media and fans that The Shield did in its first two seasons.


Although I originally assumed this dark, slightly comedic drama about a notorious outlaw motorcycle club, the Sons of Anarchy, was the heir apparent to FX’s The Shield, I now think I was a little off. In retrospect, I think Sons of Anarchy actually more closely resemble another hugely popular show cable television show about crime families, HBO’s The Sopranos.


Like The Sopranos, SOA focuses on the two families (and life) of Jax Teller, whose loyalty to the club is tested by his growing apprehension for its lawlessness. But, unlike Tony Sopranos’ two families, the line between Jax’s blood family and motorcycle club is constantly blurring…and in most instances, his actual family and SAMCRO (The Sons of Anarchy Motorcycle Club, Redwood Original) are one in the same.


Every hour of Sons of Anarchy is action packed, and if you enjoyed watching shows like The Shield or The Sopranos then I highly recommend tuning in tonight for SOA’s Season 2 premiere. The show is pretty straightforward, and I don’t think missing Season 1 will hinder your enjoyment or understanding of the season to come. Plus, Season 2 now stars Adam Arkin and Henry Rollins as white separatists looking to wrestling control of Charming, CA from Jax and SAMCRO. While the casting of Arkin as a white separatist may seem a bit strange, from what I’ve read people who have seen the show’s first few episodes say Arkin is really killer in the role. I have a feeling, based on the rumored storylines of Season 2, that the action will be coming early and often in Sons of Anarchy this year.

Sons of Anarchy stars Charlie Hunnam, Katey Sagal and Ron Perlman, and airs every Tuesday night at 10/9c on FX.

David Flores x Disney x Kidrobot Thumper Vinyl Figure Photos

The Blot really loves this new Thumper vinyl figure from David Flores, Disney, and Kidrobot, and I thought you might too once you got a look at the final product. Flores posted this photo below of the black/grey Thumper colorway on his blog last week. I have to say, I never expected to see a Bambi themed vinyl figure released by Kidrobot. While I love the figure, I question giving Thumper a gold grill. I wonder what color Thumper’s teeth will be in the figure’s other two colorways.


The David Flores x Disney x Kidrobot Thumper vinyl figure will be released like most of Flores’ figures in three colorways: black/grey, blue and pink. Thumper, which stands 8 inches tall, will be released sometime in October and retail for around $50.