Anthony Bourdain goes to Sizzler

I have watched every episode of Bourdain's new CNN series Parts Unknown. The best episodes by far are Myanmar and Koreatown (Los Angeles). Here, Bourdain dines at a Sizzler. It's a chain restaurant known for its salad bar. When I was a kid in Southern California, you could get a steak dinner there for $7.99, which was not inexpensive. Hence, whenever I went there, it was always for a special occasion.

I remember once a family friend took me there. He was a hot shot with an E21 Alpina. We were going to have dinner there and then drive to the desert to catch Halley's Comet (remember that?). He insisted that I get the steak and shrimp meal. I felt like a king. In the eyes of a 12 year old, it was fancy.

There is still a Sizzler nearby. I have not been there for almost twenty years. Now that I have had some perspective, it's not exactly haute cuisine. But after watching this piece, nostalgia has hit me and I think I'll take my wife there next weekend. I promise not to enjoy it in an ironic, faux hipsterish kind of way.

And just as background, the guy in the red suit is an artist. He painted murals for Facebook's office back in 2005. He was paid in stocks (in lieu of $60,000 cash). Those stocks are now worth $200,000,000.

Skip to 16:26:

And here is a typical 1980s ad: