Next Tony visits Quaker Creek Store where they create their own artisanal sausages. A local gives Tony a bottle of homemade Polish Vodka for his meal. Chef Bobby, one of the owners of the store, dines with Tony as they enjoy traditional Polish dishes such as sausages and potato and onion perogies. Tony pulls out the Polish vodka and tries it, saying after drinking the homemade vodka he hopes he doesn’t “wake up naked in a dumpster without my kidneys”.

In the next scene we see Tony, along with his good friend, chef Michael Ruhlman, driving in an old convertible Lincoln Continental. They are on their way to the Culinary Institute of America (CIA) where Tony trained as a chef. Tony and Ruhlman are paired together with other young chefs who must put together a dish for the CIA instructor Michael Pardis. Tony and Ruhlman gear up with aprons and tall chef hats. Tony says of the hats “hated them then and I hate them now, we used to call them coffee filters”. Tony and Ruhlman get cutting, slicing up red peppers and squid, arguing which way to cut the squid until Pardis tells them to cut it in rings, Tony’s way. Tony harasses Ruhlman, telling him “look up chef in the dictionary and it says ‘not you’”.

In the CIA parking lot Tony is jokingly passing out No Reservations t-shirts to the students for money and passing out condoms, as the young chefs laugh and banter with the two seasoned chefs. Next Tony and Ruhlman visit Rondout Bay Marina where they hang out with some of the locals and drink shots at the outdoor bar.

Tony and Ruhlman are seen driving in the convertible headed to Mohonk Mountain House, a grand 265-room Victorian castle, one of America’s oldest family-owned resorts. Ruhlman exclaims “wow” as they drive up to the impressive castle, the castle surrounded by water and beautiful landscaping. Tony has arranged for them to paddle a canoe in the lake then enjoy high tea. Ruhlman is shocked Tony is interested in high tea but changes his mind when the extensive layout of fancy sandwiches and petit fours arrives. Tony tells Ruhlman the castle has an eariness to it similar to the movie “The Shining”.

Next stop is a party at CIA instructor Michael Pardis’ home. Tony and Ruhlman are looking forward to the numerous asian dishes Pardis is preparing for them. Tony digs into a bowl of noodles with pork and is in heaven. Pardis’ 10 year old daughter (going on 40) tells Tony she watches his show. As Tony jokes with the girl about how hard his television job is, she says sarcastically “food in your mouth is so much work” and Tony cracks up. Tony tells the camera Pardis’s daughter “beat him like a rented mule” with her clever comments during their conversation. Tony returns the favor by helping her fly high on her tire swing.

In the final segment, Tony visits chef Peter Kelly’s restaurant X20, set on a pier on the Hudson river. Kelly has arranged for his good friend Bill Murray to have dinner with Tony, who is blown away that he will be meeting the movie icon. Tony and Murray chat while dining, talking about their beloved New York. When Tony asks Murray where he’d like to travel, Murray tells Tony he’d like to take a PT boat through the Philippines. Dinner consists of lobster two ways, sashimi, duck with hoisin sauce and steamed buns, finishing with a cowboy ribeye steak for two. The final scene shows Tony heading home, riding on a tugboat down the Hudson river.

As the episode begins, Tony recites a fast rendition of Prague’s history, finally getting to the heart of the matter when he says that Communism influenced the food for the worse here. Tony notices there are boatloads of dumplings and goulash offered in the restaurants here. Tony meets with local Chef Sahajdák for beer and eats. First the beer arrives with stinky cheese and dark bread to go with it. Beer is a staple drink here and beer making is a great pride for Prague. Lunch starts with a huge appetizer of slow roasted pig tails. Tony is in heaven. The main courses arrive featuring two beef dishes: marinated rib of beef in beer and beef with rosehip sauce. Tony loves the beef dishes.

Dinner at Chef Sahajdák’s restaurant La Degustation Boheme Bourgeoise features a tasting menu of fried carp and potato salad with tripe soup, a menu similar to the traditional Christmas menu of Prague. Next is beef tartar between crisp chips. Aspic of ham with poached egg and lardon on toast are classical Prague ingredients that make Tony very happy. Rabbit three ways and beef tongue with chanterelle mushrooms complete the meal. Tony states this was “a fantastic meal, a taste of old and new”.

Beer and more beer is on the menu next at the old brewery. Local beer expert Evan Rail takes Tony on a tour of Kout brewery. The brewery looks very old and worn as they walk through the building. Evan tells Tony Prague drinks the most beer in the world, even more than Australia, mentioning workers often have beer with their breakfast. Tony and Evan meet that evening for dinner at the Pivovarsky Klub. The restaurant has six beers on tap. Soon a meal of pork shanks arrives at the table, along with a side dish of red cabbage. Observing how big the pork shank is, Tony exclaims “this one is the size of a medium Batali”, a reference to his friend, Chef Mario Batali. As Tony ingests a lot of pork fat with the pork meat he warns Evan flatulence is in his future. Tony is startled by the Giraffe beer, eight glasses of beer in a very tall glass.

Tony meets up with controversial artist David Cerny, a Czech sculptor, famous for painting a tank in the square pink and his upside-down horse sculpture. Cerny takes Tony to one of his outdoor sculptures, shapes of different countries on a tall metal shaped sculpture. Cerny’s country sculptures include Romainia sporting vampire teeth, Germany with a swastika built into its shape and Belgium portrayed as a tray of chocolates. Tony describes Cerny as a grumpy guy who likes his beer, very similar to himself.

Tony wants sausage and meets with local chef Zdenek Pohlreich to scour the Wenceslas Square sausage stands. Tony is enthralled with the number of sausages, eating two with relish, then spotting a cheese sandwich he knows he must have. Tony eats the melted cheese on a bun, calling it magnificent.

Next Tony decides he has had a bit too much goulash and wants Vietnamese food. Tony joins Tina to find a great bowl of pho at The Asian Trade Center Sapa. They get permission to film at Sapa Vietnamese Market, but are not allowed to film any where else at the trade center. When Tony and Tina arrive, the restaurant workers tell them they are out of pho. Tony gets loud and clear they are unwelcome there. Tony finds another restaurant where he and Tina get a bowl of rice with broth, snails and vegetables, for which he is very grateful. Tony still feels snubbed by Sapa Vietnamese Market.

Tony and the crew arrive at a suburban neighborhood, where traditionally neighbors chip in to hire a butcher to cut up a pig for a big neighborhood meal. Drinks start right away as the pig is cut up and cooked. Tony, being very cold as they cook the pig outdoors, is grateful for the alcoholic drink to warm up with. The pig cooks in pieces, with goulash with broth first on the menu. Tony states its “simple but delicious”. Next comes pig belly, pig cheek and pig jowl dipped in mustard, all of which Tony partakes of along with more beer. The camera crew and Tony find themselves permeated with pork steam as the pork cooks. Pork sausage is being stuffed by hand and Tony is stunned at the old-school methods the cooks are using. Next blood sausage is created, Tony’s favorite. Tony tastes the sausages and is thrilled. Blood soup is last, a soup Tony thoroughly enjoys. Tony says “the whole meal was amazing and delicious”.

Tony’s final meal is one of his favorite types, he is invited to one of the guides family’s homes to have dinner. They begin with an aperitif to start the meal. The menu consists of roast duck with caraway seeds, roasted overnight, homemade yeast buns (some savory and some sweet), red cabbage and homemade dumplings. Tony as always is appreciative of home cooked meals which tend to be his favorite.

Next chef Olivier takes Tony to his bakery Les Maisons de Bricourt to show him his delicious desserts. Tony orders a Napoleon dessert made of puff pastry and cream filling for dinner later that evening. Chef Olivier takes Tony to his shop Entrepots Epices-Roellinger, where he sells his own line of spices. Back at Les Maisons de Bricourt Tony and chef Olivier have dinner featuring fresh bass and lobster. Tony finally digs into his Napoleon dessert, saying it tastes even better than it looks.

Everywhere he looks, Tony see pristine shellfish to eat. Tony starts ranting about wanting a shellfish tower. Zack the cameraman insists they visit one of the tourist shops to look at clothes. Zack tries on a white and black striped shirt. Tony tells Zack “you signed on to this tour, Gilligan”. Tony tells the viewers people in France do not wear striped shirts but people still insist on buying them when they visit.

Tony meets up with local specialty shop owner Mr. Peron to visit Belon oyster farm, among the most famous oysters in the world. Anne Belon is a fifth-generation oyster farmer who gives them a tour of the farm. Tony tries fresh oysters out of the water and loves the taste, calling them sweet and nutty tasting. Mr. Peron and Tony sit down at a nearby oyster bar called Le Bistrot de L’Ecailler and eat oysters to their heart’s content.

In the next scene we see Tony mock yelling at the producer “where’s my wine?”. The producer gave Tony wine to carry while walking along the dock near the water then takes it away to Tony’s dismay. He complains he should have a glass of wine in hand for these “beauty scenes” they are filming since France has wonderful wine. Tony’s whining gets him his glass of wine back and all is right with the film world.

Tony is visiting an outdoor fish stand. Ato Dossena’s specialty is frying and grilling fresh fish. Ata serves Tony pea stew, grilled bass and grilled salmon. From there Tony meets up with Mr. Peron at his specialty shop to sample his canned and jarred foods. Boutique de Pont-Aven is famous for their jarred sardines, the fish standing upright in the jars and swimming in olive oil. Tony is amazed at how good the quality and taste of the sardines are for canned and jarred versions. As they sample the sardines with white wine and bread, Tony says he could drink down the sardine olive oil like a PBR (Pabst Blue Ribbon beer) its so good.

Crepes are next on the menu, Tony figures you gotta do crepes when in France, so he and Franz Lang visit Ty Billig Creperie. Tony and Franz start with breakfast crepes, a sunnyside egg with crisp bacon wrapped in a crepe. Tony and Franz approve of the egg and bacon crepe. The next crepe features andouille sausage, mustard and seaweed. They both grimace at the taste and Tony says it sucked. A sweet crepe is next, simple butter, sugar and apple brandy. This crepe is a welcome change from the last one and is enjoyed by them both.

After crepes, Tony starts talking about that shellfish tower he wants to eat. Tony is invited to his guide’s home where Tony is cooked a traditional french meal. The meal consists of boiled beef and vegetables and savory Farz, made of buckwheat flour, similar to a pancake mix, then boiled, broken up and mixed with meat. A sweet Farz is next, using the simple ingredients of butter, eggs and white and brown sugar. Tony says the sweet Farz was reminiscent of a sweet Yorkshire pudding. Tony tells the family “this meal was like a one most chefs ache for”, calling it a wonderful meal.

Finally Tony has found his destination for a shellfish tower meal, Chez Jacky, a popular seafood spot located on the Port de Belon. Tony tells the viewers this scene is about ordering the shellfish tower meal and pigging out. The huge platter is meant for two people (or more) and comes filled high with snails, shrimp, clams, cockles, periwinkles, mussels, crab and lobster claws with bread to accompany the meal. He starts with the snails and works his way up to the claws. Tony is in heaven and feels satisfied after defeating the tower of shellfish on his own. At the end of the episode we see Tony and the crew wearing their new tourist striped shirts from france and digging into another shellfish tower.

Tony’s first guide is Ezra, who takes him to a local breakfast place. Tony finds out what a typical breakfast meal is in Istanbul: eggs, bread, flatbread, a variety of fresh and fried cheeses, olives, tomatoes and cucumbers accompanied by strong Turkish tea during the meal and strong Turkish coffee after the meal. Another tasty item Tony tries is cooked peppers and melted cheese rolled in a bread and baked.

The next guide takes Tony to sample a pizza like object popular in Turkey. This thin crusted pizza bread is topped with lamb, a spicy salsa, tangy sumac spice, red peppers, arugula, parsley and a squeeze of lemon juice. The pizza has a thin crispy crust which Tony approves of.

Tony is hankering for some street food and gyros are what he is craving. Yes he admits he likes the “meat on a stick” pre-formed gyros towers you find in the U.S. but this is the real deal: layers of cut meats in a tower, slathered onto flatbread to eat. Tony comments “this is classic stoner food” as he eats his authentic gyro. Tony is drawn to another cart food item he has heard about, Istanbul’s “soggy burger”, and gives it a try. He thinks of it like a big spicy slider and jokingly laments “that’s going straight to my hips”.

A local Chef de Cuisine guides Tony to a butcher shop and restaurant where offal is one of the offerings. Tony is always interested in organ meats and this is no exception. As he and the chef gather some spices and offal items to cook up Tony can’t resist having some of the dishes the restaurant features. Tony and the chef sit down to roasted lambs head and lamb kabobs with spicy chili. Tony likes the lamb kabobs with flatbread so much he orders a second one.

Next the chef takes Tony to a fine dining restaurant that specializes in ancient recipes of the country. The chef and Tony decide on a red meat with fruit stuffed in a lemon shell dish and a stew dish of baby lamb, dried figs, raisins, currants and dates. The chef tells Tony so many people rush through meals and it should be a time to enjoy the food and talk.

Ramadan is an Islamic month of fasting for Muslims, requiring a fast from dawn ’till dusk, it is thought the fast teaches Muslims patience, modesty and spirituality. At 4:30 a.m. a local taxi driver is Tony’s next guide, driving Tony through the city looking for a meal before dawn arrives. The guide and Tony partake of available food, eating a big breakfast that needs to last until 8:00 p.m. when fasting ends for the day. Tony discovers the taxi driver is a bit of a character, he seems to know everybody in the city and is a encyclopedia of historical information about Istanbul. As dusk sets Tony and his guide arrive at the Blue Mosque to find food as they end their daily fast.

Tony visits the Bosphorus where the Black sea and the Mediterranean sea meet. Tony’s guide takes him to a restaurant that serves fresh seafood caught that very day. Tony tries the unrefrigerated mussels stuffed with spice and rice that he thinks is very good, and hopes the room temp seafood does not come back on him with a vengence. The guide takes Tony to a restaurant featuring brain salad. Tony immediately bites saying brain salad sounds bizarre and he must have it. A local fish that is fried and resembles anchovies is brought to the table. Tony says they are “small, boney and delicious”. The next restaurant stop is a place that cooks their meat in a brick hole in the ground where the meat hangs over the flames. Tony and his guide enjoy the big portions of cooked meat with colorful vegetables wrapped in flatbread.

Tony is invited to one of the guide’s home where her mother and grandmother cook traditional dishes. The dishes are plentiful, with cooked okra, peas and onions with fava beans and dill, zucchini in pastry shell, and lamb with eggplant puree which Tony says is sensational. All desserts he has had here are delicious and the dessert at the end of the meal is no exception, a flaky, rich concoction covered in pomegranate seeds. Tony says “it’s nice to be wrong, to be surprised” about Turkey, “Turkey’s food is a slam dunk”. Tony tells the family he is dining with to his surprise he loves the yogurt in Turkey, saying “any place that can get me excited about yogurt – then anything is possible.” Tony’s final meal in the country dining with his guide’s family is, according to him, the best meal of the trip.

The first episode of season six is centered on Panama. Tony and the crew arrive in a small plane in Sambu. As he narrates he tells the audience he had no expectations of Panama and “so far, so good”. Tony meets a local chef who takes him to a restaurant where locals eat. In Panama the favorite snack food is ceviche. Tony and the chef try a number of ceviches made from fresh fish. The chef tells Tony ceviche is especially good for hangovers. Tony visits a fine dining restaurant with guests, sampling the ceviche and coconut flavored drinks. Tony finds the food delicious and the people of Panama laid back.

Next Tony visits Panama’s local Chinatown district. Tony discovers the menu is much the same as western chinese food. Choosing from a varied menu featuring stir fried tripe, won ton soup and roast pork, Tony and his tour guide feast on roast duck. Tony and his crew take a trip on the railway which is parallel to the canal. They arrive at a restaurant surrounded by water, known for its fresh seafood specialties of lobster and crab. Tony enjoys both but favors their stewed octopus dish.

In the next scene we get a brief history of former dictator of Panama Manuel Noriega and his asylum in Panama. Noriega took control of a poor section of Panama and set up shop there. The government gives Tony and the crew a tour of Noriega’s home. Tony comments after twenty years uninhabited the house is pretty much a mess and says “I feel so Geraldo, so Al Capone’s vault”. As the tour guide mentions Noriega was a Buddhist, Tony remarks Noriega was a bad Buddhist.

Tony is taken to a secret location by the Panama state police. Geared up in bullet-proof vests, the police have recently seized 12 tons of cocaine and are destroying 6 tons of cocaine out in the middle of nowhere. Tony, who has a history of drug abuse years ago, is shocked at the idea he will destroy cocaine. Tony snickers “crack is whack” as he chops away at a kilo. Machetes fly as the police and Tony hack away at the kilos of cocaine. Kilos are piled together and set on fire, creating quite a bonfire.

Tony visits the poverty stricken neighborhood where Noriega lived. His guide suggests Tony and the crew wear bullet-proof vests because of gang activity and drive-by shootings. Yet Tony finds the people in the neighborhood smiling and friendly. He visits a small restaurant the locals frequent. The chef insists Tony try the soup. Tony gives the chef a thumbs up on the soup, making the chef smile broadly. Tony feasts on fried fish and tamales with chicken and pork.

Tony meets with an expert jungle guide who will be taking Tony and the crew up the river to the Darien Gap. First they have a simple meal of fried fish, coconut rice and beans. After a three and a half hour trip up the river forge their way through the thick jungle. They arrive at Darien Gap to meet one of the last tribal groups in Panama. As they hack their way through the jungle, Tony comments on the extreme humidity saying “its like trying to breathe through soup”. They arrive at Darien Gap and the guide takes them to a clearing where two tribal members are building a wooden boat by hand. Tony and the crew arrive at the village. The tribal members paint Tony and crew with tribal ink, then prepare a meal of roast pork, yucca and plantains. After the meal members of the tribe play music and dance as Tony watches in admiration of the tribal way of life.

Tony Bourdain food travels have included food adventures in Mexico to eat tacos al pastor, trying roasted camel in Egypt, a soothing breakfast of hot noodle soup in Vietnam, gagged down fermented shark meat in Iceland, eaten at numerous tapas bars in Spain and visited his old neighborhood haunts in New York. A quote from Bourdain about cooking says it all: “My whole life, cooking has been about control. Traveling and eating are about letting things happen.”

A number of episodes revolve around Bourdain’s friend Zamir. Bourdain has spent time with many new and old friends along the way in his travels. His friendship with Zamir began when Zamir was his tour guide years ago in an early episode. Tony and Zamir met up again in Romania for another adventure, leading to Zamir drunk and passed out on a picnic table. Later that evening Zamir recovered enough to go with Tony to a Halloween party at Dracula’s castle. Tony bemoaned the horrible Halloween costumes and lame dance party but put in a good effort to enjoy the festivities. Since episodes with Zamir have aired Zamir has his own fan club much to Bourdain’s mock dismay. Bourdain hangs with famed chefs featured in his No Reservations episodes, including Mario Batali, Michael Symon, Wylie Dufresne, Masaharu Morimoto, and Michael Ruhlman.

Anthony Bourdain worked his way up in New York kitchens from dishwasher to line cook to chef over 28 years, and for many years was the executive chef of Brasserie Les Halles restaurant in New York. Bourdain is the author of the bestselling book “Kitchen Confidential”, a gritty, behind-the-scenes look at the behind-the-scenes life of restaurant chefs. The popular book catapulted Bourdain into chef stardom and opportunities on television. Having read Kitchen Confidential myself it is well-written and a fascinating read. Bourdain began his television career as host of the half hour show “A Cooks Tour” on The Food Network where he traveled and ate in countries around the world, similar to the basic premise of No Reservations. Bourdain’s “No Reservations” food/travel show is filled with clever writing, great food, interesting people, spectacular locations, raucous humor and smart ass remarks.

No Reservations is in its fifth season. If you are lucky you can catch a marathon of No Reservations during the holidays. Watch No Reservations Mondays at 10:00 p.m. ET/PT on the Travel Channel.