Then there was the abandonment of the caving expedition in Jamaica: he was physically incapable of continuing.

You haven’t seen many of the programs, have you?

He simply dissed Stumptown in his Northwest program, which was divided between this city and Seattle. (Vancouver BC was accorded its own hour.) For a guy who proclaims marrow his favorite food, he didn’t get near Paley’s. Indeed, no mention at all of sustainable dining: no Greg Higgins, no Cory Schreiber; no suggestion of the relationships of restaurants to their agricultural and aquacultural surrounds. Just a camping trip to Lost Lake with his pal from the Heathman, a fine and prominent chef who brought the meal. Nothing edifying.

Perhaps we should thank him for making Portland so unappealing that no one will want to visit. But the culinary culture is superb here and I’d like our restaurateurs to continue doing what they do so well. Certainly our mayor and his PDOT make it very difficult for them every winter; last December, the “shovel your own walk” advice that left our streets impassable during the critical holiday season weakened some of our finest restaurants and destroyed others. They can use help.

In the end, Tony Bourdain is entertaining but hardly worth $46 or more. He really doesn’t have much to say to Portland and he really hasn’t tried. This is not to suggest that you shouldn’t be entertained by him or that Ms Miller should not adopt a spread-legs policy toward tv celebrities.

I guess I haven’t ever caught the moments on the show when Mr. Bourdain’s lack of fitness has become apparent. I’ll watch for that.

As far as what he covered on the show’s visit to Portland a couple years ago, keep in mind – it IS a Travel Channel show. In other words, it is appropriate for the subject matter to stray from food (Shanghai Tunnels, velvet painting museum, etc.)

And regarding the local vintages, as he said the other night – beer and wine don’t make good food porn; it is simply not visually compelling. And really, does the world need to know more about our wineries and microbreweries? Seems like there’s already been plenty of coverage on this.

As he also mentioned during his talk, a person reporting on food and/or travel should not feel obliged to offer a comprehensive report on the offerings of a given locale – only his own point of view and experience. I guess I agree with that.

He missed too much to value his earlier visit here or his opinion about this city’s culinary culture. For example, nothing about local vintages. The nearest his show got to the pinots noir et gris that have become so identified with this region was a medium-long shot at the campsite near Lost Lake with PhilippeB in which a couple of bottles were too distant even to proffer a guess regarding their provenance.

Regarding his lats and ‘ceps being “fucking cut for a 53-year-old,” he has spent a lot of his tv minutes discovering how physically unfit he has become.

Mr Bourdain has journeyed a long way on “No Reservations”: he has stopped smoking and reduced the slaughter depicted. He has even become less abusive toward vegetarians.

All this being said, his Travel program is well worth watching. When he has been properly prepped and brings passion to his script — such as the programs on Namibia and Laos — he offers a perspective that no one else has attempted.