So who's Tony? Anthony Bourdain of course! The food, drink and attitude personality of the Travel Channel show, "No Reservations." To be honest, I love watching it and there are so many episodes that are not only informative, but humorous. He does comment on various foods from the United States fair cities to countries all over the world.

He also dines with various personalities, from notable to notorious. When Tony finds a food item fascinating, there is no stopping his enthusiasm, such as the Oriental noodle makers ply their craft of hand pulling noodles, to Pressed Duck and beyond with various experimental treatments; also fine dining with a fine beverage, even if it is of local choice.

In short, he gives you an honest and candid view of not only the food, but the area. There can also be humor to be had, at time unwittingly at Anthony's expense with scenes such as; him complaining about the shrinkage that occurs when getting stuck in cold mud harvesting cockles, rolling an ATV over himself or the gut churning prospect that as a guest of a tribal family in the jungles of Malaysia, it is his honor to kill the pig they plan to roast. In short he is honest.

However, Anthony Bourdain is also moody and temperamental and at times that shows, especially if something was someone else's idea. I always hoped that he would come to Baltimore to do a show, highlighting our food. Well he did and it literally dropped my jaw and disappointed me.

The episode when he came to Baltimore was called the, "Rust Belt," and we were lumped in with two other cities, Detroit and Buffalo. I felt that the Baltimore portion was the worst presented out of the three. While he did include the Domino Sugar Factory, their pan stopped short of our Inner Harbor, choosing instead to go into the ghetto areas. Regretfully, we do have too many.

He brought with him his Eastern Bloc friend, Zimir. I ended up feeling that the Baltimore portion was nothing more than a promotional piece for, "The Wire;" highlighting our crime problem more than our food. He mentioned that he worked here in the food industry for two years and it seemingly rubbed off on his psyche too negatively. One of his stops was a pit beef stand on our reputed, "Block," and while he covered seafood such as crab cakes, it really didn't strike me in a place that represented on of our seafood houses. He also covered soul food.

Needless to say, since being disappointed, I responded with several threads to the message board, linking the first poem, "Baltimore's Delights." I also criticized aspects of that episode and even posted, "...There are many such places as well as food history, such as Lexington market. With this episode, in reference to Baltimore, there seemed to be a promotional nature and theme about the wire. Yes, it can be like this, but there is so much underlying soul that didn't seem to be portrayed. I wonder if he would dare walk around with a poetic writer?" Meaning me!

I wondered if I struck a chord as with the next couple of episodes, he included poets in the scenes. In San Francisco, he went to a place with a poet that wrote a poem about the restaurant they were eating at. In the Montana episode, he was shown around and dined with Jim Harrison; a writer and POET.

I sort of took it as an implied message that Anthony Bourdain isn't going to be coming back to Baltimore, especially with me. But in the spirit of celebrating good food, I said the hell with it and decided to produce, "Dining Without, Tony."

The first part is about various creations and dishes that I have had or have found comfort in. Of course crabs will be at the front of the line as will, other seafood that Baltimore enjoys; many ethnic creations that I either enjoyed as a child or mastered to cook myself. The second part of the poetry is of the many restaurants that I have dined at, either with the taste or atmosphere.

Due to money, I don't dine out much so many will be history related and regrettably some of them have changed out their food with either cooks or new owners. You have my assurance that any change such as that will be noted with the author's notes. If the place still has the delicacies that I love and has maintained the quality and atmosphere, that too, will be noted and they will be recommended highly.

You may notice skipped chapters, that is to allow for additions and separate the various sections; however, I do expect to complete this by the end of the year as time and money permit. If I write about a restaurant, it is strictly because I decide to do so and you get my honest opinion.

Enjoy!