Nothing the US is willing to do will change the situation in Crimea, according to Anthony Bourdain, who was recently in Russia filming “Parts Unknown,” the most-watched show on CNN.
“[Vladimir] Putin’s unsmiling face — frozen, and tight as a snare drum — looms large over Ukraine. He’s going to have his way, and nobody is going to do anything about it,” said Bourdain, who filmed in Moscow and St. Petersburg.
Americans would be wrong to assume that an authoritarian — who quashes human rights and exploits his country’s natural resources to enrich his friends — is unpopular. “I met a lot of people there who think he’s just dandy,” Bourdain told me.
“The people who had something to lose were very careful” not to say anything critical of Putin, he added: “When the chef at one restaurant found out one of my party was a member of the opposition, he canceled.”
Bourdain, whose travels also took him to Vietnam, Mexico and Tanzania, particularly enjoyed his time in France, where he cooked up truffle soup and wild hare a la royale with culinary masterminds Daniel Boulud and Paul Bocuse.
Season 3 of “Parts Unknown” debuts April 13.