St. John's restaurateur recalls 'debaucherous' feast with Anthony Bourdain

People will have to wait until Sunday night to see the full meal deal of Anthony Bourdain's experience on the Rock, but the people who showed him around are pulling back the curtain a little bit on his visit.

"He was great. We basically brought him out to the centre of Newfoundland, Red Indian Lake. We trapped him in the middle of Newfoundland, so he had to talk and hang out," says Jeremy Bonia, co-owner of Raymonds restaurant in St. John's.

Bonia spent some time with Bourdain and his crew last fall during some of the taping of an episode of the popular CNN travel show Parts Unknown.

Bonia said he hasn't seen the episode, but said it was a good time had by all.

"We were in the woods for three days and did this big feast on the beach down there ... There was lots of wine going on. It was debaucherous in many ways," Bonia told CBC Radio's St. John's Morning Show.

Bonia admitted it's a pressure cooker sort of a situation working with such a world famous chef and TV host.

"We were very nervous coming into it, but that kinda went away by the amount of work that it took as well," he explained.

"They seemed to enjoy everything."

More than food and drink

It wasn't all sips and bites, however.

Lori McCarthy, owner of food tourism company Cod Sounds, spent time with the crew and they, and Bourdain, were on the move during the shoot with activities like bird hunting, moose hunting, cod fishing, scallop diving, ice fishing and more.

Some of her involvement included hosting a Parts Unknown film crew on a winter shoot.

"They were great. They just really wanted to show kinda what we get up to and what's like, everyday life in Newfoundland in the winter," she said.

McCarthy said she took the crew up to her cabin, and also ate Jiggs Dinner with her family and friends.

"For three minutes of video we were with them for three days," she said, laughing.

That polarizing word

Bonia was asked about the controversy after the Twitter account for Parts Unknown used the term "Newfie" while promoting this week's episode. He jumped to Bourdain's defence, noting the host hadn't used the word in any of his articles.

The show has since sent another tweet, apologizing.

Bonia said the term was something he addressed with the crew right out of the gate during filming.

"We just said, 'Look, it's not a term I'd use just cause it is very polarizing and people can take offence to it,'" he said. "It's too bad that everybody sort of jumped on that rather than the idea that this is meant to be a really good thing."

'It's all attention'

Bonia said Bourdain has a schedule many would consider gruelling — shooting for ten days or more, home for the same amount of time and then off to another destination.

"I mean, he had just gotten off a plane from southeast Asia when he came in. He was present right away and very responsive," he said.

Just what Bourdain's visit will translate into when it comes to a possible tourism boost for the province remains to be seen, but McCarthy is optimistic.

"It's all attention, it's all good and it's all for everyone," she said. "The more people that see Newfoundland and Labrador, the more of them are going to want to come here ... and it all comes back on all of us here in the industry in so many ways."