ANTHONY BOURDAIN
TV Show: No Reservations
True, we don't ever witness Bourdain behind the grill, but this chain-smoking bad boy's purveying of other people's cooking around the world in his jet-setting Travel Channel show satisfies our palate just the same. Bourdain is chef-at-large of New York's Les Halles, but he's also a blogger and prolific author, penning such trade gems like 2001's Kitchen Confidential and divulging insider secrets (example: never, ever order the Hollandaise sauce). But what renders Bourdain's endeavors consistently easy-to-digest is his straight-shooter mentality, such as when he swiftly digs into the heart of a still-breathing cobra without so much as a second thought.
Image Credit: Jurgen Frank/Corbis
As Anthony Bourdain gets ready to hit more of the world's most outre eateries on the new season of ''No Reservations,'' we're serving up the best small-screen cooks in the biz