Photo Credit: Travel Channel
The world through the eyes of chef and author Anthony Bourdain — via "Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations" — is by turns hilarious, highly entertaining and informative.

But there's another famous son — at least among foodies, restaurant aficionados and "Top Chef" fanatics — who has escaped much notice for being a Jersey boy, and I'm going to rectify that right now.

Ladies and gentlemen, meet Anthony Bourdain — chef, restaurateur, author, scoundrel, television-show host and all-around cool dude. He's also a Leonia native.

I had no idea that the host of the Travel Channel's "Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations" (which airs at 10 p.m. Mondays) was a Joisey boy until just recently, when I rented the first season from Netflix and saw the New Jersey episode. Even though he seems to begrudgingly acknowledge his Garden State childhood, Bourdain's fondness for it is obvious. From a bus tour of "Sopranos" haunts, during which he orders a sub — we don't call 'em hoagies here, thanks — at Satin Dolls (otherwise known as the Bada Bing), to dropping by Madam Marie's fortune-telling booth in Asbury Park (made famous by Bruce Springsteen) to visiting Bobolink, a Vernon farm that actually exports homemade cheese to Europe, Bourdain clearly loves food, traveling and yeah, OK, New Jersey. You got a problem with that?

One of the things I find most amazing about this episode, which was filmed in 2005, is that he had the prescience to mock Paris Hilton, a whole two years before it became a national pasttime.

Then there's the time Bourdain visits Las Vegas and manages to avoid nearly all of the Strip. Instead, one of his highlights is attending a convention of accordion players. I also enjoy tagging along as he rides along the United States/Mexico border on a motorcycle, marveling at the beauty of the Rio Grande, the wild boar swimming frantically away from the U.S., and Laredo, Texas, residents' laissez-faire attitude toward their Mexican counterparts (no need to build a Berlin Wall here). And I absolutely love his visit to Iceland, which includes a mud bath, dog-sled ride to the middle of nowhere (where he is met by a blizzard), and a dip in the Blue Lagoon.

Part of Bourdain's immense appeal, for me at least, is his bluntness. He's not one to sugarcoat things, no, sirree. In fact, he takes unrepentant glee in mocking others and perpetually perky chef/TV show host Rachael Ray is at the top of his list. He's got a very dry, intelligent wit and speaks very quickly, so you've got to pay attention if you're to enjoy the full extent of his barbs. While on a tour of Shanghai and its environs, Bourdain quips, "It's not that I don't think vegetarian dishes can be good. It's that I think they can be vastly improved upon by the use of animal products and fat."

That said, he seems to rein things just slightly in Shanghai, which is the first of several new episodes premiering at 10 p.m. July 30. To commemorate the batch of new episodes, the network will air repeats of its "best" episodes of "No Reservations" beginning at 8 p.m. Monday.

Anyway, back in Shanghai Bourdain experiments with something called stinky tofu (no, I'm not making this up), which he describes thusly: "Not my favorite thing on earth." (I really would love to know if there are any "No Reservations" episodes featuring Bourdain spitting out his food and uttering, "Disgusting!") Then, while gleefully shoveling spoonfuls of a noodle dish into his mouth, he says, "Tonight pleasure, tomorrow diarrhea. I'll be leaking like the Exxon Valdez."

OK, so sometimes Bourdain shares too much information. I suppose this would probably be a good point to mention that "No Reservations" may very well be the only program on the Travel Channel that begins with a "graphic content" warning. Sometimes that "graphic content" is a bit easier to identify than others. But we are talking about a guy who — at 18,000 feet up in the Himalayas — lights up a cigarette because he believes it will cure his lightheadedness. And wouldn't you know it? It does (at least he insists so).

I learned several things while watching his Shanghai jaunt, among them that yak, if prepared just right, can apparently be a very tasty meat; that there are delicious dumplings containing soup that you eat entirely with a straw, and that yes, there is such a thing as a hairy crab. Ewwwww. They cost $40 a pop, and there's evidently a lot of fakes out there, so buyer beware.

Who knew?