A Cook's Tour is a travel and food show that aired on Food Network. Host Anthony Bourdain visits various countries and cities worldwide where hosts treat him to local culture and cuisine. Two seasons of episodes were produced in 2000 and 2001 and first aired from January 2002 to 2003 in the U.S. on the Food Network. As of 2023, the series is formally available across multiple online platforms such as YouTube, Tubi and Local Now through distributor Questar Entertainment under the GoTraveler brand.
NYU film program graduate Lydia Tenaglia, working at New York Times Television, picked up the book Kitchen Confidential, and, learning that Bourdain was proposing an Innocents Abroad-style travel journal as a follow-up project, picked up the phone and made a cold call.
The show was filmed with two Sony PD100 DV camcorders.
In Variety, Phil Gallo says, "For once, Food Network is putting on display food you canâÂÂt do at home â and they show that acquiring the ingredients isnâÂÂt all pretty before the meal hits the dining room table." Bourdain's account of his trip to Cambodia in Episodes 5 and 6 of Season 1 has been criticised by professor of French and Film Studies at Clemson University Joseph Mai as "filled with tawdry stereotypes" and largely ignoring Cambodian cuisine. Mai then uses these episodes and contrasts them to the later to reflect on Bourdain's transformation in ethics and understanding towards Cambodia and her history.