Patton Oswalt stopped by Watch What Happens Live this week where the comedian revealed how he became friends with the late chef Anthony Bourdain. Surprisingly, the iconic travel host was a huge fan of Ratatouille. That’s right, the Disney-Pixar movie where a cartoon rat voiced by Oswalt expertly prepares French cuisine by hiding under a chef’s hat and pulling a man’s hair.
Turns out Bourdain felt the movie got a lot of things right. The Bear before The Bear, if you will.
“I became friends with him because he was a huge fan of Ratatouille,” Oswalt revealed in response to a viewer question. “He was like, ‘They got kitchens and chefs right. It’s very, very accurate.'”
With their friendship in full swing, Oswalt reveals that Bourdain gave the comedian and his late wife, Michelle McNamara, advice on how to best enjoy their honeymoon in Paris. Unfortunately, Oswalt learned the hard way that people treat the world-renowned chef better than a stand-up comedian.
Via Entertainment Weekly:
“He sent back this amazing paragraph that, like, a Beat poet would write, going, ‘Don’t do, just walk in anywhere, you gotta wander around, and let it happen,'” Oswalt recalled. “And we found out very quickly, that works great if you’re Anthony Bourdain. But if you’re me, you need to call ahead and make reservations. You’re not getting in anywhere.”
Let us all pause and reflect on the thought of the late, great Anthony Bourdain watching Ratatouille and thinking to himself, “You know what? This could work. They know their stuff.”
Thank you for that image, Patton.
(Via Entertainment Weekly)
