Like its play-on-words title suggests, chef Anthony Bourdain's No Reservations takes to the highways, the backroads, the air, the sea, and even on foot seeking out one thing - good cooking.

Unlike most cooking shows that are set in kitchens or (at best) in guest kitchens, No Reservations travels the world from 5-star restaurants in Paris to primitive kitchens in muddy Colombian jungles to transcend politics, race, religion, economics, and social classes, to meet on the common ground of good food. Along the way Bourdain brings his own unpretentious personality and approach, which gives the show a rough-around-the-edges style that appeals primarily to men.

Where most 'cooking shows' seem to assume you're either a housewife or own a penthouse, or else the show's resident chef centers the camera on themselves, their cooking, or their products, No Reservations is refreshingly different. Bourdain is almost always a guest in someone else's kitchen, rarely mentioning his own cooking experience and instead enjoying wines, beers, and meals prepared by others. The content of the show is the current town or country he's in, its history, its current climate, and its people. In between those subjects some fantastic local dishes are prepared, varying from high-end kitchens to local holes-in-the-wall. Tips on how to prepare the food come along with it, and the end result is a thoroughly entertaining, educational, and engaging hour of television, even for those who don't normally care for 'cooking shows'.