F*ck, That’s Delicious. The Life And Eating Habits Of Rap’s Greatest Bon Vivant.
A famous rapper is eating Labk Tikka on a gritty New York street when a car pulls up to him unexpectedly. It feels tense. The driver shouts:
“Action Bronson! We went to high school together! You don’t remember me? .. Vic!…
I’m out on bail …10G’s. I got my lawyer right now”
The driver spots the film crew.
“I don’t need this shit on camera”
The famous rapper reassures him: ‘we’re doing a show baby’ but the driver is spooked and speeds off.
The film crew are from Vice magazine and the moment was so serendipitously Vice you wonder whether it was a plant. The show being filmed is “F*ck, That’s Delicious” and the famous rapper is also a chef, television host and larger than life personality.
Action Bronson was born to an American Jewish mother and an Albanian Muslim father. Growing up in the cosmopolitan area of Flushing, Queens, he was exposed to a gamut of ethnic diversity and food. His mother, a brilliant cook, inspired him so much that he would eventually attend culinary school in Manhattan, before becoming a chef. A broken leg would put a halt to this chef journey, however, so he recuperated making rap.
And the rest, as they spit, is history. Bronson is now one of the biggest rap stars around, adored by fans globally. But he’s never forgotten his first love, food, which is why Vice created this show with him. ‘Fuck that’s delicious’ is a part travel show part comedic, weed-infused docu-series. But really, it’s all about the food. Bronson and his entourage can’t get enough. His praises places with all the originally, gusto and sincerity you could hope for. Lamb neck in Morocco? ‘That’s phe-nom-enal’
‘F*ck that’s delicious’ follows Bronson and his crew: Meyhem Lauren, The Alchemist and Big Body Bes as they explore the world, and their hometown-boroughs, absorbing the culture, vibe, cannabis and food in a way only they can.
One minute they’re in a fried chicken shop on a back street in the Bronx, the next they’re eating 5-day ‘mesmerising’ pressed duck in Daniel Boulud’s 3 star, on white tablecloth. Bronson takes everything in his stride with his appreciation of hospitality reminiscent of Bourdain.
What makes this show completely different from others is the commentary. Bronson is, of course, a natural orator and his crew also freestyle one-liners describing food like you’ve never heard before:
‘I hear there is a tuna in the building’
‘I feel like a lion when I eat that’
As Rolling Stone put it, this is: ‘elaborate gourmet references that sit alongside equally outlandish hip-hop braggadocio’
Though this is selling Bronson short. He describes food poetically through similes, wordplay and assonance:
“The olive oil virgin, first press, it’s never blended, kid/ I’m straight raw like Carpaccio”
“Too beaucoup, fresher than a lake trout / Barbecue the venison, pair it with a great stout”
“Liquorice liquore, one cube, a touch of water / Watch it mix, turn white like the Duchess’ daughter.”
In ‘From Paris with love.’ we see Bronson develop an obsession with natural wine. Why? Because it’s made by small producers and he’s always rooting for the underdog. He’s loyal too. You’ll see characters popping up again throughout the seasons as he brings them onboard his magical mystery tour.
As Bronson etches his name alongside other food-presenter greats, his heavyweight chef-pal roster grows weekly: Mario Batali, Andrew Zimmern, Daniel Boulud, Rick Bayless, Grant Achatz. But whether it’s an Argentinian Bakery, a kebab house in London or a natural wine bar in Paris, Bronson shows equal and abundant love for the people who make a living through food. The heart of this show is an appreciation of diversity in culture. Something the world could do with more of right now.
‘A man with a gastronomic vision, to a hip-hop artist of the top of the top category, and a student of life with legendary curiosity. Bronson is the Leonardo da Vinci of pop culture’s multi-cosmic, infinitely overstimulated, twenty-first century children of the handheld devices. At the very same moment all this is swirling around in your head, on your tongue, throughout every single muscle of your dancing, jumping being, you realize . . . F*ck!!! This is delicious.” —-Mario Batali
A Lot of Chop 