Raw Craft with Anthony Bourdain

Anthony Bourdain and The Balvenie visit Borough Furnace in Syracuse, New York, a metal casting workshop founded and operated by couple John Truex and Liz Seru in 2011. The skillets are handcrafted individually in small batches, using a traditional casting process that has been updated for environmental responsibility. One skillet takes approximately 6 to 7 hours from start to finish. John makes all of his own equipment. Each skillet is cast in a "skilletron," a barrel-sized metal melting furnace that burns Waste Vegetable Oil at 2700°F to melt scrap iron. By using old fryer grease to fuel their furnace, they eliminate the massive energy consumption of a typical metal casting operation. They also only use recycled iron as source material.

Anthony Bourdain and The Balvenie visit the legendary "boxing tailor," Frank Shattuck, in Upstate New York to learn what it takes to create true "bench-made suits."

Anthony Bourdain and The Balvenie head to New Orleans, the Birthplace of Jazz, to meet legendary saxophone designer, Steve Goodson, who has been creating and restoring brass instruments for the last 40 years. In this episode Anthony is introduced to the incomparable "category five" saxophone.

Anthony Bourdain & The Balvenie head to Olympia, Washington to see firsthand how master bladesmith, Bob Kramer crafts the perfect kitchen knife from melted meteorite. Kramer is one of only one hundred twenty-two certified master bladesmiths in the U.S. and the only one who specializes in forging the word's finest kitchen knives.

Anthony Bourdain & The Balvenie head to San Francisco, California to meet with Andrew Hoyem, master typographer and printer of Arion Press. One of the last of its kind, Arion Press has only a handful of members on its staff, all fellow craftsmen dedicated to this age old process. Each works meticulously to create the books in multiple parts, from the typecasters, to the proofreaders, to the printers and the bookbinders. All of these hands build a work of art through a process that must be seen to be believed, and can only, truly, be described as magic.

In this episode of Raw Craft, Anthony Bourdain heads to The Balvenie distillery in Dufftown, Scotland to explore the magic and tradition of whisky making practiced there since 1892. Meet the special group of Scots who have kept the age-old process of single malt whisky making alive over the generations.

Fresh off a minor jiu-jitsu ear injury, Anthony Bourdain & The Balvenie head to Penland, North Carolina to meet with Elizabeth Brim, master metalsmith and instructor at the Penland School of Crafts. Brim is one-of-a-kind in the industry and her work is noted for the creation of traditionally feminine objects created from iron. In this episode, Brim introduces an original method she developed for inflating metal. Each of her works contain hours of detailed labor to achieve end results that will last a lifetime.

In this episode of Raw Craft, Anthony Bourdain heads to the heart of Greenpoint, Brooklyn to meet with improvisational furniture maker, Mats Christeen. A former hockey player, turned model and owner of his small shop in Brooklyn - Foundry Wood, Mats brings a unique eye to each of his pieces. Using reclaimed wood and iron parts Mats is able to breathe new life into old materials he finds around New York City. Each piece of furniture is carefully constructed and uniquely original.

In this episode of Raw Craft Anthony Bourdain heads to Providence, Rhode Island to meet with luthier Rachel Rosenkrantz, to learn how she makes handcrafted custom guitars. Rachel left a successful career in product design to start her own small business making tailored string instruments for musicians from her home studio, Atelier Rosenkrantz. Rachel is introduced to Andy Rourke, bassist for English rock band, The Smiths, to create an original electro acoustic bass guitar, later used in the making of the score for Raw Craft, along with composer Timothy O'Keefe. Each instrument is thoughtfully designed and built to last a lifetime.

In the final episode of Raw Craft, season two, Anthony Bourdain and The Balvenie head to Los Angeles to meet with master cobbler, Raul Ojeda of Willie's Shoe Service. Willie's Shoe Service has been around since the 50's and has been creating shoes for Hollywood films and everyday people for decades. Watch as the team constructs perfectly made custom shoes that will last a lifetime.

In this episode of Raw Craft Anthony Bourdain & The Balvenie head to Bushwick, Brooklyn to meet with traditional tebori tattoo artist, Takashi. Watch as Anthony Bourdain gets inked by Takashi's skilled handwork, the old school way. Takashi is one of only a few outside of Japan to practice the centuries old art of tebori (hand carved) tattoo.

In this episode of Raw Craft, Anthony Bourdain and The Balvenie head to Los Angeles, California to meet with custom motorcycle builder Max Hazan of Hazan Motorworks. Over the years Max has cemented his position as one of the industry's most original thinkers and a craftsman of the highest order. He builds his bikes entirely from the ground up, from sketch to finished product.

In this episode of Raw Craft, Anthony Bourdain and The Balvenie spend the day with James Beard Award-winning Pastry Chef, Dominique Ansel at his bakery in New York City. Watch as he creates a custom Hot Chocolate infused with The Balvenie Single Malt Scotch Whisky. Dominique takes Anthony Bourdain through his process of crafting some of his favorite famed deserts. His creation of the Cronut®, is his signature croissant-doughnut hybrid pastry, drawing lines around the block each morning. Prepare to have your mouth water.

In the final episode of Raw Craft, The Balvenie and Anthony Bourdain travel to the unassuming small town of Southbridge, MA. They visit SJC Drums and watch as their drum makers handcraft a custom segmented snare drum from Balvenie whisky staves, and then present the drum to Tré Cool of Green Day. Watch as Tré Cool gives the drum a spin during a live Green Day concert and get a behind the scenes peek backstage with Anthony Bourdain.