I often wonder how much say he actually had in the restaurants he went to. I'd have to imagine some producer performed basic research and picked them out for him....aaaaand it's hard to say if the restaurants started to upcharge/decline in quality after he went. Bourdain isn't alone in this. The steak house in Argentina, Don Julio, is often cited as one of the best steakhouses in the world. But locals don't go to it (and I can attest. I've been to Don Julio. It's good, until you go to any locally recommended steakhouse and realize you get better quality at a cheaper price elsewhere).