Two seasons of episodes were produced in 2000 and 2001 and aired first-run in January 2002 through 2003 in the U.S. on the Food Network.
As of 2023, the series is formally available across multiple online platforms such as YouTube,[1] Tubi[2] and Local Now[3] through distributor Questar Entertainment under the GoTraveler brand.
NYU film program graduate Lydia Tenaglia,[4] working at New York Times Television,[5] picked up the book Kitchen Confidential, and, learning that Bourdain was proposing an Innocents Abroad-style travel journal as a follow-up project, picked up the phone and made a cold call.
"[9] Bourdain's account of his trip to Cambodia in Episodes 5 and 6 of Season 1 has been criticised by professor of French and Film Studies at Clemson University Joseph Mai as "filled with tawdry stereotypes" and largely ignoring Cambodian cuisine.
[10] Mai then uses these episodes and contrasts them to the later No Reservations to reflect on Bourdain's transformation in ethics and understanding towards Cambodia and her history.