A friendship forms from the unlikeliest of beginnings...

I'm a member of the select "Chicago Theater Insider Club", which gives me super-secret early access to tickets at the venue. We will conveniently ignore the fact that my membership in this exclusive inner-circle of the arts was secured when I clicked a link on their website for a moment while I gush over the offer I received.

Anthony Bourdain, the patron saint of men who love food, will be coming to Chicago April 24 to regail me, personally, with stories.

"Chef, author of Kitchen Confidential and host of The Travel Channel's "No Reservations," Anthony Bourdain has been dubbed "the bad boy of cuisine" for his rock star look and blunt observations about the world of restaurants, chefs and cooking. He will bring his stories to the stage of the Chicago Theatre for special one night engagement Saturday, April 24 2010."

While that is all the detail I have at the moment, I can safely assume that the event will go as follows:

• The crows arrives at the Chicago theater.
• Tony says something witty.
• Tony selects me and Katie from the audience, then ends the show.
• We go back to my apartment, where we prepare a meal together. He notes that my dishes are, and I quote "the single best thing he has ever tasted in his life."
  
• Tony and I fast become best friends.