Anthony Bourdain/ photo from CNN

The $60-plus tickets to see an Anthony Bourdain lecture at the State Theatre Friday in Minneapolis probably should have included some fancy French appetizers. But while there were no appetizers, there were plenty of laughs on the menu, many of them aimed at Guy Fieri, who Bourdain suggested spells "culinary" with a "k."

"If you can't make fun of Guy Fieri, comedy is pretty much dead," Bourdain said.

Fieri, whose hit series "Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives" is produced in the Twin Cities, was lambasted for dumbing down the Food Network series in a wide-ranging, hilarious presentation that also went after vegetarians, Tom Cruise and the term "farm to table."

"Every time I hear it, I expect to hear Mumford and Sons," Bourdain quipped to a raucous crowd that treated the CNN correspondent like a rock star.

Bourdain had kinder word for Minnesota resident Andrew Zimmern, although his comments were flavored with bitter envy. Turns out that when he shows up during Career Day for his daughter's second-grade class, all the kids want to talk about is his pal that made a name for himself eating food that would make most humans gag.

"The first question every time is, 'Do you know Andrew Zimmern?'" Bourdain said. "The second question is, 'Does he really eat brains?'"

Zimmern did not make an onstage appearance. We can only assume he was preoccupied somewhere in Bosnia dining on the kidneys of golden jackals.