"I think (hope) he was being sardonic"
I'm shocked.... shocked that Bourdain was being sardonic!
Yeah, well, I guess he was being sardonic on that episode.
They're still trying to figure out what to do with the show, and sometimes it doesn't work (e.g., the Swedish extreme skiers, why were they on a food show? The bikers on the same episode?).
Bourdain himself says that you can tell when he is and isn't enjoying a show, and that's true. Some of them have been dogs, and Bourdain looks pretty glum.
I'd give them a pointer: devote 50 percent of the airtime to food, and the other 50 percent to setup and "travel".