Bourdain was a graduate ofthe Culinary Institute of America in 1978, and a veteran of many professional kitchens during his career, which included several years spent as an executive chef atBrasserie Les Halles in Manhattan. In the late 1990s, Bourdain wrote an essay about the ugly secrets of a Manhattan restaurant, but was having difficulty getting it published. According toThe New York Times, his mother Gladys—then an editor and writer at the paper—handed her son's essay to friend and fellow editor Esther B. Fein, the wife ofDavid Remnick, editor of the magazineThe New Yorker.[4][5][6] Remnick ran Bourdain's essay[7] in the magazine, kickstarting Bourdain's career and legitimizing the point-blank tone that would become his trademark.[5] The success of the article was followed a year later by the publication of aNew York Times best-selling book,Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly (2000).
Bourdain's first food and world-travel television showA Cook's Tour ran for 35 episodes on theFood Network in 2002 and 2003. In 2005, he began hosting theTravel Channel's culinary and cultural adventure programsAnthony Bourdain: No Reservations (2005–2012) andThe Layover (2011–2013). In 2013, he began a three-season run as a judge onThe Taste and consequently switched his travelogue programming toCNN to hostAnthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown. Although best known for his culinary writings and television presentations along with several books on food and cooking and travel adventures, Bourdain also wrote both fiction and historical nonfiction. On June 8, 2018, Bourdain died while on location in France, filming forParts Unknown, ofsuicide by hanging.
Anthony Michael Bourdain was born inManhattan on June 25, 1956. His father, Pierre, was a classical music recording industry executive. His mother, Gladys (née Sacksman), was aNew York Times editor. Anthony's younger brother, Christopher, was born a few years after him.[8][9]
Anthony grew up living with both of his parents and described his childhood in one of his books: "I did not want for love or attention. My parents loved me. Neither of them drank to excess. Nobody beat me. God was never mentioned so I was annoyed by neither church nor any notion of sin or damnation."[10] His father wasCatholic ofFrench descent and his mother wasJewish. Bourdain stated that, although he was considered Jewish byhalacha's definition, "I've never been in asynagogue. I don't believe in a higher power. But that doesn't make me any less Jewish, I don't think." His family was not religious.[11][12]
At the time of Bourdain's birth, Pierre was a salesman at a New York City camera store as well as a floor manager at a record store. He later became an executive forColumbia Records,[13][14] and Gladys was a staff editor atThe New York Times.[15][16][17][18][19]
Bourdain's paternal grandparents were French (his great-grandfather Aurélien Bourdain was born in Brazil to French parents) and his paternal grandfather Pierre Michel Bourdain emigrated fromArcachon to New York followingWorld War I.[20][21] Bourdain's father spent summers in France as a boy and grew up speaking French.[22] Bourdain spent most of his childhood inLeonia, New Jersey.[8][23] He felt jealous of the lack of parental supervision of his classmates and the freedom they had in their homes. In his youth, Bourdain was a member of theBoy Scouts of America.[24]
Bourdain attendedthe Culinary Institute of America, graduating in 1978.[30][31] From there he went on to run various restaurant kitchens in New York City, including the Supper Club,[32] One Fifth Avenue and Sullivan's.[32]
In 1998, Bourdain became anexecutive chef atBrasserie Les Halles. Based inManhattan, at the time the brand had additional restaurants inMiami;Washington, D.C.; andTokyo.[32] Bourdain remained an executive chef there for many years and even when no longer formally employed at Les Halles, he maintained a relationship with the restaurant, which described him in January 2014 as their "chef at large".[33] Les Halles closed in 2017 after filing for bankruptcy.[34]
In the mid-1980s, Bourdain began submitting unsolicited work for publication toBetween C & D, a literary magazine of theLower East Side. The magazine eventually published a piece that Bourdain had written about a chef who was trying to purchaseheroin on the Lower East Side. In 1985, Bourdain signed up for a writing workshop withGordon Lish. In 1990, Bourdain received a small book advance fromRandom House, after meeting a Random House editor.
In 2015, Bourdain joined the travel, food, and politics publicationRoads & Kingdoms, as the site's sole investor and editor-at-large.[48] Over the next few years, Bourdain contributed to the site and edited the Dispatched By Bourdain series. Bourdain and Roads & Kingdoms also partnered on the digital seriesExplore Parts Unknown, which launched in 2017 and won aPrimetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Short Form Nonfiction or Reality Series in 2018.[49][50]
Bourdain hosted many food and travel series, including his first show,A Cook's Tour (2002 to 2003). He worked for TheTravel Channel from 2005 to 2013. He also worked for CNN from 2013 to 2018. Bourdain described the concept as, "I travel around the world, eat a lot of shit, and basically do whatever the fuck I want."[35] His programs focused on the exploration of international culture, cuisine, and thehuman condition.[51]Nigella Lawson noted that Bourdain had an "incredibly beautiful style when he talks that ranges from erudite to brilliantly slangy".[35]
The acclaim surrounding Bourdain's memoirKitchen Confidential led to an offer by theFood Network for him to host his own food and world-travel show,A Cook's Tour, which premiered in January 2002. It ran for 35 episodes, through 2003.[52]
In July 2005, he premiered a new, somewhat similar television series,Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations, on theTravel Channel. As a further result of the immense popularity ofKitchen Confidential, theFox sitcomKitchen Confidential aired in 2005, in which the character Jack Bourdain is based loosely on Anthony Bourdain's biography and persona.
In July 2006, he and his crew were in Beirut filming an episode ofNo Reservations when theIsrael–Lebanon conflict broke out unexpectedly after the crew had filmed only a few hours of footage.[53] His producers compiled behind-the-scenes footage of him and his production staff, including not only their initial attempts to film the episode, but also their firsthand encounters withHezbollah supporters, their days of waiting for news with other expatriates in a Beirut hotel, and their eventual escape aided by afixer (unseen in the footage), whom Bourdain dubbedMr. Wolf afterHarvey Keitel's character inPulp Fiction. Bourdain and his crew were finally evacuated with other American citizens, on the morning of July 20, by the United States Marine Corps. The BeirutNo Reservations episode, which aired on August 21, 2006, was nominated for anEmmy Award in 2007.[54]
In July 2011, the Travel Channel announced adding a second one-hour, 10-episode Bourdain show to be titledThe Layover, which premiered November 21, 2011.[55] Each episode featured an exploration of a city that can be undertaken within an air travellayover of 24 to 48 hours. The series ran for 20 episodes, through February 2013. Bourdain executive produced a similar show hosted by celebrities calledThe Getaway, which lasted two seasons onEsquire Network.
In May 2012, Bourdain announced that he was leaving the Travel Channel. In December, he explained on his blog that his departure was due to his frustration with the channel's new ownership using his voice and image to make it seem as if he were endorsing a car brand, and the channel's creating three "special episodes" consisting solely of clips from the seven official episodes of that season.[56] He went on to hostAnthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown forCNN. The program focused on other cuisines, cultures and politics and premiered on April 14, 2013.[57]
PresidentBarack Obama was featured on the program in an episode filmed in Vietnam that aired in September 2016; the two talked over a beer andbun cha at a small restaurant inHanoi.[58] The show was filmed and is set in places as diverse as Libya, Tokyo, thePunjab region,[59] Jamaica,[60] Turkey,[61] Ethiopia,[62] Nigeria,[63] Far West Texas[64] and Armenia.[65]
Between 2012 and 2017, he served as narrator and executive producer for several episodes of the award-winningPBS seriesThe Mind of a Chef; it aired on the last months of each year.[66] The series moved from PBS toFacebook Watch in 2017.
From 2013 to 2015, Bourdain was an executive producer and appeared as a judge and mentor inABC's cooking-competition showThe Taste.[67] He earned an Emmy nomination for each season.
Bourdain appeared five times as guest judge onBravo'sTop Chef reality cooking competition program. He was also one of the main judges onTop Chef All-Stars (Top Chef, Season 8). He made a guest appearance on the August 6, 2007, New York City episode ofBizarre Foods with Andrew Zimmern, andZimmern himself appeared as a guest on the New York City episode of Bourdain'sNo Reservations airing the same day. On October 20, 2008, Bourdain hosted a special,At the Table with Anthony Bourdain, on the Travel Channel.
Bourdain was a consultant and writer for the television seriesTreme.[68][69]
In 2011, he voiced himself in a cameo on an episode ofThe Simpsons titled "The Food Wife", in which Marge, Lisa, and Bart start a food blog calledThe Three Mouthkateers.[70]
He appeared in a 2013 episode of the animated seriesArcher (S04E07), voicing chef Lance Casteau, a parody of himself.[71] In 2015, he voiced a fictionalized version of himself on an episode ofSanjay and Craig titled "Snake Parts Unknown".[72]
From 2015 to 2017, Bourdain hostedRaw Craft, a series of short videos released on YouTube. The series followed Bourdain as he visited various artisans who produce various craft items by hand, including iron skillets, suits, saxophones, and kitchen knives. The series was produced byWilliam Grant & Sons to promote theirBalvenie distillery's products.[73]
In September 2011,Ecco Press announced that Bourdain would have his own publishing line, Anthony Bourdain Books, which included acquiring between three and five titles per year that "reflect his remarkably eclectic tastes".[74] The first books that the imprint published, released in 2013, includeL.A. Son: My Life, My City, My Food byRoy Choi, Tien Nguyen, and Natasha Phan,[75]Prophets of Smoked Meat by Daniel Vaughn,Pain Don't Hurt byMark Miller,[76] andGrand Forks: A History of American Dining in 128 Reviews byMarilyn Hagerty.
In describing the line, he said, "This will be a line of books for people with strong voices who aregood at something—who speak with authority. Discern nothing from this initial list—other than a general affection for people who cook food and like food. The ability to kick people in the head is just as compelling to us—as long as that's coupled with an ability to vividly describe the experience. We are just as intent on crossing genres as we are enthusiastic about our first three authors. It only gets weirder from here."[77]
Shortly after Bourdain's death, HarperCollins announced that the publishing line would be shut down after the remaining works under contract were published.[78][79]
Drew Magary, in a column forGQ published on the day of Bourdain's death, reflected that Bourdain was heir in spirit toHunter S. Thompson.[83]Smithsonian magazine declared Bourdain "the original rock star" of the culinary world,[84] while his public persona was characterized byGothamist as "culinary bad boy".[85] Due to his liberal use of profanity and sexual references in his television showNo Reservations, the network added viewer-discretion advisories to each episode.[86]
Bourdain was known for his sarcastic comments aboutvegan andvegetarian activists, considering their lifestyle "rude" to the inhabitants of many countries he visited. He considered vegetarianism, except in the case of religious exemptions, a "First World luxury".[104][unreliable source?] However, he also believed that Americans eat too much meat, and admired vegetarians and vegans who put aside their beliefs when visiting different cultures in order to be respectful of their hosts.[99]
Bourdain's bookThe Nasty Bits is dedicated to "Joey,Johnny, andDee Dee" of theRamones. He declared fond appreciation for their music, as well as that of other early punk bands such asDead Boys andThe Voidoids.[105] He said that the playing of music byBilly Joel,Elton John, orGrateful Dead in his kitchen was grounds for firing.[105] Joel was a fan of Bourdain's, and visited the restaurant.[106]
OnNo Reservations andParts Unknown, he dined with and interviewed many musicians, both in the U.S. and elsewhere, with a special focus on glam and various rockers such asAlice Cooper,David Johansen,Marky Ramone, andIggy Pop.[107][108] He featured contemporary bandQueens of the Stone Age onNo Reservations several times, and they composed and performed the theme song forParts Unknown.[109]
In the 1970s, while attending high school atDwight-Englewood School, Bourdain dated Nancy Putkoski. He described her as "a bad girl", older than he was and "part of a druggy crowd". She was a year ahead of him and Bourdain graduated one year early in order to follow Putkoski toVassar College since they had just started admitting men. He studied there between the ages of 17 and 19. He then attendedThe Culinary Institute of America, a 15-minute drive from Vassar. The couple married in 1985 and remained together for two decades, divorcing in 2005.[110]
On April 20, 2007, he married Ottavia Busia, who later became amixed martial artist.[111][112][113] The couple's daughter, Ariane, was born in 2007.[112] Bourdain said having to be away from his family for 250 days a year working on his television shows put a strain on the relationship.[114] Busia appeared in several episodes ofNo Reservations, notably the ones in Tuscany, Rome, Rio de Janeiro, Naples, and her birthplace ofSardinia. The couple separated in 2016.[115]
Bourdain met Italian actressAsia Argento in 2016 while filming theRome episode ofParts Unknown.[116][117][118] In October 2017, Argento said in an article inThe New Yorker that she had beensexually assaulted byHarvey Weinstein in the 1990s. After being criticized for her account in Italian media and politics, Argento moved to Germany to escape what she described as a culture of "victim blaming" in Italy. Argento delivered a speech on May 20, 2018, following the2018 Cannes Film Festival, calling the festival Weinstein's "hunting ground" and alleging that she was raped by Weinstein in Cannes when she was 21. She added, "And even tonight, sitting among you, there are those who still have to be held accountable for their conduct against women."[119] Bourdain supported her during that period. On June 3, 2018, Bourdain tweeted a video where the team was celebrating during the production of the show with Argento as director, him andChristopher Doyle.[120] In August 2018, Argento said that Bourdain handled the payment of $380,000 toJimmy Bennett, who had accused Argento of sexually assaulting him. She stated the payment by Bourdain was one he "personally undertook to help Bennett economically, upon the condition that we would no longer suffer any further intrusions in our life.”[121]
Bourdain practiced the martial artBrazilian jiu-jitsu, earning a blue belt in August 2015.[122] He won gold at theIBJJF New York Spring International Open Championship in 2016, in theMiddleweight Master 5 (age 51 and older) division.[123]
Bourdain was known to be a heavy smoker. In a nod to Bourdain's two-pack-a-day cigarette habit, Thomas Keller once served him a 20-course tasting menu which included a mid-meal "coffee and cigarette", a coffee custard infused with tobacco with afoie gras mousse.[124] Bourdain stopped smoking in 2007 for his daughter,[125] but relapsed towards the end of his life.[35]
Bourdain's body bore no signs of violence[134][135] and the suicide appeared to be an impulsive act.[134] Rocquigny du Fayel disclosed that Bourdain's toxicology results were negative for narcotics, showing only a trace of a therapeutic non-narcotic medication.[136] Bourdain's body wascremated in France on June 13, 2018, and his ashes were returned to the United States two days later, before being given to his brother Christopher.[137][138]
Bourdain's mother, Gladys Bourdain, toldThe New York Times, "He is absolutely the last person in the world I would have ever dreamed would do something like this."[139]
Following the news of Bourdain's death, various public figures expressed condolences. Among them were fellow chefsAndrew Zimmern andGordon Ramsay, former astronautScott Kelly,[84][140] and then-U.S. presidentDonald Trump.[84] CNN issued a statement, saying that Bourdain's "talents never ceased to amaze us and we will miss him very much."[141] Former U.S. presidentBarack Obama, who dined with Bourdain in Vietnam onParts Unknown, wrote on Twitter: "He taught us about food—but more importantly, about its ability to bring us together. To make us a little less afraid of the unknown."[84][142] On the day of Bourdain's death, CNN airedRemembering Anthony Bourdain, a tribute program.[143]
In the days following Bourdain's death, fans gathered to pay tribute to him outside his former place of employment,Brasserie Les Halles (which had closed down the previous year).[144] Cooks and restaurant owners held gatherings, tribute dinners, and memorials, and donated the net revenue from these events to theNational Suicide Prevention Lifeline.[145]
In August 2018, CNN announced a final, posthumous season ofParts Unknown. Its remaining episodes were completed using narration and additional interviews from featured guests with the season including two retrospective episodes paying tribute to the series and to Bourdain's legacy.[146][147][148]
A collection of Bourdain's personal items were sold at auction in October 2019, raising $1.8 million, part of which went to support the Anthony Bourdain Legacy Scholarship at his alma mater, the Culinary Institute of America. The remainder went to his family. His custom-made Bob Kramer Steel and Meteorite Chef's Knife sold for the highest price, a record $231,250.[151]
In August 2024, abiopic of Bourdain titledTony was announced to be in the works withA24 in negotiations to acquire the film, withMatt Johnson attached to direct andDominic Sessa attached to star as Bourdain.[154][155]
In an assessment of Bourdain's life forThe Nation, David Klion wrote that, "Bourdain understood that the point of journalism is to tell the truth, to challenge the powerful, to expose wrongdoing. But his unique gift was to make doing all that look fun rather than grim or tedious." According to Klion, Bourdain's shows "made it possible to believe thatsocial justice and earthly delights weren't mutually exclusive, and he pursued both with the same earnest reverence".[156]
Bourdain advocated for communicating the value of traditional orpeasant foods, including all of thevarietal bits and unused animal parts not usually eaten by affluent 21st-century Americans.[157] He also praised the quality of freshly preparedstreet food in other countries—especiallydeveloping countries—compared tofast-food chains in the U.S.[158] Regarding Western moral criticism of cuisine in developing countries, Bourdain stated: "Let's call this criticism what it is:racism. There are a lot of practices from the developing world that I find personally repellent, from my privileged Western point of view. But I don't feel like I have such a moral high ground that I can walk around lecturing people in developing nations on how they should live their lives."[159]
With regard to criticism of the Chinese, Bourdain stated: "The way in which people dismiss whole centuries-old cultures—often older than their own and usually non-white—with just utter contempt aggravates me. People who suggest I shouldn't go to a country like China, look at or film it, because some people eat dog there, I find that racist, frankly. Understand people first: their economic, living situation."[159] Regarding the myth thatmonosodium glutamate in Chinese food is unhealthy, Bourdain said: "It's a lie. You know what causes Chinese restaurant syndrome? Racism. 'Ooh I have a headache; it must have been the Chinese guy.'"[160]
In an acceptance speech for an award given by theMuslim Public Affairs Council, Bourdain stated, "The world has visited many terrible things on thePalestinian people, none more shameful than robbing them of their basic humanity." He opened the episode ofParts Unknown onJerusalem with the prediction that "By the end of this hour, I'll be seen by many as a terrorist sympathizer, aZionist tool, a self-hating Jew, an apologist forAmerican imperialism, an Orientalist, socialist, a fascist, CIA agent, and worse."[161]
He championed industrious Spanish-speaking immigrants—from Mexico, Ecuador, and other Central and South American countries—who are cooks and chefs in many United States restaurants, including upscale establishments, regardless of cuisine.[162][163] He considered them talented chefs and invaluable cooks, underpaid and unrecognized even though they have become the backbone of the U.S. restaurant industry.[164][165]
Bourdain's blog for the reality competition showTop Chef[43] was nominated for aWebby Award for best Blog – Culture/Personal in 2008.[44]
In 2008, Bourdain was inducted into theJames Beard Foundation'sWho's Who of Food and Beverage in America.[173]
In 2009 and 2011,Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations won aCreative Arts Emmy Award for Outstanding Cinematography for Nonfiction Programming.[174]
In 2010, Bourdain was nominated for a Creative Arts Emmy for Outstanding Writing for Nonfiction Programming.[174]
In 2012, Bourdain was awarded an HonoraryClio Award, which is given to individuals who are changing the world by encouraging people to think differently.[175]
In December 2017,the Culinary Institute of America (CIA) conferred the honorary degree of Doctor of Humane Letters in Culinary Arts honoris causa to Bourdain, who graduated from the CIA with an associate degree in 1978.[182]
^Helen Rosner (August 20, 2019)."Introduction".Anthony Bourdain: The Last Interview: and Other Conversations. Melville House. p. 9.ISBN978-1-61219-825-5.
^Slotnick, Daniel E. (January 14, 2020). "Gladys Bourdain, 85, Times Copy Editor Who Helped Her Son Rise From Unnoticed Chef to Global Star".The New York Times. p. A-21.
^abMack, Patricia."The Cook, The Thief...",The Record (Bergen County), October 25, 2000; accessed March 30, 2011. "Anthony Bourdain, the Leonia native with the French-sounding name, took a leave from his job as an executive chef at Brasserie Les Halles in New York City."
^Bourdain, Anthony (2010).Medium Raw: A Bloody Valentine to the World of Food and the People Who Cook. Ecco Press, chapter 2
^Collins, Brit (September 27, 2013)."Anthony Bourdain: My family values".The Guardian. RetrievedJune 14, 2018.My dad worked two jobs as a salesman in Willoughby's camera store in New York and as a floor manager at a record store. Later, he scored a nice gig at Columbia Records.
^Demers, Elizabeth; Gerachi, Victor (2011).Icons of American Cooking. p. 39.
^"What a museum of disgusting food reveals about human nature".The Economist. January 9, 2020.Icelanders eat small cubes ofhakarl, as they call it, from toothpicks. The late Anthony Bourdain, a globetrotting chef, called it "the single worst, most disgusting and terrible-tasting thing" he had ever eaten.
Leerhsen, Charles (2022).Down and Out in Paradise: The Life of Anthony Bourdain. New York: Simon & Schuster.ISBN9781982140441.OCLC1281580152. Unauthorized biography.
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