RIP Anthony Bourdain…
This one is tough. A gifted Chef, Writer and TV Host, Bourdain’s suicide has stunned his fans all around the world.
There have been many clips online from his various TV shows, all of which are terrific, but I wanted to share his other legacy: Bourdain was also the Author of a variety of non-fiction AND fiction books, as well as two cookbooks…I may have missed some, but here goes:
Kitchen Confidential
The non-fiction book that started it all, an expansion of his hilariously profane and investigative piece for The New Yorker.
As Vox reports:
“Bourdain’s writing career truly began to take off with a 1999 essay for the New Yorker. Titled “Don’t Eat Before Reading This,” the piece forms the basis of what would later become Kitchen Confidential — and in its pages, you can see all the elements of Bourdain’s distinctive, charismatic persona already in place.
The essay is framed as advice to a restaurant-goer from someone who knows: Order fish on Tuesday, when it’s fresh and the chef is well-rested from his day off. Never order your food well done, because that’s where kitchen staffs get rid of the worst of their meat. (“The philistine who orders his food well-done is not likely to notice the difference between food and flotsam,” Bourdain explains.) Chicken is for people who can’t make up their minds, but pork is fantastic. At a good restaurant, there will be a stick of butter in every meal.”
He followed with more memoirs and inside stories about the restaurant business, food and travel, as well as anything else that scratches his mind:
He even published a slender volume telling the true story of the infamous “Typhoid Mary” –
Bourdain also published two novel in the 90’s.
In 1995, he published “Bone in the Throat”, a crime novel set in the restaurant world, and in 1997 a follow-up, “Gone Bamboo”.
Of course he also published cookbooks, including one from his stint at Les Halles, the New York restaurant he was working in when he published his first book…
Boudain was doing all of this while also hosting shows: first for The Food Network, then The Travel Channel, and finally CNN. He even had time to publish two graphic novels about food:
Sorry if I missed any, but I wanted to celebrate his written word, because as great a TV Host as he was, his prose was superlative as well…you can read more about his graphic novel “Get Jiro” by clicking here:
RIP Anthony Bourdain…
Categories: Art, Books / Media, cookbooks, documentary films, Exotic Travel, Food, food blog, Food Review, Japan, Memoirs, New York, Recipes, Restaurants, Talent/Celebrities, Travel, Travel Adventures, Travel Memoir, TV Show, Wacky Food
Watching the Marseille episode of Parts Unknown… Amazing.
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Yes, we went on a binge after his death…saddened by the loss, inspired by his honestly, candor and enthusiasm for the everyday pace of life
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We watched all his TV shows, enjoyed them. He made us want to travel and try every same bite. We lost our daughter to suicide, so know what his family, as well as his friends, is going through. Thank you, Tony, for all those weeks of pleasure.
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I can never know what you have had to go through…thanks for sharing your thoughts.
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It is tragic that someone like this should commit suicide. Just goes to show you that you never know what is going on in someone’s head. Lovely article, John.
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Thanks, Robbie…I wanted people to remember that he was a gifted writer, and in those words are his love of food, family and culture…and a self-examination of himself as well
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What a wonderful homage to a truly great man. I have some of the books listed, not others. I will rectify this. Because, as you rightly say – he was a superlative man. May he rest gently. I will miss him.
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Thanks for the comment…so much of the coverage focuses on his TV work, but his writing is also an important part of the legacy…
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In the end the words he wrote, the books and all the rest, I believe were what he was proud of. As well he should have been.
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I remember your love for his books, John. I don’t know him at all. He must be one of those well-known Americans who didn’t seek fame across The Atlantic.
Best wishes, Pete.
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Pete, his shows are probably somewhere over there….CNN International for sure as he did a show called “Parts Unknown” for CNN…worth seeking out
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What a tragic loss 😦
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Yes, he left behind a lot of fans who are struggling to understand this…
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NO WAY!!! I love Anthony Bourdain. OMG> This is sad news for me. 😦
It was great of you to list his written works. Sigh. I’m really sad.
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Cindy, all of the obits focused on his TV hosting so I wanted to highlight the written word
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I’d have to agree with that although one piece mentioned his writing. I guess its a visual medium and he was so charismatic. So thank you for highlighting his written works here, I will have to check them out. I randomly caught him one lazy Saturday arvo and really enjoyed him. He was in Boston and showed the thin pin bowling there but also all the Portugese district and the food there instead of the traditional Irish stuff. He was one of a kind. I loved how he saw food and how it connected people and gave you insight into a place and culture. I think that mentality is what attracted so many fans. Very sad.
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I read Bone in the Throat right after I finished Kitchen Confidential. I remember them as being of a piece…the main story kind of a sitcom but a subplot about a guy hiding in filthy crevices while scoring heroin was just as harrowing as anything in K.C.
I got to meet him briefly at the Discovery upfronts a few years ago…You’re right John. This one is tough.
You
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Drew, absolutely. His voice was raw and honest…and he genuinely loved food, people and culture….very sad
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Thanks for sharing, I missed a few of these along the way and am excited to dive in. His voice will be missed, his candor even more so.
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Yes, his writing was terrific, and that is the voice I will really miss…he was able to dig deeper intones love of food, travel and anything else that sparked his passion…
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This is just so sad. First Kate Spade, now Anthony. I loved watching his adventures. I’ve only read Kitchen Confidential, but the others are on my tbr.
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They are all great…his look at food, travel, Chefs, restaurants, customers…he skewers them all with insight and a hilarious take on himself as well
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