Anthony Bourdain, a former line cook who traveled the globe in his quest to prove that “our ‘weird’ is the world’s delicious,” who touted the value of restaurant workers who often go uncelebrated, who stood with the women of the #MeToo movement even though it meant standing against his culinary peers, and who taught a United States president how to “slurp” his noodles, died from an apparent suicide Friday, CNN announced. He was 61.
Bourdain’s friend and fellow celebrity chef Eric Ripert found the renowned television host and master storyteller Friday morning unconscious in his hotel room in France, where the pair was working on an upcoming episode of “Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown.”
“Anthony was my best friend,” Ripert wrote in a statement on TwitterFriday afternoon. “One of the great storytellers … I pray he is at peace from the bottom of my heart.”
CNN announced the chef’s death in a tweet that described Bourdain — whose show took him and his viewers into exotic kitchens across the world — as a man who loved “great adventure, new friends, fine food and drink and the remarkable stories of the world.”
“His talents never ceased to amaze us and we will miss him very much,” the network said.
Bourdain first became a household name with the publication of his book, “Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly,” in 2000.
“Do we really want to travel in hermetically sealed popemobiles through the rural provinces of France, Mexico and the Far East, eating only in Hard Rock Cafes and McDonalds?” Bourdain wrote. “Or do we want to eat without fear, tearing into the local stew, the humble taqueria’s mystery meat, the sincerely offered gift of a lightly grilled fish head? I know what I want. I want it all. I want to try everything once.”
The chef’s piercing look at the big personalities in the world of haute cuisine vaulted him to stardom. He became the host of “A Cook’s Tour” on the Food Network and “Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations” on the Travel Channel before joining CNN in 2013 for “Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown.”
Viewers watched as Bourdain taught some of the world’s biggest celebrities about international cuisine. He famously encouraged then-President Barack Obama to slurp.
Viewers watched as Bourdain taught some of the world’s biggest celebrities about international cuisine. He famously encouraged then-President Barack Obama to slurp.
It’s a moment the former president said he’ll never forget.
Barack Obama
✔@BarackObama
“Low plastic stool, cheap but delicious noodles, cold Hanoi beer.” This is how I’ll remember Tony. 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. We’ll miss him.
Bourdain launched his career in the city that the international traveler called home — New York City.
Much of “Kitchen Confidential” was based his experience working as executive chef of Brasserie Les Halles, the high-end restaurant chain that closed its last location in 2017. And the book was born out of a New Yorker article succinctly titled, “Don’t Eat Before Reading This.”
Bourdain was never shy about using his prominent voice to question and call out the powerful.
He supported the #MeToo movement against sexual abuse by powerful men, which was sparked in part by his girlfriend Asia Argento’s allegations that the now-disgraced film producer Harvey Weinstein sexually assaulted her.
Bourdain stood behind the women who accused celebrity chef Mario Batali and restaurateur Ken Friedman of sexual misconduct, writing an essay in December that said everyone would have to examine “the part they played in the past, the things they’ve seen, ignored, accepted as normal, or simply missed.”
He didn’t exclude himself, saying that he felt “remorse” about the extent to which his breakout book “celebrated or prolonged a culture that allowed the kind of grotesque behaviors we’re hearing about all too frequently.”
“In these current circumstances, one must pick a side,” Bourdain wrote. “I stand unhesitatingly and unwaveringly with the women.”
Argento, the actress and director Bourdain began dating last year while shooting a “Parts Unkown” episode in Rome, wrote that she is “beyond devastated” in a Tweet posted Friday morning.
“Anthony gave himself to all he did,” wrote Argento. “His brilliant, fearless spirit touched and inspired so many, and his generosity knew no bounds.
“He was my love, my rock, my protector.”
#MeToo champion Rose McGowen wept in a video she posted to Twitter in response to Bourdain’s death.
“For those considering suicide, please don’t,” the actress said. “The world will not be better off without you.”
Below the video, she wrote, “Anthony I am so mad at you.”
Anthony I am so mad at you. You were so loved, the world is not better without you. I have a message for those considering suicide as a solution to a temporary problem. Please call a hotline. Please reach out. Asia needed you, Anthony. We needed you. Please come back. pic.twitter.com/kqOEdJ80h9
— rose mcgowan (@rosemcgowan) June 8, 2018
Bourdain’s death comes just three days after the apparent suicide of Kate Spade, the iconic fashion designer who police said hanged herself in her Upper East Side apartment Tuesday.
“I was saddened to hear of the deaths of Kate Spade and Anthony Bourdain,” tweeted “Breaking Bad” star Bryan Cranston. “It illustrates that success is not immune to depression. We all need to be more aware of our friends who are suffering.”
Bourdain’s loss was felt across the nation, by news and culinary professionals, and by the fans of his show, many of whom took to social media to share their gratitude for his work and memories of meals shared.
Comedian and writer Jon Hodgman recalled the day he and Bourdain talked “weird” food and ate chicken feet in Chinatown in 2004.
“He was big even then but he took time to sit with me in Chinatown to talk ‘weird’ food for a magazine piece I was writing,” wrote Hodgman. “He taught me that our ‘weird’ is the world’s delicious.
“The afternoon vibrated with life.”
Fellow celebrity chef and television personality Gordon Ramsay wrotehe was “Stunned and saddened by the loss of Anthony Bourdain.”
“He brought the world into our homes and inspired so many people to explore cultures and cities through their food,” Ramsay added.
CNN anchor John Berman said he found Bourdain’s death to be “so hard and confusing” because of his deep admiration for the chef and traveller.
“Here is the thing,” wrote CNN anchor John Berman. “Everyone wanted to be Anthony Bourdain. I did. We all did.”
The moment New Yorker food correspondent Helen Rosner chose to share showed her readers another side to the glamorous chef.
“Tony always made fun of me because I had a hard time calling him Tony— he’s Anthony Bourdain, the whole name,” Rosner wrote. “His death is an inexpressible tragedy.”
The chef and “Bizarre Foods” host Andrew Zimmern mourned his onetime Travel Channel colleague, positing a photo of himself wearing a pair of Bourdain’s boots.
“Everyone should hug some extra people today. My heart is heavy,” Zimmern tweeted.
Even the president of the United States came forward to offer support to Bourdain’s family.
“I want to extend to his family my heartfelt condolences,” President Donald Trump said in an interview with CBS News.
Fans also took to Twitter to share Bourdain quotes that had given them inspiration.
Caroline O.@RVAwonkAnthony Bourdain was so hungry for life and lived it so passionately. And that makes his suicide so damn hard to accept.
Katie Peralta
✔@katieperalta
Saw this painted on the side of a little cafe this week. Rest peacefully, Anthony Bourdain
Rachel Griffin@rachelgriffinnAnthony Bourdain was one of my biggest inspirations growing up, watching his shows and reading his books gave me motivation to be bold, brave and follow my dreams of traveling the world. My heart hurts today with this news; you will be greatly missed.
In the days before his death, Bourdain tweeted a haunting Chinese cover of the song, “House of the Rising Sun” that, he wrote, “is gonna stay with me.”
Anthony Bourdain
✔@Bourdain
THIS song from the score from tonight’s HONG KONG @PartsUnknownCNN is gonna stay with me https://m.soundcloud.com/parts-unknown-985303506/rising-sun-blues-king-kong-mix …
Bourdain dedicated his final book, the 2016 cookbook “Appetites,” to his daughter, Ariane. In its introduction, he confessed that it made him more anxious to cook dinner for a few friends than to crank out hundreds of plates in a busy restaurant.
“The human heart was — and remains — a mystery to me,” he wrote. “But I’m learning. I have to.”
Anyone struggling with mental health can get help by calling National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255 or visiting this website. New Yorkers can also find resources by calling 1-888-NYC-WELL.
By Kathleen Culliton [Patch]