Anthony Bourdain

Background

Anthony Bourdain was born in New York City, on June 25, 1956, and grew up in suburban New Jersey, where he developed a passion for reading and rock music. He spent two years at Vassar College, before graduating from the prestigious Culinary Institute of America in 1978. Bourdain soon began running the kitchens of New York restaurants, such as the Supper Club, One-Fifth Avenue, and Sullivan’s, after having admitted to self-destructive drug usage in his adolescence. In 1998, he was appointed as executive chef at Brasserie Les Halles.

Bourdain’s now-famous article “Don’t Eat Before Reading This,” a scathingly honest look at the inner workings of restaurants, particularly their kitchens, was published in 1997, in “The New Yorker.” The piece carried a lot of weight because of the author’s reputation as a renowned chef, and it led to subsequent writing opportunities. His best-selling book, “Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly,” was published in 2000, to tremendous acclaim. From time to time, Bourdain authored other novels about his life as an international chef. In 2005, he debuted “Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations,” a new Travel Channel series that addressed similar themes as “A Cook’s Tour.” On many occasions, Bourdain served as a guest judge on the “Top Chef” reality cooking competition show, and he was one of the major judges on the eighth season of “Top Chef All-Stars.” Bourdain, who is always up for a new adventure, had a cameo in the 2008 film “Far Cry,” and as Dr. Tony on the children’s T.V. show “Yo Gabba Gabba!” In 2015, the culinary expert also announced the creation of Bourdain Market, a massive food hall in Manhattan, New York.

Bourdain married Ottavia Busia, a jiu-jitsu master, in 2007. That year, they welcomed their daughter Ariane into the world. The couple revealed their divorce plans in September 2016, claiming that their choice was mutual and amicable. After that, Bourdain became friends with Asia Argento, an Italian actress, and director.

On June 8, 2018, Bourdain was discovered dead in his hotel room in Kaysersberg, France from suicide. The Television Academy Foundation announced that “Parts Unknown,” a traveling and food show Bourdain was filming before his death, had received six nominations for the 70th Primetime Emmy Awards, which will be broadcast on September 17, 2018. C.N.N. reported in August that the creators of “Parts Unknown” have enough footage for a final season of the show. Bourdain’s narration would appear in only one episode, but his voice would be heard throughout the series thanks to on-location recordings from his excursions to the Lower East Side of New York City, the Texas-Mexico border area, Spain, and Indonesia.

The penultimate episode will feature cast and crew members discussing their experiences on the show, while the finale will focus on “how Tony affected the world,” according to a C.N.N. executive.