Anthony Bourdain
Encyclopedia
Anthony Michael "Tony" Bourdain (born June 25, 1956) is an American chef
, author
and television personality. He is well known for his 2000 book Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly
, and is the host of Travel Channel
's culinary and cultural adventure program Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations.
A 1978 graduate of the Culinary Institute of America
and a veteran of professional kitchens, Bourdain is currently a chef-at-large, whose home base is Brasserie Les Halles
, New York where he was executive chef for many years.
. Bourdain has French ancestry on his father's side, his paternal grandfather emigrated to New York from France following World War I
. Bourdain was a student at Englewood School for Boys
, graduating in 1973. He attended Vassar College
before dropping out of Vassar after two years. He graduated from the Culinary Institute of America
in 1978.
Bourdain married his high-school girlfriend, Nancy Putkoski, in the 1980s, remaining together for two decades before divorcing; Bourdain has cited the irrevocable changes that come from traveling widely as the cause of the split. He currently lives with his second wife, Ottavia Busia. Together, they have a daughter, Ariane, born on April 9, 2007; the couple wed on April 20, 2007. Busia has appeared in several episodes of No Reservations — notably the episode on Sardinia
, her birthplace; the Tuscany episode, in which she plays a disgruntled Italian diner; the Rome episode, and the Naples episode.
, Bourdain describes how his love of food was kindled in France when he tried his first oyster
on an oyster fisherman's boat as a youth while on a family vacation. Later, while attending Vassar College
, he worked in the seafood
restaurant
s of Provincetown, Massachusetts
, which sparked his decision to pursue cooking as a career. Bourdain graduated from the Culinary Institute of America
in 1978, and went on to run various restaurant kitchens in New York City — including the Supper Club, One Fifth Avenue, and Sullivan's — culminating in the position of executive chef at Brasserie Les Halles
beginning in 1998. Brasserie Les Halles is based in Manhattan
, with additional locations in Miami
and, at the time of Bourdain's tenure, Washington, D.C. and Tokyo, Japan. Bourdain says he does not miss working the kitchen and believes it to be a profession "for the young and limber — of mind, body, and emotion."
book Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly
, an outgrowth of his now famous article in The New Yorker
called "Don't Eat Before Reading This".
Bourdain subsequently wrote two more New York Times bestselling nonfiction books: A Cook's Tour
(2001), an exotic account of his food and travel exploits across the world, written in conjunction with his first television series; and The Nasty Bits
(2006), another collection of exotic, provocative, and humorous anecdote
s and essay
s mainly centered on food. Bourdain's additional books include Anthony Bourdain's Les Halles Cookbook; the culinary mysteries Bone in the Throat and Gone Bamboo; a hypothetical historical investigation, Typhoid Mary: An Urban Historical; and No Reservations: Around the World on an Empty Stomach
. His latest book, Medium Raw: A Bloody Valentine to the World of Food and the People Who Cook
, the sequel to Kitchen Confidential, was published in 2010.
Bourdain's articles and essays have appeared many places, including in The New Yorker
, The New York Times
, The Times
, The Los Angeles Times, The Observer
, Gourmet
, Maxim
, Esquire
(UK), Scotland on Sunday
, The Face
, Food Arts, Limb by Limb, BlackBook
, The Independent
, Best Life
, the Financial Times
, and Town & Country
. On the Internet, Bourdain's blog
for Season 3 of Top Chef
was nominated for a Webby Award for best Blog – Cultural/Personal in 2008.
According to one critic, Bourdain "writes like he talks, except the writing is peppered with the F-word
and similar technical terms presumably used in commercial kitchens. The pages flow in a stream-of-consciousness way that gives one the impression that the author is almost forced to purge these thoughts from his head to the page so he can manically move on to more adventure, which is what he seems to make a living doing on the Travel Channel
."
, Kitchen Confidential
, led to an offer by the Food Network
to host his own food and world-travel show, A Cook's Tour
, which premiered on January 8, 1999. In July 2005, he premiered a new, somewhat similar television series, Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations, on the Travel Channel
. As a further result of the immense popularity of Kitchen Confidential, the Fox
sitcom Kitchen Confidential aired in 2005, in which the character "Jack Bourdain" is based loosely on the biography and persona of Anthony Bourdain.
In July 2006, Bourdain was in Beirut
filming an episode of No Reservations when the Israel-Lebanon conflict
broke out. Bourdain and his crew were evacuated with other American citizens on the morning of July 20 by the United States Marines
. Because of the unexpected conflict only a few hours of footage were available from the first restaurant on their agenda. Bourdain's producers compiled the Beirut footage into a No Reservations episode which aired on August 21, 2006. Uncharacteristically, the episode included footage of both Bourdain and his production staff, and included not only their initial attempts to film the episode, but also their firsthand encounters with Hezbollah supporters, their days of waiting for news with other expatriates in a Beirut hotel, and their eventual escape aided by a "cleaner" (unseen in the footage), whom Bourdain dubbed "Mr. Wolf" after the character portrayed by Harvey Keitel in Pulp Fiction. The episode was nominated for an Emmy Award
in 2007.
Bourdain has appeared five times as guest judge on Bravo's Top Chef
reality cooking competition program: first in the November 2006 "Thanksgiving" episode of Season 2
; and then again in June 2007 in the first episode of Season 3
, judging the "exotic surf and turf
" competition featuring ingredients including abalone
, alligator
, black chicken, geoduck
and eel
. His third appearance was also in Season 3, as an expert on air travel, judging the competitors' airplane meals. Bourdain also wrote weekly blog
commentaries for many of the Season 3 episodes, filling in as a guest blogger while Top Chef judge Tom Colicchio
was busy opening a new restaurant. Bourdain next appeared as a guest judge for the opening episode of Season 4
, in which pairs of chefs competed head-to-head in the preparation of various classic dishes; and again in the Season 4 Restaurant Wars episode, temporarily taking the place of head judge Tom Colicchio
, was at a charity event. He is also one of the main judges on the Top Chef All-Stars Season 8
.
Bourdain appeared in an episode of TLC
's reality show
Miami Ink
which aired August 28, 2006. Artist Chris Garver
tattooed a skull
on Bourdain's right shoulder. Bourdain, who noted it was his fourth tattoo, said that one reason for the skull was that he wished to balance the ouroboros
tattoo he had done on his opposite shoulder in Malaysia while filming Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations.
Bourdain made a guest appearance on the August 6, 2007 New York City episode of Bizarre Foods with Andrew Zimmern
; Zimmern appeared as a guest on the New York City episode of Bourdain's No Reservations airing the same day. On October 20, 2008 Bourdain hosted a special, "At the Table with Anthony Bourdain," on the Travel Channel. Bourdain also has a brief cameo appearance
in the 2008 movie Far Cry
.
In 2010, Bourdain appeared on Nick, Jr.'s Yo Gabba Gabba!
as Dr. Tony. He is currently consulting and writing for the HBO series, Treme
.
Travel Channel announced in July 2011 that it would be adding a second one-hour ten-episode Bourdain show to be titled The Layover
, premiering November 21, 2011. The show's concept is that each episode features an exploration of a city that can be undertaken within an air travel layover of 24 to 48 hours.
Because of Bourdain's liberal use of profanity
and sexual
references in his television show No Reservations, the network has prepended viewer discretion advisories to each segment of each episode. In recent seasons, the advisories include animation that is related in some way to the episode.
Known for consuming exotic ethnic dishes, Bourdain is famous for eating sheep testicles
in Morocco
, ant
eggs
in Puebla, Mexico
, a raw seal
eyeball as part of a traditional Inuit
seal hunt, and a whole cobra — beating heart, blood, bile, and meat — in Vietnam
. According to Bourdain, the most disgusting thing he has ever eaten is a Chicken McNugget
, though he has also declared that the unwashed warthog
rectum
he ate in Namibia
and the fermented shark
he ate in Iceland
are among "the worst meals of [his] life."
Bourdain has stated that he has "strong libertarian
instincts." He has been known for being an unrepentant drinker and smoker. In a nod to Bourdain's (at the time) two-pack-a-day cigarette habit, renowned chef Thomas Keller
once served him a 20-course tasting menu which included a mid-meal "coffee and cigarette": a coffee custard infused with tobacco, together with a foie gras
mousse. Bourdain briefly stopped cigarette smoking in the summer of 2007 because of the birth of his daughter. He is also a former user of cocaine
, heroin, and LSD
. In Kitchen Confidential he writes of his experience in a trendy SoHo
restaurant in 1981: "We were high all the time, sneaking off to the walk-in refrigerator
at every opportunity to 'conceptualize.' Hardly a decision was made without drugs. Cannabis
, methaqualone
, cocaine
, LSD
, psilocybin
mushroom
s soaked in honey
and used to sweeten tea, secobarbital
, tuinal
, amphetamine
, codeine
and, increasingly, heroin, which we'd send a Spanish-speaking busboy
over to Alphabet City
to get." In the same book, Bourdain frankly describes his former addiction, including how he once resorted to selling his record collection on the street in order to raise enough money to purchase drugs.
Bourdain is also noted for his put-downs of celebrity chefs, such as Emeril Lagasse
(though he has since warmed to Lagasse, who has appeared with Bourdain in the post-Katrina
New Orleans episode of No Reservations) and Bobby Flay
, and Food Network personalities such as Sandra Lee
, Paula Deen
and Rachael Ray
(who is the butt of many jokes on No Reservations). Bourdain fully expressed his feelings about certain Food Network
personalities in a popular blog entry from February 2007, and appears to be irritated by both the overt commercialism of the celebrity cooking industry and its lack of culinary authenticity. He has voiced a "serious disdain for food demigods like Alan Richman
, Alice Waters
, and Alain Ducasse
." In October 2009, he commented that Waters was "Pol Pot
in a muumuu
." Bourdain has recognized the irony of his transformation into a celebrity chef and has, to some extent, begun to qualify his insults. He has been consistently outspoken in his praise for chefs he admires, particularly Thomas Keller
, Masa Takayama
, Alton Brown
, Eric Ripert
, Ferran Adrià
, Fergus Henderson
, Marco Pierre White
, and Mario Batali
. Bourdain has also spoken very highly of Julia Child
, saying that she "influenced the way I grew up and my entire value system."
Bourdain is also known for sarcastic comments about vegans and vegetarians, saying that their lifestyle is rude to the inhabitants of many countries he visits. Bourdain says he considers vegetarianism, except in the case of religious strictures as in India, a "First World luxury."
Bourdain's taste in music is also a matter of public record. His book, The Nasty Bits, is dedicated to "Joey
, Johnny
, and Dee Dee
" of the Ramones
. Bourdain has declared fond appreciation for their music, as well that of other early punk
bands such as The Stooges
, Dead Boys, Television
, The New York Dolls, and The Voidoids
. Additionally, Bourdain writes in Kitchen Confidential that the playing of music by Billy Joel
in his kitchen was grounds for immediate firing (coincidentally, Joel is a fan of his and has subsequently visited the restaurant). In the 2006 No Reservations episode in Sweden, Bourdain proclaimed that his all-time favorite album (his "desert island disc") is the groundbreaking punk record Fun House by The Stooges
; he also made it clear that he despises the Swedish pop group ABBA
. On his 2007 No Reservations Holiday Special episode, the rock band Queens of the Stone Age
were the featured dinner guests, adding food-inspired holiday songs to the episode's soundtrack.
and unused animal parts not usually eaten by affluent 21st-century Westerners. Bourdain has also consistently noted and championed the high quality and deliciousness of freshly prepared street food
in other countries — especially developing countries — as compared to fast food
chains in the U.S.
Bourdain often acknowledges and champions the industrious Spanish-speaking immigrants — often from Mexico
or Ecuador
— who make up a majority of the chefs and cooks in many U.S. restaurants, including upscale restaurants, regardless of cuisine. Bourdain considers them to be talented chefs and invaluable cooks, underpaid and unrecognized even though they have become the backbone of the U.S. restaurant industry.
Bourdain appeared on the Joe Rogan Experience podcast September 11th 2011.
magazine for Kitchen Confidential
.
A Cook's Tour
was named Food Book of the Year in 2002 by the British Guild of Food Writers.
The Beirut
episode of Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations, which documented the experiences of Bourdain and his crew during the 2006 Israel-Lebanon conflict
, was nominated for an Emmy Award
for Outstanding Informational Programming in 2007.
Bourdain's blog for the reality competition show Top Chef
was nominated for a Webby Award for best Blog – Culture / Personal in 2008.
In 2008, Bourdain was inducted into the James Beard
Foundation’s
Who’s Who of Food and Beverage in America.
In 2009, Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations won a Creative Arts Emmy Award for Outstanding Cinematography for Nonfiction Programming.
In 2010, Anthony Bourdain was nominated for a Creative Arts Emmy for non-fiction writing.
Chef
A chef is a person who cooks professionally for other people. Although over time the term has come to describe any person who cooks for a living, traditionally it refers to a highly skilled professional who is proficient in all aspects of food preparation.-Etymology:The word "chef" is borrowed ...
, author
Author
An author is broadly defined as "the person who originates or gives existence to anything" and that authorship determines responsibility for what is created. Narrowly defined, an author is the originator of any written work.-Legal significance:...
and television personality. He is well known for his 2000 book Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly
Kitchen Confidential
Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly is a New York Times bestselling non-fiction book written by American chef Anthony Bourdain....
, and is the host of Travel Channel
Travel Channel
The Travel Channel is a satellite and cable television channel that is headquartered in Chevy Chase, Maryland, US. It features documentaries and how-to shows related to travel and leisure around the United States and throughout the world. Programming has included shows in African animal safaris,...
's culinary and cultural adventure program Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations.
A 1978 graduate of the Culinary Institute of America
Culinary Institute of America
The Culinary Institute of America is a non-profit culinary college located in Hyde Park USA, founded in 1946. The CIA also has branch campuses in St. Helena, California, and San Antonio, Texas, as well as a campus in Singapore. It is a not-for-profit academic institution of higher learning...
and a veteran of professional kitchens, Bourdain is currently a chef-at-large, whose home base is Brasserie Les Halles
Brasserie Les Halles
Brasserie Les Halles is a French restaurant with locations in New York City and Miami, Florida. Previous locations were in Tokyo and Washington, D.C...
, New York where he was executive chef for many years.
Early life and family
Anthony Bourdain was born in New York City to Pierre (d.1956) and Gladys Bourdain, and grew up in Leonia, New JerseyLeonia, New Jersey
Leonia is a borough in Bergen County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the borough population was 8,937. It is located near the western approach to the George Washington Bridge....
. Bourdain has French ancestry on his father's side, his paternal grandfather emigrated to New York from France following World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
. Bourdain was a student at Englewood School for Boys
Dwight-Englewood School
The Dwight–Englewood School is an independent coeducational college preparatory day school, located in Englewood, New Jersey. The school teaches students from pre-kindergarten through 12th grade via three functionally separate schools. The Lower School serves students in pre-kindergarten through...
, graduating in 1973. He attended Vassar College
Vassar College
Vassar College is a private, coeducational liberal arts college in the town of Poughkeepsie, New York, in the United States. The Vassar campus comprises over and more than 100 buildings, including four National Historic Landmarks, ranging in style from Collegiate Gothic to International,...
before dropping out of Vassar after two years. He graduated from the Culinary Institute of America
Culinary Institute of America
The Culinary Institute of America is a non-profit culinary college located in Hyde Park USA, founded in 1946. The CIA also has branch campuses in St. Helena, California, and San Antonio, Texas, as well as a campus in Singapore. It is a not-for-profit academic institution of higher learning...
in 1978.
Bourdain married his high-school girlfriend, Nancy Putkoski, in the 1980s, remaining together for two decades before divorcing; Bourdain has cited the irrevocable changes that come from traveling widely as the cause of the split. He currently lives with his second wife, Ottavia Busia. Together, they have a daughter, Ariane, born on April 9, 2007; the couple wed on April 20, 2007. Busia has appeared in several episodes of No Reservations — notably the episode on Sardinia
Sardinia
Sardinia is the second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea . It is an autonomous region of Italy, and the nearest land masses are the French island of Corsica, the Italian Peninsula, Sicily, Tunisia and the Spanish Balearic Islands.The name Sardinia is from the pre-Roman noun *sard[],...
, her birthplace; the Tuscany episode, in which she plays a disgruntled Italian diner; the Rome episode, and the Naples episode.
Culinary training and career
In Kitchen ConfidentialKitchen Confidential
Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly is a New York Times bestselling non-fiction book written by American chef Anthony Bourdain....
, Bourdain describes how his love of food was kindled in France when he tried his first oyster
Oyster
The word oyster is used as a common name for a number of distinct groups of bivalve molluscs which live in marine or brackish habitats. The valves are highly calcified....
on an oyster fisherman's boat as a youth while on a family vacation. Later, while attending Vassar College
Vassar College
Vassar College is a private, coeducational liberal arts college in the town of Poughkeepsie, New York, in the United States. The Vassar campus comprises over and more than 100 buildings, including four National Historic Landmarks, ranging in style from Collegiate Gothic to International,...
, he worked in the seafood
Seafood
Seafood is any form of marine life regarded as food by humans. Seafoods include fish, molluscs , crustaceans , echinoderms . Edible sea plants, such as some seaweeds and microalgae, are also seafood, and are widely eaten around the world, especially in Asia...
restaurant
Restaurant
A restaurant is an establishment which prepares and serves food and drink to customers in return for money. Meals are generally served and eaten on premises, but many restaurants also offer take-out and food delivery services...
s of Provincetown, Massachusetts
Massachusetts
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...
, which sparked his decision to pursue cooking as a career. Bourdain graduated from the Culinary Institute of America
Culinary Institute of America
The Culinary Institute of America is a non-profit culinary college located in Hyde Park USA, founded in 1946. The CIA also has branch campuses in St. Helena, California, and San Antonio, Texas, as well as a campus in Singapore. It is a not-for-profit academic institution of higher learning...
in 1978, and went on to run various restaurant kitchens in New York City — including the Supper Club, One Fifth Avenue, and Sullivan's — culminating in the position of executive chef at Brasserie Les Halles
Brasserie Les Halles
Brasserie Les Halles is a French restaurant with locations in New York City and Miami, Florida. Previous locations were in Tokyo and Washington, D.C...
beginning in 1998. Brasserie Les Halles is based in Manhattan
Manhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
, with additional locations in Miami
Miami, Florida
Miami is a city located on the Atlantic coast in southeastern Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, the most populous county in Florida and the eighth-most populous county in the United States with a population of 2,500,625...
and, at the time of Bourdain's tenure, Washington, D.C. and Tokyo, Japan. Bourdain says he does not miss working the kitchen and believes it to be a profession "for the young and limber — of mind, body, and emotion."
Writing
Bourdain gained immediate popularity from his 2000 New York Times bestsellingNew York Times Best Seller list
The New York Times Best Seller list is widely considered the preeminent list of best-selling books in the United States. It is published weekly in The New York Times Book Review magazine, which is published in the Sunday edition of The New York Times and as a stand-alone publication...
book Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly
Kitchen Confidential
Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly is a New York Times bestselling non-fiction book written by American chef Anthony Bourdain....
, an outgrowth of his now famous article in The New Yorker
The New Yorker
The New Yorker is an American magazine of reportage, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons and poetry published by Condé Nast...
called "Don't Eat Before Reading This".
Bourdain subsequently wrote two more New York Times bestselling nonfiction books: A Cook's Tour
A Cook's Tour
A Cook's Tour: Global Adventures in Extreme Cuisines is a New York Times bestselling book written by chef and author Anthony Bourdain in 2001. It is Bourdain's account of his world travels — eating exotic local dishes and experiencing life as a native in each country...
(2001), an exotic account of his food and travel exploits across the world, written in conjunction with his first television series; and The Nasty Bits
The Nasty Bits
The Nasty Bits: Collected Varietal Cuts, Usable Trim, Scraps, and Bones, is a largely nonfiction New York Times bestselling book by Anthony Bourdain, published in 2006. The book is a collection of 37 exotic, provocative, and humorous anecdotes and essays, many of them centered around food, followed...
(2006), another collection of exotic, provocative, and humorous anecdote
Anecdote
An anecdote is a short and amusing or interesting story about a real incident or person. It may be as brief as the setting and provocation of a bon mot. An anecdote is always presented as based on a real incident involving actual persons, whether famous or not, usually in an identifiable place...
s and essay
Essay
An essay is a piece of writing which is often written from an author's personal point of view. Essays can consist of a number of elements, including: literary criticism, political manifestos, learned arguments, observations of daily life, recollections, and reflections of the author. The definition...
s mainly centered on food. Bourdain's additional books include Anthony Bourdain's Les Halles Cookbook; the culinary mysteries Bone in the Throat and Gone Bamboo; a hypothetical historical investigation, Typhoid Mary: An Urban Historical; and No Reservations: Around the World on an Empty Stomach
No Reservations (book)
No Reservations: Around the World on an Empty Stomach is a book by Anthony Bourdain and a companion to the television show of the same name. The book serves as a scrap book of the previous three seasons of the television show and has extensive photographs of Bourdain and his crew at work filming...
. His latest book, Medium Raw: A Bloody Valentine to the World of Food and the People Who Cook
Medium Raw
Medium Raw: A Bloody Valentine to the World of Food and the People Who Cook is a memoir by Anthony Bourdain and the follow-up to Bourdain's bestselling Kitchen Confidential. Medium Raw addresses Bourdain's rise to stardom following the success of Kitchen Confidential...
, the sequel to Kitchen Confidential, was published in 2010.
Bourdain's articles and essays have appeared many places, including in The New Yorker
The New Yorker
The New Yorker is an American magazine of reportage, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons and poetry published by Condé Nast...
, The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
, The Times
The Times
The Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...
, The Los Angeles Times, The Observer
The Observer
The Observer is a British newspaper, published on Sundays. In the same place on the political spectrum as its daily sister paper The Guardian, which acquired it in 1993, it takes a liberal or social democratic line on most issues. It is the world's oldest Sunday newspaper.-Origins:The first issue,...
, Gourmet
Gourmet (magazine)
Gourmet magazine was a monthly publication of Condé Nast and the first U.S. magazine devoted to food and wine. Founded by Earle R. MacAusland and first published in 1941, Gourmet also covered "good living" on a wider scale....
, Maxim
Maxim (magazine)
Maxim is an international men's magazine based in the United Kingdom and known for its pictorials featuring popular actresses, singers, and female models, sometimes pictured dressed, often pictured scantily dressed but not fully nude....
, Esquire
Esquire (magazine)
Esquire is a men's magazine, published in the U.S. by the Hearst Corporation. Founded in 1932, it flourished during the Great Depression under the guidance of founder and editor Arnold Gingrich.-History:...
(UK), Scotland on Sunday
Scotland on Sunday
Scotland on Sunday is a Scottish Sunday newspaper, published in Edinburgh by The Scotsman Publications Ltd and consequently assuming the role of Sunday sister to its daily stablemate The Scotsman...
, The Face
The Face (magazine)
The Face was a British music, fashion and culture monthly magazine started in May 1980 by Nick Logan.-1980s:Logan had previously created the teen pop magazine Smash Hits, and had been an editor at the New Musical Express in the 1970s before launching The Face in 1980.The magazine was influential in...
, Food Arts, Limb by Limb, BlackBook
BlackBook Magazine
BlackBook is an American arts and culture magazine published 8x a year. Founded in 1996 as a quarterly publication, BlackBook has now expanded to a circulation of roughly 150,000. The magazine covers topics ranging from art, music, and literature to politics, popular culture, and travel guides....
, The Independent
The Independent
The Independent is a British national morning newspaper published in London by Independent Print Limited, owned by Alexander Lebedev since 2010. It is nicknamed the Indy, while the Sunday edition, The Independent on Sunday, is the Sindy. Launched in 1986, it is one of the youngest UK national daily...
, Best Life
Best Life
Best Life, published by Rodale Inc. in Emmaus, Pennsylvania, United States, was the first luxury service magazine for men, and the fastest-growing men's magazine in America, with a circulation of more than 500,000.-History:...
, the Financial Times
Financial Times
The Financial Times is an international business newspaper. It is a morning daily newspaper published in London and printed in 24 cities around the world. Its primary rival is the Wall Street Journal, published in New York City....
, and Town & Country
Town & Country (magazine)
Town & Country, formerly the Home Journal and The National Press, is a monthly American lifestyle magazine. It is the oldest continually published general interest magazine in the United States.-Early history:...
. On the Internet, Bourdain's blog
Blog
A blog is a type of website or part of a website supposed to be updated with new content from time to time. Blogs are usually maintained by an individual with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or other material such as graphics or video. Entries are commonly displayed in...
for Season 3 of Top Chef
Top Chef
Top Chef is an American reality competition show that airs on the cable television network Bravo, in which chefs compete against each other in culinary challenges. They are judged by a panel of professional chefs and other notables from the food and wine industry with one or more contestants...
was nominated for a Webby Award for best Blog – Cultural/Personal in 2008.
According to one critic, Bourdain "writes like he talks, except the writing is peppered with the F-word
Fuck
"Fuck" is an English word that is generally considered obscene which, in its most literal meaning, refers to the act of sexual intercourse. By extension it may be used to negatively characterize anything that can be dismissed, disdained, defiled, or destroyed."Fuck" can be used as a verb, adverb,...
and similar technical terms presumably used in commercial kitchens. The pages flow in a stream-of-consciousness way that gives one the impression that the author is almost forced to purge these thoughts from his head to the page so he can manically move on to more adventure, which is what he seems to make a living doing on the Travel Channel
Travel Channel
The Travel Channel is a satellite and cable television channel that is headquartered in Chevy Chase, Maryland, US. It features documentaries and how-to shows related to travel and leisure around the United States and throughout the world. Programming has included shows in African animal safaris,...
."
Television
The acclaim surrounding Bourdain's racy memoirMemoir
A memoir , is a literary genre, forming a subclass of autobiography – although the terms 'memoir' and 'autobiography' are almost interchangeable. Memoir is autobiographical writing, but not all autobiographical writing follows the criteria for memoir set out below...
, Kitchen Confidential
Kitchen Confidential
Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly is a New York Times bestselling non-fiction book written by American chef Anthony Bourdain....
, led to an offer by the Food Network
Food Network
Food Network is a television specialty channel that airs both one-time and recurring programs about food and cooking. Scripps Networks Interactive owns 70 percent of the network, with Tribune Company controlling the remaining 30 percent....
to host his own food and world-travel show, A Cook's Tour
A Cook's Tour (television)
A Cook's Tour is a travel and food show that aired on the Food Network. Host Anthony Bourdain visits exotic countries and cities worldwide where hosts treat him to local culture and cuisine....
, which premiered on January 8, 1999. In July 2005, he premiered a new, somewhat similar television series, Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations, on the Travel Channel
Travel Channel
The Travel Channel is a satellite and cable television channel that is headquartered in Chevy Chase, Maryland, US. It features documentaries and how-to shows related to travel and leisure around the United States and throughout the world. Programming has included shows in African animal safaris,...
. As a further result of the immense popularity of Kitchen Confidential, the Fox
Fox Broadcasting Company
Fox Broadcasting Company, commonly referred to as Fox Network or simply Fox , is an American commercial broadcasting television network owned by Fox Entertainment Group, part of Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation. Launched on October 9, 1986, Fox was the highest-rated broadcast network in the...
sitcom Kitchen Confidential aired in 2005, in which the character "Jack Bourdain" is based loosely on the biography and persona of Anthony Bourdain.
In July 2006, Bourdain was in Beirut
Beirut
Beirut is the capital and largest city of Lebanon, with a population ranging from 1 million to more than 2 million . Located on a peninsula at the midpoint of Lebanon's Mediterranean coastline, it serves as the country's largest and main seaport, and also forms the Beirut Metropolitan...
filming an episode of No Reservations when the Israel-Lebanon conflict
2006 Israel-Lebanon conflict
The 2006 Lebanon War, also called the 2006 Israel-Hezbollah War and known in Lebanon as the July War #Other uses|Tammūz]]) and in Israel as the Second Lebanon War , was a 34-day military conflict in Lebanon, northern Israel and the Israeli-occupied territories. The principal parties were Hezbollah...
broke out. Bourdain and his crew were evacuated with other American citizens on the morning of July 20 by the United States Marines
United States Marine Corps
The United States Marine Corps is a branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for providing power projection from the sea, using the mobility of the United States Navy to deliver combined-arms task forces rapidly. It is one of seven uniformed services of the United States...
. Because of the unexpected conflict only a few hours of footage were available from the first restaurant on their agenda. Bourdain's producers compiled the Beirut footage into a No Reservations episode which aired on August 21, 2006. Uncharacteristically, the episode included footage of both Bourdain and his production staff, and included not only their initial attempts to film the episode, but also their firsthand encounters with Hezbollah supporters, their days of waiting for news with other expatriates in a Beirut hotel, and their eventual escape aided by a "cleaner" (unseen in the footage), whom Bourdain dubbed "Mr. Wolf" after the character portrayed by Harvey Keitel in Pulp Fiction. The episode was nominated for an Emmy Award
Emmy Award
An Emmy Award, often referred to simply as the Emmy, is a television production award, similar in nature to the Peabody Awards but more focused on entertainment, and is considered the television equivalent to the Academy Awards and the Grammy Awards .A majority of Emmys are presented in various...
in 2007.
Bourdain has appeared five times as guest judge on Bravo's Top Chef
Top Chef
Top Chef is an American reality competition show that airs on the cable television network Bravo, in which chefs compete against each other in culinary challenges. They are judged by a panel of professional chefs and other notables from the food and wine industry with one or more contestants...
reality cooking competition program: first in the November 2006 "Thanksgiving" episode of Season 2
Top Chef (season 2)
Top Chef: Los Angeles is the second season of American reality television series Top Chef and was filmed first in Los Angeles, California, and concluded in Waikoloa Village, Hawaii. The season premiered on Bravo on October 18, 2006 and ended on January 31, 2007. Padma Lakshmi took over as host,...
; and then again in June 2007 in the first episode of Season 3
Top Chef (season 3)
Top Chef: Miami is the third season of American reality television series Top Chef and was filmed first in Miami, Florida, and concluded in Aspen, Colorado. The season premiered on Bravo on June 13, 2007 and ended on October 10, 2007. Padma Lakshmi returned with Tom Colicchio, Gail Simmons and new...
, judging the "exotic surf and turf
Surf and turf
Surf and turf or surf 'n' turf is a main course in American cuisine which combines seafood and meat. It is particularly common in British or Irish pubs in North America and North American steakhouses, and typically includes lobster, Dublin Bay prawn, or shrimp, which may be grilled or breaded and...
" competition featuring ingredients including abalone
Abalone
Abalone , from aulón, are small to very large-sized edible sea snails, marine gastropod molluscs in the family Haliotidae and the genus Haliotis...
, alligator
Alligator
An alligator is a crocodilian in the genus Alligator of the family Alligatoridae. There are two extant alligator species: the American alligator and the Chinese alligator ....
, black chicken, geoduck
Geoduck
The geoduck , Panopea generosa, is a species of very large saltwater clam, a marine bivalve mollusk in the family Hiatellidae.The shell of this clam is large, about to over in length, but the very long siphons make the clam itself very much longer than this: the "neck" or siphons alone can be ...
and eel
Eel
Eels are an order of fish, which consists of four suborders, 20 families, 111 genera and approximately 800 species. Most eels are predators...
. His third appearance was also in Season 3, as an expert on air travel, judging the competitors' airplane meals. Bourdain also wrote weekly blog
Blog
A blog is a type of website or part of a website supposed to be updated with new content from time to time. Blogs are usually maintained by an individual with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or other material such as graphics or video. Entries are commonly displayed in...
commentaries for many of the Season 3 episodes, filling in as a guest blogger while Top Chef judge Tom Colicchio
Tom Colicchio
Thomas Patrick "Tom" Colicchio is an American celebrity chef. He co-founded the Gramercy Tavern in New York City, and formerly served as a co-owner and as the executive chef. He is also the founder of Craft and Colicchio & Sons restaurants...
was busy opening a new restaurant. Bourdain next appeared as a guest judge for the opening episode of Season 4
Top Chef (season 4)
Top Chef: Chicago is the fourth season of American reality television series Top Chef and was filmed first in Chicago, Illinois, and concluded in San Juan, Puerto Rico...
, in which pairs of chefs competed head-to-head in the preparation of various classic dishes; and again in the Season 4 Restaurant Wars episode, temporarily taking the place of head judge Tom Colicchio
Tom Colicchio
Thomas Patrick "Tom" Colicchio is an American celebrity chef. He co-founded the Gramercy Tavern in New York City, and formerly served as a co-owner and as the executive chef. He is also the founder of Craft and Colicchio & Sons restaurants...
, was at a charity event. He is also one of the main judges on the Top Chef All-Stars Season 8
Top Chef (season 8)
Top Chef: All-Stars is the eighth season of American reality television series Top Chef and was filmed first in New York City, New York and concluded in The Bahamas. This season consists of chefs from the previous 7 seasons who did not win the Title of Top Chef. The season premiered on December 1,...
.
Bourdain appeared in an episode of TLC
TLC (TV channel)
TLC is an American cable TV specialty channel which initially focused on educational content. Since 1991 TLC has been owned by Discovery Communications, the same company that operates the Discovery Channel, Animal Planet and The Science Channel, as well as other learning-themed networks...
's reality show
Reality television
Reality television is a genre of television programming that presents purportedly unscripted dramatic or humorous situations, documents actual events, and usually features ordinary people instead of professional actors, sometimes in a contest or other situation where a prize is awarded...
Miami Ink
Miami Ink
Miami Ink is an American reality show on TLC that follows the events that took place at a tattoo shop in Miami Beach, Florida. The show premiered in July 2005 and has finished broadcasting its fourth season...
which aired August 28, 2006. Artist Chris Garver
Chris Garver
Chris Garver is a tattoo artist featured on the TLC reality television show Miami Ink. He is widely considered as one of the best tattoo artists in the world, with a two year long waiting list of clients....
tattooed a skull
Skull
The skull is a bony structure in the head of many animals that supports the structures of the face and forms a cavity for the brain.The skull is composed of two parts: the cranium and the mandible. A skull without a mandible is only a cranium. Animals that have skulls are called craniates...
on Bourdain's right shoulder. Bourdain, who noted it was his fourth tattoo, said that one reason for the skull was that he wished to balance the ouroboros
Ouroboros
The Ouroboros is an ancient symbol depicting a serpent or dragon eating its own tail. The name originates from within Greek language; οὐρά meaning "tail" and βόρος meaning "eating", thus "he who eats the tail"....
tattoo he had done on his opposite shoulder in Malaysia while filming Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations.
Bourdain made a guest appearance on the August 6, 2007 New York City episode of Bizarre Foods with Andrew Zimmern
Bizarre Foods with Andrew Zimmern
Bizarre Foods with Andrew Zimmern is a documentary-styled travel and cuisine television show hosted by Andrew Zimmern on the Travel Channel. The first season debuted on Monday, February 26, 2007 at 9pm ET/PT....
; Zimmern appeared as a guest on the New York City episode of Bourdain's No Reservations airing the same day. On October 20, 2008 Bourdain hosted a special, "At the Table with Anthony Bourdain," on the Travel Channel. Bourdain also has a brief cameo appearance
Cameo appearance
A cameo role or cameo appearance is a brief appearance of a known person in a work of the performing arts, such as plays, films, video games and television...
in the 2008 movie Far Cry
Far Cry (film)
Far Cry is a German film adapted from the video game of the same name. The film is directed by Uwe Boll and stars Til Schweiger.- Plot :Jack Carver, a former member of Germany's Special Forces, takes journalist Valerie Cardinal to visit her Uncle Max on an island, where he works in a military...
.
In 2010, Bourdain appeared on Nick, Jr.'s Yo Gabba Gabba!
Yo Gabba Gabba!
Yo Gabba Gabba! is an American children's television show currently airing on the Nick Jr. cable network in the United States and the Nick Jr. networks in the United Kingdom & Ireland, Italy, France and Australia as well as Treehouse TV network in Canada and RTE2 on RTEjr see Raidió Teilifís...
as Dr. Tony. He is currently consulting and writing for the HBO series, Treme
Treme (TV series)
Treme is an American television drama series created by David Simon and Eric Overmyer that premiered on April 11, 2010 on HBO. It takes its name from Tremé, a neighborhood of New Orleans...
.
Travel Channel announced in July 2011 that it would be adding a second one-hour ten-episode Bourdain show to be titled The Layover
The Layover (TV series)
The Layover is the second travel and food show on the Travel Channel hosted by Anthony Bourdain. The show premiered on November 21, 2011 in an episode based on Singapore.- Episodes :- External Links :* *...
, premiering November 21, 2011. The show's concept is that each episode features an exploration of a city that can be undertaken within an air travel layover of 24 to 48 hours.
Public persona
Profanity
Profanity is a show of disrespect, or a desecration or debasement of someone or something. Profanity can take the form of words, expressions, gestures, or other social behaviors that are socially constructed or interpreted as insulting, rude, vulgar, obscene, desecrating, or other forms.The...
and sexual
Human sexuality
Human sexuality is the awareness of gender differences, and the capacity to have erotic experiences and responses. Human sexuality can also be described as the way someone is sexually attracted to another person whether it is to opposite sexes , to the same sex , to either sexes , or not being...
references in his television show No Reservations, the network has prepended viewer discretion advisories to each segment of each episode. In recent seasons, the advisories include animation that is related in some way to the episode.
Known for consuming exotic ethnic dishes, Bourdain is famous for eating sheep testicles
Lamb fries
Lamb fries are lamb testicles used as food.One popular dish in the United States serves them breaded and fried.Lamb testicles are served in a variety of cuisines, including Italian, Persian,, American Basque, barbecue, Chinese, Russian, Turkish, etc....
in Morocco
Morocco
Morocco , officially the Kingdom of Morocco , is a country located in North Africa. It has a population of more than 32 million and an area of 710,850 km², and also primarily administers the disputed region of the Western Sahara...
, ant
Ant
Ants are social insects of the family Formicidae and, along with the related wasps and bees, belong to the order Hymenoptera. Ants evolved from wasp-like ancestors in the mid-Cretaceous period between 110 and 130 million years ago and diversified after the rise of flowering plants. More than...
eggs
Egg (biology)
An egg is an organic vessel in which an embryo first begins to develop. In most birds, reptiles, insects, molluscs, fish, and monotremes, an egg is the zygote, resulting from fertilization of the ovum, which is expelled from the body and permitted to develop outside the body until the developing...
in Puebla, Mexico
Puebla, Puebla
The city and municipality of Puebla is the capital of the state of Puebla, and one of the five most important colonial cities in Mexico. Being a planned city, it is located to the east of Mexico City and west of Mexico's main port, Veracruz, on the main route between the two.The city was founded...
, a raw seal
Pinniped
Pinnipeds or fin-footed mammals are a widely distributed and diverse group of semiaquatic marine mammals comprising the families Odobenidae , Otariidae , and Phocidae .-Overview: Pinnipeds are typically sleek-bodied and barrel-shaped...
eyeball as part of a traditional Inuit
Inuit
The Inuit are a group of culturally similar indigenous peoples inhabiting the Arctic regions of Canada , Denmark , Russia and the United States . Inuit means “the people” in the Inuktitut language...
seal hunt, and a whole cobra — beating heart, blood, bile, and meat — in Vietnam
Vietnam
Vietnam – sometimes spelled Viet Nam , officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam – is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and the South China Sea –...
. According to Bourdain, the most disgusting thing he has ever eaten is a Chicken McNugget
Chicken McNuggets
Chicken McNuggets are a product offered by international fast-food restaurant chain McDonald's and are one of the most popular trademarked items on the McDonald's menu....
, though he has also declared that the unwashed warthog
Warthog
The Warthog or Common Warthog is a wild member of the pig family that lives in grassland, savanna, and woodland in Sub-Saharan Africa. In the past it was commonly treated as a subspecies of P...
rectum
Rectum
The rectum is the final straight portion of the large intestine in some mammals, and the gut in others, terminating in the anus. The human rectum is about 12 cm long...
he ate in Namibia
Namibia
Namibia, officially the Republic of Namibia , is a country in southern Africa whose western border is the Atlantic Ocean. It shares land borders with Angola and Zambia to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south and east. It gained independence from South Africa on 21 March...
and the fermented shark
Hákarl
Hákarl or kæstur hákarl is a food from Iceland. It is a Greenland or basking shark which has been cured with a particular fermentation process and hung to dry for four to five months...
he ate in Iceland
Iceland
Iceland , described as the Republic of Iceland, is a Nordic and European island country in the North Atlantic Ocean, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. Iceland also refers to the main island of the country, which contains almost all the population and almost all the land area. The country has a population...
are among "the worst meals of [his] life."
Bourdain has stated that he has "strong libertarian
Libertarianism
Libertarianism, in the strictest sense, is the political philosophy that holds individual liberty as the basic moral principle of society. In the broadest sense, it is any political philosophy which approximates this view...
instincts." He has been known for being an unrepentant drinker and smoker. In a nod to Bourdain's (at the time) two-pack-a-day cigarette habit, renowned chef Thomas Keller
Thomas Keller
Thomas Keller is an American chef, restaurateur, and cookbook writer. He and his landmark Napa Valley restaurant, The French Laundry in Yountville, California, have won multiple awards from the James Beard Foundation, notably the Best California Chef in 1996, and the Best Chef in America in 1997...
once served him a 20-course tasting menu which included a mid-meal "coffee and cigarette": a coffee custard infused with tobacco, together with a foie gras
Foie gras
Foie gras ; French for "fat liver") is a food product made of the liver of a duck or goose that has been specially fattened. This fattening is typically achieved through gavage corn, according to French law, though outside of France it is occasionally produced using natural feeding...
mousse. Bourdain briefly stopped cigarette smoking in the summer of 2007 because of the birth of his daughter. He is also a former user of cocaine
Cocaine
Cocaine is a crystalline tropane alkaloid that is obtained from the leaves of the coca plant. The name comes from "coca" in addition to the alkaloid suffix -ine, forming cocaine. It is a stimulant of the central nervous system, an appetite suppressant, and a topical anesthetic...
, heroin, and LSD
LSD
Lysergic acid diethylamide, abbreviated LSD or LSD-25, also known as lysergide and colloquially as acid, is a semisynthetic psychedelic drug of the ergoline family, well known for its psychological effects which can include altered thinking processes, closed and open eye visuals, synaesthesia, an...
. In Kitchen Confidential he writes of his experience in a trendy SoHo
SoHo
SoHo is a neighborhood in Lower Manhattan, New York City, notable for being the location of many artists' lofts and art galleries, and also, more recently, for the wide variety of stores and shops ranging from trendy boutiques to outlets of upscale national and international chain stores...
restaurant in 1981: "We were high all the time, sneaking off to the walk-in refrigerator
Refrigerator
A refrigerator is a common household appliance that consists of a thermally insulated compartment and a heat pump that transfers heat from the inside of the fridge to its external environment so that the inside of the fridge is cooled to a temperature below the ambient temperature of the room...
at every opportunity to 'conceptualize.' Hardly a decision was made without drugs. Cannabis
Cannabis
Cannabis is a genus of flowering plants that includes three putative species, Cannabis sativa, Cannabis indica, and Cannabis ruderalis. These three taxa are indigenous to Central Asia, and South Asia. Cannabis has long been used for fibre , for seed and seed oils, for medicinal purposes, and as a...
, methaqualone
Methaqualone
Methaqualone is a sedative-hypnotic drug that is similar in effect to barbiturates, a general central nervous system depressant. The sedative-hypnotic activity was first noted by Indian researchers in the 1950s and in 1962 methaqualone itself was patented in the US by Wallace and Tiernan...
, cocaine
Cocaine
Cocaine is a crystalline tropane alkaloid that is obtained from the leaves of the coca plant. The name comes from "coca" in addition to the alkaloid suffix -ine, forming cocaine. It is a stimulant of the central nervous system, an appetite suppressant, and a topical anesthetic...
, LSD
LSD
Lysergic acid diethylamide, abbreviated LSD or LSD-25, also known as lysergide and colloquially as acid, is a semisynthetic psychedelic drug of the ergoline family, well known for its psychological effects which can include altered thinking processes, closed and open eye visuals, synaesthesia, an...
, psilocybin
Psilocybin
Psilocybin is a naturally occurring psychedelic prodrug, with mind-altering effects similar to those of LSD and mescaline, after it is converted to psilocin. The effects can include altered thinking processes, perceptual distortions, an altered sense of time, and spiritual experiences, as well as...
mushroom
Mushroom
A mushroom is the fleshy, spore-bearing fruiting body of a fungus, typically produced above ground on soil or on its food source. The standard for the name "mushroom" is the cultivated white button mushroom, Agaricus bisporus; hence the word "mushroom" is most often applied to those fungi that...
s soaked in honey
Honey
Honey is a sweet food made by bees using nectar from flowers. The variety produced by honey bees is the one most commonly referred to and is the type of honey collected by beekeepers and consumed by humans...
and used to sweeten tea, secobarbital
Secobarbital
Secobarbital sodium is a barbiturate derivative drug that was first synthesized in 1928 in Germany. It possesses anaesthetic, anticonvulsant, sedative and hypnotic properties...
, tuinal
Tuinal
Tuinal is the brand name of a combination drug composed of two barbiturate salts in equal proportions....
, amphetamine
Amphetamine
Amphetamine or amfetamine is a psychostimulant drug of the phenethylamine class which produces increased wakefulness and focus in association with decreased fatigue and appetite.Brand names of medications that contain, or metabolize into, amphetamine include Adderall, Dexedrine, Dextrostat,...
, codeine
Codeine
Codeine or 3-methylmorphine is an opiate used for its analgesic, antitussive, and antidiarrheal properties...
and, increasingly, heroin, which we'd send a Spanish-speaking busboy
Busboy
Busser, busboy and busgirl are terms used in the United States for someone who works in the restaurant and catering industry clearing tables, taking dirty dishes to the dishwasher, setting tables and otherwise assisting the waiting staff....
over to Alphabet City
Alphabet City, Manhattan
Alphabet City is a neighborhood located within the Lower East Side and East Village in the New York City borough of Manhattan. It is also known as Loisaida, a Spanglish adaptation of 'Lower East Side'. Its name comes from Avenues A, B, C, and D, the only avenues in Manhattan to have single-letter...
to get." In the same book, Bourdain frankly describes his former addiction, including how he once resorted to selling his record collection on the street in order to raise enough money to purchase drugs.
Bourdain is also noted for his put-downs of celebrity chefs, such as Emeril Lagasse
Emeril Lagasse
'Emeril John Lagasse is an American celebrity chef, restaurateur, television personality, and cookbook author. A regional James Beard Award winner, he is perhaps most notable for his Food Network shows Emeril Live and Essence of Emeril as well as catchphrases such as “Kick it up a notch!” and...
(though he has since warmed to Lagasse, who has appeared with Bourdain in the post-Katrina
Hurricane Katrina
Hurricane Katrina of the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season was a powerful Atlantic hurricane. It is the costliest natural disaster, as well as one of the five deadliest hurricanes, in the history of the United States. Among recorded Atlantic hurricanes, it was the sixth strongest overall...
New Orleans episode of No Reservations) and Bobby Flay
Bobby Flay
Robert William "Bobby" Flay is an American celebrity chef, restaurateur and reality television personality. He is the owner and executive chef of 12 restaurants: Mesa Grill in Las Vegas, New York City, and the Bahamas ; Bar Americain in New York City and Uncasville, Connecticut; Bobby Flay Steak...
, and Food Network personalities such as Sandra Lee
Sandra Lee (author)
Sandra Lee is an American television cook and author. She is known for her "Semi-Homemade" cooking concept, which involves 70 percent pre-packaged products with 30 percent fresh items.-Early life:...
, Paula Deen
Paula Deen
Paula Deen American cook, cooking show host, restaurateur, author, actress and Emmy Award-winning television personality.Deen resides in Savannah, Georgia, where she owns and operates...
and Rachael Ray
Rachael Ray
Rachael Domenica Ray is an American television personality, businesswoman, celebrity chef and author. She hosts the syndicated talk and lifestyle program Rachael Ray and three Food Network series, 30 Minute Meals, Rachael Ray's Tasty Travels and $40 a Day...
(who is the butt of many jokes on No Reservations). Bourdain fully expressed his feelings about certain Food Network
Food Network
Food Network is a television specialty channel that airs both one-time and recurring programs about food and cooking. Scripps Networks Interactive owns 70 percent of the network, with Tribune Company controlling the remaining 30 percent....
personalities in a popular blog entry from February 2007, and appears to be irritated by both the overt commercialism of the celebrity cooking industry and its lack of culinary authenticity. He has voiced a "serious disdain for food demigods like Alan Richman
Alan Richman
Alan Richman is an American journalist and food writer. He is perhaps best known as a food correspondent for GQ magazine, and has won 14 James Beard Foundation Award for journalism .-Early life and education:...
, Alice Waters
Alice Waters
Alice Louise Waters is an American chef, restaurateur, activist, and author. She is the owner of Chez Panisse, a Berkeley, California restaurant famous for its organic, locally-grown ingredients and for pioneering California cuisine.Waters opened the restaurant in 1971. It has consistently ranked...
, and Alain Ducasse
Alain Ducasse
Alain Ducasse is a Monégasque chef. He formerly held French nationality. He operates a number of restaurants including Alain Ducasse at The Dorchester which holds three stars in the Michelin Guide....
." In October 2009, he commented that Waters was "Pol Pot
Pol Pot
Saloth Sar , better known as Pol Pot, , was a Cambodian Maoist revolutionary who led the Khmer Rouge from 1963 until his death in 1998. From 1976 to 1979, he served as the Prime Minister of Democratic Kampuchea....
in a muumuu
Muumuu
The muumuu or muumuu is a loose dress of Hawaiian origin that hangs from the shoulder. Like the Aloha shirt, muumuu exports are often brilliantly colored with floral patterns of generic Polynesian motifs. Muumuu for local Hawaiian residents are more subdued in tone...
." Bourdain has recognized the irony of his transformation into a celebrity chef and has, to some extent, begun to qualify his insults. He has been consistently outspoken in his praise for chefs he admires, particularly Thomas Keller
Thomas Keller
Thomas Keller is an American chef, restaurateur, and cookbook writer. He and his landmark Napa Valley restaurant, The French Laundry in Yountville, California, have won multiple awards from the James Beard Foundation, notably the Best California Chef in 1996, and the Best Chef in America in 1997...
, Masa Takayama
Masa Takayama
is the chef and owner of Masa, a three-Michelin-starred Japanese and sushi restaurant in New York City. He is also owner of Bar Masa, with a location adjacent to his New York restaurant as well as a location in the Aria Resort & Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada.-Early years:Born in Kuroiso, a small...
, Alton Brown
Alton Brown
Alton Crawford Brown is an American television personality, author, actor, and cinematographer. He is the creator and host of the Food Network television show Good Eats and the mini-series Feasting on Asphalt and Feasting on Waves, and he is the host and main commentator on Iron Chef America...
, Eric Ripert
Eric Ripert
Eric Ripert is a chef, author and television personality specializing in modern French cuisine and renowned for his work with seafood. His flagship restaurant, Le Bernardin, located in New York City, is routinely ranked among the best restaurants in the world by Restaurant magazine's and S...
, Ferran Adrià
Ferran Adrià
Ferran Adrià i Acosta is a Catalan chef born on May 14, 1962 in L'Hospitalet de Llobregat. He was the head chef of the El Bulli restaurant in Roses on the Costa Brava, and is considered one of the best chefs in the world.-Career:...
, Fergus Henderson
Fergus Henderson
Fergus Henderson is an English chef who founded the St John restaurant in St John St, London. He is often noted for his use of offal and other neglected cuts of meat as a consequence of his philosophy of Nose To Tail Eating. Following in the footsteps of his parents, Brian and Elizabeth...
, Marco Pierre White
Marco Pierre White
Marco Pierre White is a British celebrity chef, restaurateur and television personality. He is noted for his contributions to contemporary international cuisine, and his exceptional culinary skills....
, and Mario Batali
Mario Batali
Mario Batali is an American chef, writer, restaurateur and media personality. In addition to his classical culinary training, he is an expert on the history and culture of Italian cuisine, including regional and local variations. Batali co-owns restaurants in New York City, Las Vegas, Los Angeles,...
. Bourdain has also spoken very highly of Julia Child
Julia Child
Julia Child was an American chef, author, and television personality. She is recognized for introducing French cuisine to the American public with her debut cookbook, Mastering the Art of French Cooking, and her subsequent television programs, the most notable of which was The French Chef, which...
, saying that she "influenced the way I grew up and my entire value system."
Bourdain is also known for sarcastic comments about vegans and vegetarians, saying that their lifestyle is rude to the inhabitants of many countries he visits. Bourdain says he considers vegetarianism, except in the case of religious strictures as in India, a "First World luxury."
Bourdain's taste in music is also a matter of public record. His book, The Nasty Bits, is dedicated to "Joey
Joey Ramone
Joey Ramone was an American vocalist and songwriter, best known as the lead vocalist in the punk rock band the Ramones. Joey Ramone's image, voice and tenure as frontman of the Ramones made him a countercultural icon.-Early life:Joey Ramone was born Jeffry Hyman to parents Noel and Charlotte Hyman...
, Johnny
Johnny Ramone
John William Cummings , better known by his stage name Johnny Ramone, was an American guitarist and songwriter, best known for being the guitarist for the punk rock band the Ramones. He was a founding member of the band, and remained a member throughout the band's entire career...
, and Dee Dee
Dee Dee Ramone
Dee Dee Ramone was an American songwriter and musician, best known as founding member, bassist and main songwriter of the punk rock band the Ramones....
" of the Ramones
Ramones
The Ramones were an American rock band that formed in the New York City neighborhood of Forest Hills, Queens, in 1974. They are often cited as the first punk rock group...
. Bourdain has declared fond appreciation for their music, as well that of other early punk
Punk rock
Punk rock is a rock music genre that developed between 1974 and 1976 in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Rooted in garage rock and other forms of what is now known as protopunk music, punk rock bands eschewed perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock...
bands such as The Stooges
The Stooges
The Stooges are an American rock band from Ann Arbor, Michigan first active from 1967 to 1974, and later reformed in 2003...
, Dead Boys, Television
Television (band)
Television was an American rock band, formed in New York City in 1973. They are best known for the album Marquee Moon and widely regarded as one of the founders of "punk" and New Wave music. Television was part of the early 1970s New York underground rock scene, along with bands like the Patti...
, The New York Dolls, and The Voidoids
The Voidoids
The Voidoids, also known as Richard Hell & The Voidoids, were an American rock band from the first wave of punk rock, fronted by Richard Hell, a former member of the Neon Boys, Television and the Heartbreakers...
. Additionally, Bourdain writes in Kitchen Confidential that the playing of music by Billy Joel
Billy Joel
William Martin "Billy" Joel is an American musician and pianist, singer-songwriter, and classical composer. Since releasing his first hit song, "Piano Man", in 1973, Joel has become the sixth best-selling recording artist and the third best-selling solo artist in the United States, according to...
in his kitchen was grounds for immediate firing (coincidentally, Joel is a fan of his and has subsequently visited the restaurant). In the 2006 No Reservations episode in Sweden, Bourdain proclaimed that his all-time favorite album (his "desert island disc") is the groundbreaking punk record Fun House by The Stooges
The Stooges
The Stooges are an American rock band from Ann Arbor, Michigan first active from 1967 to 1974, and later reformed in 2003...
; he also made it clear that he despises the Swedish pop group ABBA
ABBA
ABBA was a Swedish pop group formed in Stockholm in 1970 which consisted of Anni-Frid Lyngstad, Björn Ulvaeus, Benny Andersson and Agnetha Fältskog...
. On his 2007 No Reservations Holiday Special episode, the rock band Queens of the Stone Age
Queens of the Stone Age
Queens of the Stone Age is an American rock band from Palm Desert, California, United States, formed in 1997. The band's line-up has always included founding member Josh Homme , with the current line-up including longtime members Troy Van Leeuwen and Joey Castillo , alongside Michael Shuman and...
were the featured dinner guests, adding food-inspired holiday songs to the episode's soundtrack.
Interests and advocacy
Bourdain is an advocate for communicating the value and tastiness of traditional or "peasant" foods, including specifically all of the varietal bitsOffal
Offal , also called, especially in the United States, variety meats or organ meats, refers to the internal organs and entrails of a butchered animal. The word does not refer to a particular list of edible organs, which varies by culture and region, but includes most internal organs other than...
and unused animal parts not usually eaten by affluent 21st-century Westerners. Bourdain has also consistently noted and championed the high quality and deliciousness of freshly prepared street food
Street food
Street food is ready-to-eat food or drink sold in a street or other public place, such as a market or fair, by a hawker or vendor, often from a portable stall. While some street foods are regional, many are not, having spread beyond their region of origin. Most street food are both finger and fast...
in other countries — especially developing countries — as compared to fast food
Fast food
Fast food is the term given to food that can be prepared and served very quickly. While any meal with low preparation time can be considered to be fast food, typically the term refers to food sold in a restaurant or store with preheated or precooked ingredients, and served to the customer in a...
chains in the U.S.
Bourdain often acknowledges and champions the industrious Spanish-speaking immigrants — often from Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
or Ecuador
Ecuador
Ecuador , officially the Republic of Ecuador is a representative democratic republic in South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the east and south, and by the Pacific Ocean to the west. It is one of only two countries in South America, along with Chile, that do not have a border...
— who make up a majority of the chefs and cooks in many U.S. restaurants, including upscale restaurants, regardless of cuisine. Bourdain considers them to be talented chefs and invaluable cooks, underpaid and unrecognized even though they have become the backbone of the U.S. restaurant industry.
Bourdain appeared on the Joe Rogan Experience podcast September 11th 2011.
Awards and nominations
Bourdain was named Food Writer of the Year in 2001. by Bon AppétitBon Appétit
Bon Appétit describes itself as "a food and entertaining magazine" and is published monthly. Named after the French phrase for "Enjoy your meal", it was started by M. Frank Jones in Kansas City in 1956...
magazine for Kitchen Confidential
Kitchen Confidential
Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly is a New York Times bestselling non-fiction book written by American chef Anthony Bourdain....
.
A Cook's Tour
A Cook's Tour
A Cook's Tour: Global Adventures in Extreme Cuisines is a New York Times bestselling book written by chef and author Anthony Bourdain in 2001. It is Bourdain's account of his world travels — eating exotic local dishes and experiencing life as a native in each country...
was named Food Book of the Year in 2002 by the British Guild of Food Writers.
The Beirut
Beirut
Beirut is the capital and largest city of Lebanon, with a population ranging from 1 million to more than 2 million . Located on a peninsula at the midpoint of Lebanon's Mediterranean coastline, it serves as the country's largest and main seaport, and also forms the Beirut Metropolitan...
episode of Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations, which documented the experiences of Bourdain and his crew during the 2006 Israel-Lebanon conflict
2006 Israel-Lebanon conflict
The 2006 Lebanon War, also called the 2006 Israel-Hezbollah War and known in Lebanon as the July War #Other uses|Tammūz]]) and in Israel as the Second Lebanon War , was a 34-day military conflict in Lebanon, northern Israel and the Israeli-occupied territories. The principal parties were Hezbollah...
, was nominated for an Emmy Award
Emmy Award
An Emmy Award, often referred to simply as the Emmy, is a television production award, similar in nature to the Peabody Awards but more focused on entertainment, and is considered the television equivalent to the Academy Awards and the Grammy Awards .A majority of Emmys are presented in various...
for Outstanding Informational Programming in 2007.
Bourdain's blog for the reality competition show Top Chef
Top Chef
Top Chef is an American reality competition show that airs on the cable television network Bravo, in which chefs compete against each other in culinary challenges. They are judged by a panel of professional chefs and other notables from the food and wine industry with one or more contestants...
was nominated for a Webby Award for best Blog – Culture / Personal in 2008.
In 2008, Bourdain was inducted into the James Beard
James Beard
James Andrew Beard was an American chef and food writer. The central figure in the story of the establishment of a gourmet American food identity, Beard was an eccentric personality who brought French cooking to the American middle and upper classes in the 1950s...
Foundation’s
James Beard Foundation
The James Beard Foundation is a New York-based national professional non-profit organization named in honor of James Beard that serves to promote the culinary arts by honoring chefs, wine professionals, journalists, and cookbook authors at annual award ceremonies and providing scholarships and...
Who’s Who of Food and Beverage in America.
In 2009, Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations won a Creative Arts Emmy Award for Outstanding Cinematography for Nonfiction Programming.
In 2010, Anthony Bourdain was nominated for a Creative Arts Emmy for non-fiction writing.
Sources
- Bourdain, Anthony. Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly, Updated ed., New York: Harper Perennial (January 9, 2007).
- Bourdain's biography on TravelChannel.com
External links
- Anthony Bourdain official Travel Channel website
- Anthony Bourdain at the Chef and Restaurant Database
- One-hour video interview from Authors@Google (2007)