ANTHONY BOURDAIN Inside the rock-star chef’s final days.
1956-2018 In finding indigenous food and untold stories, the rock-star chef brought the world closer
Anthony Bourdain, the celebrated chef who broke open the secrets of his eight years at prime New York eatery Les Halles in his witty 2000 memoir Kitchen Confidential— and subsequently became television’s go-to travel foodie with his No Reservations and Parts Unknown series, had spent his last days with his closest friend, Eric Ripert, filming an episode of Parts Unknown along the French- German border. “He was normal, normal. Just like himself,” says chef Jean-yves Schillinger, 55, who entertained the men at his Michelin two-star restaurant JY’S in Colmar, France, on June 5. “I didn’t see anything unusual.”
Just three days later, after missing a scheduled dinner with Ripert the night before, and a breakfast that morning, Ripert found Bourdain unresponsive in his hotel room in Kaysersberg, France, CNN reports. He was dead of an apparent suicide at the age of 61.
“Anthony was a dear friend,” Ripert said in a statement to WHO. “He was an exceptional human being, so inspiring and generous. One of the great storytellers of our time who connected with so many. I wish him peace. My love and prayers are
with his family, friends and loved ones.”
Bourdain’s mother Gladys told The New York Times that she had spoken with Ripert after hearing of her son’s death and he said, “Tony had been in a dark mood these past couple of days.” A source who worked closely with Bourdain in the past tells WHO, “It never struck me as peculiar, but it was as if he gave everything to his work and then had nothing, zero, left for himself afterwards. He was always very, very tired. He pushed himself extremely hard.” CNN colleague Anderson Cooper, who lost his brother to suicide in 1988, choked up during a tribute, saying he was filled with “shock, confusion and sadness that a man who was seemingly having the ride of his life has now suddenly reached the end of his life.”
Bourdain’s girlfriend, Asia Argento, released a statement calling him “my love, my rock, my protector.” Having met him in Rome in 2016, the actress added, “I am beyond devastated.” His ex-wife, Ottavia Busia, revealed that she and their daughter, Ariane, 11, mourned their loss through music. On June 11, Ottavia posted a photo of Ariana performing with her band. “Our little girl had her concert today,” wrote the mixed martial artist. “She was amazing. So strong and brave. She wore the boots you bought her.”
Although known for going into war zones and politically fraught places to film, Bourdain conceded that fatherhood had curbed some of his more reckless behaviour. “Since I became a dad, I do feel some responsibility at least to try to live,” he told WHO in February. “There have been times in my life that I figured I’ve had a good run. Why not just do this stupid thing: jump off a cliff into water of an indeterminate depth? This is something I’ve done on the show. In retrospect, I don’t know that I would do that today now that I’m a dad or reasonably happy.”
Bourdain’s food journey began in New Jersey, raised with his brother Christopher by mum Gladys, a New York Times editor, and his late father, Pierre, a Columbia Records executive in a “pretty normal, nuclear” family, he said. “We all ate together.” After dropping out of university to attend the Culinary Institute of America, Bourdain then worked in various New York restaurants in the 1980s, developing a drug addiction he would beat through rehab around 1990. Then, during his time as an executive chef at Les Halles in 1999, Bourdain wrote the kitchen tell-all New Yorker essay Don’t Eat Before Reading This, which would lead to his memoir and his first television show at age 44. And although he would go on to introduce his audience to food in different parts of the globe, he endeared himself to all through his sheer un-snobbiness. As Bourdain wrote, “My mother-in-law would always apologise before serving dinner when I was in attendance, saying, ‘This must seem pretty ordinary for a chef …’ She had no idea how magical, how reassuring, how pleasurable her simple meatloaf was for me, what a delight even lumpy mashed potatoes were—being, as they were, blessedly devoid of truffles or truffle oil.”
If you or someone you know needs help, contact Lifeline on 13 11 14, or the Suicide Callback Service on 1300 659 467.