Anthony Bourdain captivated audiences

An editor once told me that food writing is a deceptively powerful tool. Start with a flavour, an ingredient or a dish and go on to tell who’s cooking it, how the dish came to be, what political, cultural, historical or environmental factors shaped it. No one understood this more than Anthony Bourdain.

Bourdain captivated audiences. He took us to Myanmar, Democratic Republic of Congo, Gaza — places that rarely get attention beyond doom-and-gloom headlines. He showed the humanity, nuance and beauty of every place without sugar-coating it and opened them up to millions who hung on Bourdain’s every word. He knew when to step aside to let others tell their stories of tragedy and triumph through the universal language of food.

I only interviewed Bourdain once in 2011when he was promoting his new show, The

Layover, which guided viewers on where to eat and drink with only a day or two in a city. He filmed an episode in Toronto, visiting Poutini’s, Carousel Bakery at the St. Lawrence Market, Kensington Market bar Cold Tea, Porchetta and Co. and the Black Hoof, which he described as a must-visit for guests to our city, and credited owner and friend Jen Agg with being a leader in calling out the restaurant industry’s sexist culture. His friends at Montreal’s Joe Beef, Dave McMillan and Fred Morin, convinced him to go to Newfoundland to film an episode of

Parts Unknown, which aired last month. It not only showcased the diversity of the province’s culinary offerings from cod tongues to sea urchin pate, but also shed light on issues such as sustainable fishing and preserving local traditions.

While there will never be another Bourdain, he showed us as food writers that there are countless stories that need to be told, whether it’s in a country on the other side of the world or the little takeout shop we pass by every day.