Food community here recalls visit of chef Bourdain
Members of Pittsburgh’s food community expressed shock and sadness Friday at the death of pioneering celebrity chef Anthony Bourdain, who visited the city last summer to shoot an episode of CNN’s “Parts Unknown” series that aired in October.
“Anthony Bourdain is possibly the most recognizable food personality on the planet,” Pittsburgh native Tim Ryan, president of the Culinary Institure of America in Hyde Park, N.Y., said when Mr. Bourdain’s alma mater awarded him an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters in Culinary Arts degree after he spoke at graduation in December.
A few months before that speech — about a year ago — Mr. Bourdain visited the Squirrel Hill Cafe on Forbes Avenue, along with Pittsburgh author Stewart O’Nan.
“We feel honored that he came by,” said kitchen manager Carly Albert, who called Mr. Bourdain and his book, “Kitchen Confidential,” an influence on her.
In a tribute to Mr. Bourdain, the restaurant is going to mark the chair he sat on that diners will be allowed to use when they come in.
The restaurant also features a special burger dressed with bordelaise sauce in his honor that will be available Friday and over the weekend.
Ms. Albert said she learned of Mr. Bourdain’s death when she got into work from bartender Jan Cavrak. “I got a menu signed by him for my grandson,” Ms. Cavrak said. A group photograph was taken of Mr. Bourdain with all the employees before he left the Squirrel Hill Cafe.
Kevin Sousa, chef owner of Superior Motors restaurant in Braddock, learned about the death through a text from John Fetterman, Braddock mayor and the Democratic candidate for lieutenant governor, who owns the building that houses Superior Motors.
He struggled for words to express his feelings about the news. “Just awful,” he said. “I am filled with sadness and disbelief.”
When Mr. Bourdain visited Pittsburgh last year, he chatted with Mr. Fetterman, his wife Gisele, former Steelers running back Franco Harris and Mr. Sousa at Superior Motors, where a part of “Parts Unknown” was filmed.
Mr. Sousa said he was most struck by what a regular guy Mr. Bourdain was, despite having a rock- star persona. In April, when Superior Motors was named as one of America’s 10 top new restaurants for 2018, Mr. Sousa got a personal congratulatory message from Mr. Bourdain.
“These things always hit you hard, and today is going to be a long day,” Mr. Sousa said upon learning of Mr. Bourdain’s death.
Sonja Finn, chef and owner of Dinette, said she found Mr. Bourdain to be “a good guy in person — warm, thoughtful and engaged.” While filming the “Parts Unknown” segment in town, Ms. Finn said, “the great pleasure of sharing a meal — and good food at that — with others never escaped him,” even while he was working, interviewing Pittsburgh chefs during dinner in front of the camera guys.
“Anthony Bourdain embodied the concept that we can dive deep into the dangerous lifestyles of this hospitality business,” Bill Fuller, president and corporate chef of Big Burrito, wrote on Facebook Friday morning.
In a phone conversation, Mr. Fuller pointed to Mr. Bourdain’s popularity and said, “People see themselves in him,” in terms of his regular-guy roots and the heights of his achievement.
“I think that many of us who landed in the industry became familiar with Anthony Bourdain’s columns, books and TV shows because he had a voice that we knew and he had ‘made it,’” said Maggie Meskey, bar manager for The Rick DeShantz Group at Meat & Potatoes Downtown. She participated in the dialogue with Mr. Bourdain for “Parts Unknown.”
“He told it how it is. He was gritty. He didn’t glamorize the life of a chef too much.
He spoke about working hard and playing hard and the lessons to be learned from both. He was the kitchen psyche, personified.
“He wasn’t sparkly or scripted. He lived in the moment. We respected his attitude and candor and heard his words, stories and experiences as a form of gospel.”