Bay Area chefs react to ‘huge loss’ in field
Anthony Bourdain, the author and television host who elevated the role of chefs in American culture and shared his passion for food with millions, was found dead in a hotel room Friday in France, where he was filming his CNN food and travel show “Parts Unknown.” He was 61.
Authorities in the town of Kaysersberg in France’s Alsace region, where Bourdain was found unresponsive in his hotel room by chef Eric Ripert, said that there was no suspicion of foul play, though investigations are continuing. CNN called the death a suicide.
Bay Area foodies and industry insiders reacted with shock and sadness Friday to the loss of the international media figure whose groundbreaking 2000 book, “Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly,” galvanized a generation of chefs with its graphic detail and rock ’n’ roll attitude.
Bourdain went on to become the voice and conscience of the culinary world, speaking frankly about controversial issues like immigration and sexual harassment in the restaurant industry.
His frequent appearances in the Bay Area and encouragement of local restaurateurs left many chefs “gutted” by the news, said Chris Cosentino of Cockscomb in San Francisco and Acacia House in St. Helena.
“He opened the doors for thousands of chefs,” said Cosentino, who met Bourdain in San Francisco during the original “Kitchen Confidential” book tour. “He showed us places in the world we thought we would never see in our lifetime.”
Born in New York City on June 25, 1956, and raised in Leonia, N.J., Bourdain attended Vassar College for two years before dropping out to devote himself to cooking. He worked in restaurants in New York and Massachusetts, and graduated from the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, N.Y., in 1978. It was while he was executive chef at New York’s Brasserie Les Halles that he wrote and published “Kitchen Confidential.”
While Bourdain would go on to write more bestselling books, he reached an even wider audience on television, starting with “A Cook’s Tour” on the Food Network in 2002, followed by “No Reservations” on the Travel Channel and “Parts Unknown” on CNN in 2013.
A May 2017 episode of “Parts Unknown” covered Bourdain’s trip to Laos with Oakland chef James Syhabout, whose cookbook, “Hawker Fare,” Bourdain published through Anthony Bourdain Books, an imprint of Ecco HarperCollins.
Bourdain never held back in expressing his feelings about the places he visited, including San Francisco.
“Anyone who doesn’t have a great time in San Francisco is pretty much dead to me. You go there as a snarky New Yorker thinking it’s politically correct, it’s crunchy granola, it’s vegetarian, and it surprises you every time. It’s a two-fisted drinking town, a carnivorous meat-eating town, it’s dirty and nasty and wonderful,” he said in a 2011 New York Times interview.
Many Bay Area chefs reared by “Kitchen Confidential” found inspiration in Bourdain’s bold honesty about the challenges facing their industry. In addition to voicing support for the immigrants who work in kitchens, Bourdain, who was dating Italian actress and director Asia Argento — one of Harvey Weinstein’s numerous accusers — was also a fiercely outspoken advocate of the #MeToo movement.
“Tony always championed what is good, regardless of whether it was popular. His influence and his voice and take on life, whether food, art or politics, was respected far and wide. I think it was because it was an authentic voice. It was never to please anyone,” said chef Preeti Mistry of Navi Kitchen in Emeryville.
Mistry said Bourdain’s coverage of her previous restaurant, Juhu Beach Club, in a 2015 episode of “Parts Unknown” was “transformative.”
Oakland food writer John Birdsall, who co-authored Syhabout’s cookbook and appeared on the episode at Juhu Beach Club, said Bourdain’s interest in Mistry’s “little stripmall cafe, the kind of spot where big national food critics wouldn’t have even considered for best-of roundups” was emblematic of his generosity of spirit and his interest in unexplored aspects of restaurant culture.
“Bourdain felt his rise to stardom and influence had been deeply irrational,” Birdsall said in an email. “He was always generous with his good fortune, pulling into the spotlight with him the writers, cooks and bar owners he believed were the champions of a kind of humanity that the greedy and powerful were indifferent about killing off.”
Cosentino said that Bourdain showed that chefs had unique personalities and creativity before they were considered celebrities.
“Tony gave basically a land of misfit toys a view to the world, and he allowed us to be proud of who we are,” Cosentino said. His death “was a huge shock to a lot of people, and it’s gong to be a huge loss to the world.”
Bourdain is survived by his daughter, Ariane, 11, from his second marriage.