Anthony Bourdain

Now this is a real shock and upsetting to me..I met him once, he was so nice.
RIP

https://www.cnn.com/2018/06/08/us/anthony-bourdain-obit/index.html

 

That's a shame.

 

What a shame. Loved his programs. Bummed!

 

Yes, what is it with these celebrity suicides?

 

I'm certainly not a "foodie," but I really enjoyed watching his shows.
I wish peace and comfort to his family and friends as they try to come to grips with his loss.

RICHARD

 

Man....he seemed to love life as much as anyone.

 

This one hit me a bit, very much enjoyed his shows and writings. I strongly encourage anyone with even a passing interest in cooking or restaurants to read kitchen confidential.

 

I agree. I took a quick breath when I saw the headlines. It shook me. He was so raw and honest when it came to food, cooking, cultures.

Lord, bless his daughter and family.

 

This one was so shocking. He was always so real.

 

Some things we will never understand. He seemed to have everything going for him. We don't know what is going on with celebrities in their lives and their mental health. Prayers for his daughter and family.

Maybe someone will seek help for themselves because they read about him.

RIP

 

Hitting me hard as well. An equal measure of being sad and pissed. I just can’t contemplate why he, or anyone else for that matter, would chose a permanent solution for a temporary problem. I feel badly for his family, his daughter especially.

 

In his book he recounts how he failed a major interview due to his heroin addiction. He is the only person that I know of who beat heroin and cocaine addictions yet continued to enjoy alcohol. As with Hunter S. Thompson I find it doubly sad that an accomplished author couldn’t find a way to communicate his feelings to others.

 

Yes, he was very upfront about his addictions. One show he spoke about the jersey shore and somewhere on Nantucket; how they would go to the beach high back in their younger, less enlightened days. But he also spoke of the demons that never left, but only would lay quietly for awhile. He never glorified abuse just stated it for what is was.
His shows were great and it appeared the last interview I saw with him he was enjoying living life again as his daughter (a young teenager at the time) was sharing the bonds cooking with him would bring about. So sad.

 

His show is so "intimate", I almost feel like I really knew him, like I was sitting right at the table with him, like he was talking directly and only to me! So sad...

 

Coolest guy I ever saw on television. Would have loved to have met him. RIP.

 

This one shook me as well - especially the suicide part. Who knows what demons he was fighting? "I became successful in my 40s. I became a dad in my 50s. I feel like I've stolen a car — a really nice car — and I keep looking in the rearview mirror for flashing lights," he told Biography in 2016. "But there's been nothing yet."

Such a shame. I hope his family recovers from this okay. He was a huge influence on the culinary world...an excellent chef and writer, seemed like a very nice genuine guy... Just great and a very honest person who was full of passion and adventure. I'm just floored.

This is another good past article with him: http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/interrogation/2017/10/anthony_bourdain_on_weinstein_john_besh_and_meathead_restaurant_culture.html

 

Chefs weigh in, and I can agree with a lot of their sentiments in the way that Bourdain affected us, the public, on food, hospitality, and culture: https://slate.com/culture/2018/06/anthony-bourdain-remembered-by-other-chefs-celebrities-on-social-media.html?via=homepage_taps_top

This whole thing has me rethinking what the fuck I am doing with my life. I am so passionate about food and the culinary world but only worked a brief stint professionally. Bourdain is partially who inspired me to go to cooking school, perhaps I should go back and immerse myself again towards a career.

 

Maybe deep down he was just a regular Jersey Guy and the fame did him in ? Too bad anyway

 

Yes, he was cool, genuine, and a down to earth no-nonsense type of fellow. I would never in my wildest dreams would even entertain the idea that he was prone to suicide. He just oozed self-confidence.

Like @luck.ofthe.draw mentioned, we never know the demons some of us struggle with, since some of us are really good at hiding it.

I will miss him.

One of my favorite episodes is when he visited Hawaii and was searching for real ethnic foods. Did he visit Waikiki and the resort areas? Hell no! He roamed the backyards of the local communities, befriending Filipino families in Waipahu; Hawaiian, Samoan, and Korean families in Kalihi; and Chinese families in the Downtown alleys of Chinatown.

He was the real deal. RIP.

 

You just never can really know some people. Hugs and prayers for his daughter. Feel awful for her.