Anthony Bourdain, 61, was found dead today in his room at Le Chambard, France. Like Kate Spade he hung himself. Bourdain had traveled to Strasbourg, France, near the border with Germany, with a television production crew to film an episode of his show “Parts Unknown” on CNN.
Anthony Michael Bourdain was born June 25, 1956, the oldest son of Pierre Bourdain, an executive in the classical-music recording industry, and Gladys Bourdain, a longtime copy editor at The New York Times. He attended Vassar College, dropping out after two years. Spending summers in Provincetown, he started working as a dishwasher at a seafood restaurant and closely watched the cooks, men who dressed like pirates, with gold earrings and turquoise chokers. He enrolled at the Culinary Institute of America and worked in the Rainbow Room, the W.P.A.. Gianni’s and Bourdain, before he became an executive chef in the 1990s at Brasserie Les Halles for eight years. The Bordain sent an unsolicited article to The New Yorker about the dark side of the restaurant world and its deceptions. It resulted in “Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly,” a memoir that elevated Bourdain to a celebrity chef and a new career on TV. “Kitchen Confidential” hit the best-seller lists in 2000 and sold over a million copies.
In 2011, Bourdain, began his own publishing imprint at HarperCollins, editing books by chefs Roy Choi, Wylie Dufresne and Danny Bowien.
In 2012, he joined CNN and spent eight seasons as the globe-trotting host of “No Reservations” on the Travel Channel, highlighting obscure cuisine and unknown restaurants. Then he started “Parts Unknown,” going to different countries around the world exploring the politics and history over plates of food and drinks. President Barack Obama appeared on an episode of “Parts Unknown” in Vietnam in 2016.
Mr. Bourdain had been dating the actor Asia Argento, who went against Harvey Weinstein.
Mr. Bourdain leaves behind a daughter, Ariane, who is 11
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