“Travel changes you,” Anthony Bourdain once said. Bourdain epitomized this as he was a person who truly lived life to the fullest, and showed the world how to live it too. TV food shows have been around for many years, but what many don’t realize is that Bourdain revolutionized the genre. The chefs who became household names–Gordon Ramsey, Guy Fieri, and Bobby Flay, to name just a few–owe much of their success to Bourdain for paving the way.
Bourdain, a chef, author, and TV host, was born on June 25th, 1956, in New York, NY. According to Nikki Munoz, in her article “How A Single Oyster Ignited Anthony Bourdain’s Deep Love Of Food” his interest for food was piqued at age 12 when he and his family were invited by their neighbor to spend time on an oyster boat. A fisherman had asked if anyone wanted to try an oyster. His family did not want to, but he was curious. ‘ It tasted of seawater.. of brine and flesh.., and somehow… of the future.’ In the words of Alexandra Cass, in her article “The tragic truth about Anthony Bourdain,” Bourdain was an angry kid that never felt normal and was self-destructive at age 10. According to Cass, in her article “The tragic truth about Anthony Bourdain,” His entrance to the world of restaurants actually began when he took a job as a dishwasher in Provincetown, Massachusetts at 17 years old. He later became a line cook but he realized that he was behind on his culinary skills, unlike the other cooks around him. From there he wanted to pursue that passion for cooking and dropped out of Vassar College at age 20, enrolled in The Culinary Institute of America and graduated in 1978 at age 22.
He went from restaurant to restaurant in New York where he began to work long hours and late nights. As stated by Cass, working nonstop led him into drug use/ He would barely ever make a decision without being under the influence of drugs. He would be so desperate from them that he was selling his record collection just to get drugs. He went through many highly ranked restaurants in the culinary world until he finally landed at one stable restaurant. He became a respected chef because of his relentless work and honesty on the chefs.
While Bourdain’s star rose in kitchens across New York, his drug use turned into a 15-year drug addiction, which impacted how he worked. Cass writes that “The labor and the substance abuse was tough on him, and made him tougher, and mean. Bourdain felt ‘psychotic rage’ during all those years. He said he was ‘awful to line cooks, abusive to waiters, bullying to dishwashers.’” She adds that he once stated “I hurt, disappointed and offended many, many, many people and I regret a lot.” In 1990 he decided that he couldn’t live like that anymore and got clean for good. He stayed drug-free and sober for the rest of his life.
Bourdain published 13 books including, Kitchen Confidential, Appetites: A Cookbook, along with many more. Kitchen Confidential got the attention of Food Network in the same year and was offered the opportunity to host his own food and travel show from around the world. The first show he ever made was called “A Cook’s Tour (2002-2003)” which drew significant attention for its content, but even more so for Bourdain. It got so much attention because of the way he was, which was raw and honest when talking about food. He didn’t just talk about how it tasted; he talked about the culture, the people and the stories behind the dishes. His persona was blunt and curious, but deeply human, which worked perfectly for such a great storyteller when it came to food. Bourdain’s character and personality showed through, and he became much more than a chef.
His words were unfiltered, making meals feel like a window into the culture. He was thoughtful, even though he spoke his mind, and he listened closely to others. He turned real street food into conversations about culture, politics, and the meaning it has to people. His success with Food Network landed him other shows including “No Reservations (2005-2012),” “The Layover (2011-2012),” and “Parts Unknown” (2013-2018), which all ran on the Travel Channel. “Parts Unknown” was his last show that aired. It was unfinished due to his untimely death on June 8, 2018.
Anthony Bourdain was an inspiration to many of today’s food shows because he changed what a food show could be about. The food shows before were focused on fancy kitchens, recipes, or celebrity chefs. Anthony Bourdain made it about real life, people, and culture. He showed that a meal did not have to be fancy or expensive to be enjoyable. For him, street food was at the heart of where the real food is, and this suddenly became just as important as high end restaurants. Food became about experience and not just entertainment. He traveled to places that were often ignored by people that had negative stereotypes and he let the locals tell their stories. That helped audiences see food as a way to understand the history, politics, struggle, and culture of people, not just food. Viewers were not just watching him eat, they were learning about the world with him. Modern food and travel shows still follow this recipe to show food as a gateway to culture. Today’s hosts are curious and authentic, and their conversations about race, immigration, class, and tradition permeate shows that now honor and respect the locals who voice their traditions instead of being talked over.
Bourdain did not just influence food television, he made it matter more than it did. He helped turn food shows into platforms for storytelling, empathy and global understanding, which is why his impact is seen everywhere today.
