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Chef and TV host David Chang posted this photo |
Sitting on a boat in the strait between Hong Kong and Kowloon, Bourdain wistfully talks about falling in love with Asia. "To fall in love with Asia is one thing. To fall in love in Asia, is another...it's the best thing ... it's also the loneliest thing." He talked and wrote a lot about loneliness, perhaps foreshadowing his fate in a hotel room in France -- alone.
He found bliss in Vietnam, writing:
"I love Vietnam. I love it now. I loved it from the minute I arrived for the first time, a few years ago. A year from now, I plan to live here. I will move to a small fishing village in a coastal area of Vietnam near Hoi An. I have no idea what I’m going to do there, other than write about the experience. I plan only on being a visual curiosity, the lone westerner in a Vietnamese community; to rent a house, move in with few, if any, expectations and let the experience wash over me. Whatever happens, happens."He proclaimed Filipino cuisine the "next big thing," and proclaimed the Filipino-style roasted pig (lechon) as the "best pig ever."
He said if he had to have one last meal, it would be sushi in Tokyo.
He redefined travel shows and used food as the doorway to a culture. Through his shows and his commentary, he made Asia, its people, its cuisines a little less strange, a little less unfamiliar, a lot more acceptable to his worldwide audience.
He would travel often to Asia and along the way, he would inspire, motivate, and mentor Asian chefs and uplift the regional cuisines of Asia. It's no wonder that Asian and Asian Americans considered him as one of their own.
He would travel often to Asia and along the way, he would inspire, motivate, and mentor Asian chefs and uplift the regional cuisines of Asia. It's no wonder that Asian and Asian Americans considered him as one of their own.
Bourdain, a philosopher, traveler and raconteur also inspired and mentored Asian and Asian American chefs to pursue their culinary dreams.
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About 8 years ago, chef and TV host Anthony Bourdain told this dynamic duo of old town restaurateurs to pursue their dream Filipino restaurant in the DC area.“He said you should do it, because a lot of people don’t know this food, it was a little encouragement from Anthony Bourdain to do that,” said Meshelle Armstrong.
Meshelle’s husband, Chef Cathal Armstrong, is known for serving up the ultimate anniversary dinners for President Barack and Michelle Obama at their 4-star “Restaurant Eve.”
When their Eamonn’s Dublin chipper was featured on Travel Channel’s “No Reservations” – Cathal says Bourdain already knew the potential of the Filipino cuisine.
“That was at least 8 years ago that he had already seen that there was this new thing developing… new to this area and newly exposed to this area; that there’s something really elegant and stylish there.”
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Sushi legend Masa Takayama. renowned chef and owner of the Michelin three-star sushi restaurant Masa in Manhattan, still tears up when talking about Bourdain.t“He just started an amazing show, amazing stuff,” Takayama says in the video, weeping. “I’m so upset. He’s a great man. I will miss him very much.”
Wiping away tears, the chef added that he felt Bourdain went “more deep into a culture behind all the cuisine” and that the CNN host explored “real stuff in a real way.”
Bourdain featured Takayama in a 2016 episode of his show “Parts Unknown,” during which the pair toured outdoor food markets in Kanazawa, Japan, and enjoyed a meal cooked over an irori, a traditional Japanese sunken hearth.
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Angela Dimayuga, formerly of Mission Chinese Food and currently the creative director of food and culture for the Standard International hotel group, recalls her last conversation with Bourdain."We talked about my new position at The Standard, and he said, “That’s a perfect job for you, and suits you. They are lucky to have you. It will be a place you can grow your vision.” He had noticed all the collaborative work I had been doing, and he said that my work with artists was especially intriguing to him. He told me that my intersectional approach to work and craft was necessary to the food industry, and that what I’m doing for the future of the food world is important. I felt so seen: I knew he was keeping on eye on me, but I never thought he was looking this closely. Then he offered to become my mentor. He said there weren’t many people he’d be happy to pick up a call from at any hour of the day, but that I could call him at 2 a.m. and he’d answer.
She regrets never making that call.
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Immediately following Bourdain’s death, Xi’an Famous Foods, a small chain in New York City, announced that it would donate 100 percent of June 8’s net sales to the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline. And on Monday, CEO Jason Wang revealed that his restaurants raised $73,509.76 for the organization. “With your heartfelt support, along with the hard work of our store staff, we were able to serve almost double the amount of dishes as usual during dinner on Friday 6/8/18, with some stores selling out of items towards the end of the night,” Wang wrote in an Instagram update. “Thank you for helping us with this tribute to our friend.”
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On his last episode for his CNN show Parts Unknown, Bourdain returned once more to Asia. He focused on the people, food and culture of Bhutan, which is the only country in the world that measures its Gross National Happiness. During the hour-long program, one senses Bourdain's sadness as Bhutan moves towards modernity, it will no longer be the Bhutan that he had just visited and allowed us to travel with him.
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CNN / PARTS UNKNOWN
As he had done so many times before, Anthony Bourdain dived into local cuisine of Bhutan as an appreciative guest. |
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