Chef and travel writer Anthony Bourdain died by suicide Friday morning, leaving the world a little less bright. As the author of a number of books, including Kitchen Confidential and Medium Raw, Bourdain left behind a wealthy collection of food and travel writing to inspire and delight his fans. In memory of the bad-boy chef, I have nine of the best Anthony Bourdain quotes from his books.
A graduate of the Culinary Institute of America, Anthony Bourdain rose to mainstream prominence with his 2000 essay collection, Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly, in which he discussed both behind-the-scenes secrets of the restaurant world and his own experiences with drug use and addicted. Kitchen Confidential cemented Bourdain in the public imagination as a man unafraid to get his hands dirty and say exactly what was on his mind. At the time of his death, Bourdain was working on CNN's Parts Unknown, his fourth television series.
Check out the nine great Anthony Bourdain quotes I've selected below and remember his legacy:
If you or someone you know are experiencing suicidal thoughts, call 911, or call the National Suicide Prevention Hotline at 1-800-273-8255, or text the word HOME to the Crisis Text Line at 741741.
"Skills can be taught. Character you either have or you don't have."
— Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly
"If you’re twenty-two, physically fit, hungry to learn and be better, I urge you to travel – as far and as widely as possible. Sleep on floors if you have to. Find out how other people live and eat and cook. Learn from them – wherever you go."
— Medium Raw: A Bloody Valentine to the World of Food and the People Who Cook
"Travel changes you. As you move through this life and this world you change things slightly, you leave marks behind, however small. And in return, life — and travel — leaves marks on you. Most of the time, those marks — on your body or on your heart — are beautiful. Often, though, they hurt."
— The Nasty Bits: Collected Varietal Cuts, Usable Trim, Scraps, and Bones
"My love for chaos, conspiracy and the dark side of human nature colors the behavior of my charges, most of whom are already living near the fringes of acceptable conduct."
— Kitchen Confidential
"Travel isn’t always pretty. It isn’t always comfortable. Sometimes it hurts, it even breaks your heart. But that’s okay. The journey changes you; it should change you. It leaves marks on your memory, on your consciousness, on your heart, and on your body. You take something with you. Hopefully, you leave something good behind."
— No Reservations: Around the World on an Empty Stomach
"[W]ithout experimentation, a willingness to ask questions and try new things, we shall surely become static, repetitive, moribund."
— Medium Raw
"I've long believed that good food, good eating, is all about risk. Whether we're talking about unpasteurized Stilton, raw oysters or working for organized crime 'associates,' food, for me, has always been an adventure."
— Kitchen Confidential
"I know that I will never understand the world I live in or fully know the places I've been. I've learned for sure only what I don't know — and how much I have to learn."
— No Reservations
"We are, after all, citizens of the world — a world filled with bacteria, some friendly, some not so friendly. Do we really want to travel in hermetically sealed popemobiles through the rural provinces of France, Mexico and the Far East, eating only in Hard Rock Cafes and McDonald's? Or do we want to eat without fear, tearing into the local stew, the humble taqueria's mystery meat, the sincerely offered gift of a lightly grilled fish head? I know what I want. I want it all."
— Kitchen Confidential
If you or someone you know are experiencing suicidal thoughts, call 911, or call the National Suicide Prevention Hotline at 1-800-273-8255, or text the word HOME to the Crisis Text Line at 741741.
