Barack Obama Posts Tribute To Anthony Bourdain, Shares Photo Of Two Having A Beer In Vietnam Restaurant
As the tributes continue to pour in for the late Anthony Bourdain, former U.S. President Barack Obama shared his fond memory of the chef and TV personality.
Bourdain died earlier today of an apparent suicide, as previously reported by Inquisitr. The 61-year-old was in France at the time, shooting new episodes of his CNN series, Parts Unknown.
Obama posted a photo on Twitter of himself and Bourdain in a restaurant in Hanoi, Vietnam, drinking beer and eating a meal. The two are sitting on backless, blue plastic stools. No one else dining in the eatery seems to care that they are sitting near such high-profile celebrities.
The former president started his caption with the exact same words Bourdain used after he posted that same pic on Twitter on May 23, 2016.
“Low plastic stool, cheap but delicious noodles, cold Hanoi beer,” said the chef.
After quoting Bourdain, Obama told his followers what “Tony,” as he affectionately called him, meant to him — and to the rest of the world.
“This is how I’ll remember Tony. He taught us about food — but more importantly, about its ability to bring us together. To make us a little less afraid of the unknown. We’ll miss him.”
At the time of the shared meal, filmed for an episode of Parts Unknown, Bourdain tweeted about how he picked up the check.
“Total cost of bun cha dinner with the President: $6.00,” he revealed.
“Low plastic stool, cheap but delicious noodles, cold Hanoi beer.” This is how I’ll remember Tony. He taught us about food — but more importantly, about its ability to bring us together. To make us a little less afraid of the unknown. We’ll miss him. pic.twitter.com/orEXIaEMZM
— Barack Obama (@BarackObama) June 8, 2018
The new pals were experiencing bun cha at the Huong Lien restaurant, according to the Los Angeles Times, which is a “Hanoi street food dish of squiggly rice noodles, baskets of herbs, and both grilled pork patties and strips of grilled pork shoulder steeped in a small bowl of sweetened fish sauce.”
Bourdain said the White House reached out to him about featuring Obama on Parts Unknown, reported Vox.
“For whatever reason, [Obama] seemed willing to play, and my feeling was, if we’re going to do this, we should do it right,” revealed Bourdain. “I mean, we shouldn’t be sitting in a banquet room at the Hilton. We should do what we do, which was hang out in some working-class place.”
On Twitter, CNN said it will air special programming honoring Bourdain all weekend.
Remembering Anthony Bourdain, a tribute, will premiere tonight at 10 p.m. ET. Then, on Saturday, June 9, some of the host’s favorite episodes of Parts Unknown will be shown, starting at 8 p.m. ET.
On Sunday, June 10, the regularly scheduled episode of Parts Unknown, featuring Berlin, will be shown at 9 p.m. ET. It will begin with a special introduction from Anderson Cooper. Following that, the network will re-air the Remembering Anthony Bourdain special at 10 p.m. ET.
If you or someone you know is in crisis, please call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255) or contact the Crisis Text Line by texting TALK to 741741. For readers outside the U.S., visit Suicide.org or Befrienders Worldwide for international resources you can use to find help.
