Anthony Bourdain’s Brother, Pals Recall Happy Times With Late Celeb Chef For ‘GQ Magazine’

The shocking death of celebrity chef and CNN Parts Unknown host Anthony Bourdain created an unmistakable void in the lives of his family, friends, and fans, and those who knew him best honored the trailblazing television personality as he was honored as one of GQ’s Men of the Year for 2018.

Chris Bourdain, Anthony Bourdain’s younger brother, said to the publication of his brother, “The death certificate that was printed in France,” he tells me, “listed as his profession ‘chef.’ And I tried for months to figure out, what is the appropriate way to describe what Tony has been doing for the last seven or eight years? There’s no description for it.”

He also noted that despite making a living as a working chef for many years before becoming a public figure, his brother had no interest in cooking growing up.

“Had he ever showed interest in cooking [when we were kids]? No, no, no, no, no, not at all. Zero, zero, zero,” mused Chris Bourdain.

Chef pal Tom Colicchio remarked that Bourdain turned what was normally lighthearted food television into something serious under his watch.

“It was about bringing people together around food and trying to get Americans to see someone living in a Middle Eastern country, [that] they weren’t terrorists. They were people who live there and had very similar issues to issues we have here, and he was able to do that through food,” he shared of his late friend.

Eric Ripert, who found Bourdain after his suicide while filming an episode of Parts Unknown in France on June 8, noted this striking detail of his friend of over 20 years.

‘He never complained about anything. That was something that struck me about Tony. You could be hours in a car, or you could be in freezing weather, or you could be in a room with very unpleasant people, and Tony would not complain, ever,” shared Ripert to GQ.

Ripert also explained that Bourdain’s reasoning for his travel series was to engage with people in a way that everyone understands, through food and talking over a meal.

He felt that his friend “broke walls” by doing this, in America and in other countries. Particularly in those countries that people are scared or nervous to visit. Ripert called this “the great part of his legacy.”

If you or someone you know is considering suicide, please contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255), text “help” to the Crisis Text Line at 741-741 or go to suicidepreventionlifeline.org.