Anthony Bourdain

Anthony Michael Bourdain is a famous American chef, author and television celebrity. Bourdain was born on June 25, 1956 in New York City, New York, USA to Pierre and Gladys Bourdain. He spent his childhood in Leonia, New Jersey. He was educated in Dwight-Englewood School and graduated in 1973. He then went to Vassar College, but discontinued after two years. He graduated from the Culinary Institute of America in 1978.

Boudain has worked as a chef in numerous professional kitchens. He is no longer a chef in formal employment, but he does maintain a working relationship with Brasserie Les Halles, New York, where he served as an executive chef for several years. Les Halles describes him as their chef-at-large. In his youth, while on a vacation in France, he ate his first oyster on a fisherman’s boat. It was here that his interest in food was kindled. While a student of Vassar College, he worked part-time in several seafood restaurants in Provincetown, Massachusetts. He decided to make cooking his career. After his graduation from the Culinary Institute, he worked in various restaurant kitchens in New York City, including the top Supper Club, Sullivans and One Fifth Avenue. He eventually became the executive chef at Brasserie Les Halles in 1998. Les Halles has locations in Manhattan, Miami and Washington D.C. and in Tokyo, Japan as well.

Not only has he made a name for himself in restaurant kitchens, Bourdain has also made his mark in the print media. In 2000, he published his famous book Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly. The book went on to become New York Times bestseller. His article ‘Don’t Eat before Reading.’ This appeared in The New Yorker. The book is the outgrowth of his article. It is a witty and rambunctious book exposing the hidden and darker side of the culinary world.

The book is also a memoir of Bourdain’s professional life. He has authored two other best selling nonfiction books published by New York Times. The first, A Cook’s Tour was published in 2001 and The Nasty Bits published in 2006, which is a collection of essays mainly based on food. His other books are Anthony Bourdain Les Halles Cookbook, Bone in the Throat, Gone Bamboo, No Reservations: Around the World on an empty stomach and Medium Raw: A Bloody Valentine to the World of Food and the People Who Cook. 

In 2005, he began hosting culinary and cultural adventure programs Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations and The Layover on the Travel Channel. He joined CNN in 2013 and hosted the show Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown.

Bourdain was married twice. His first marriage was to his high school girlfriend, Nancy Putkoski in 1985. After being together for two decades, they divorced in 2005. The reason cited for the break-up was inevitable changes that happen due to frequent travelling. His second wife is Ottavia Busia whom he married in 2007, and together they have a daughter, Ariane born in 2007. Busia is also a television artist who appeared in several episodes of No Reservations, notably in the episodes of Sardinia, Tuscany, Naples, Rome and Rio. Bourdain is known for doing drugs.

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