Anthony Bourdain – a tribute to a traveller, storyteller, foodie and authentic person

It hurts. Anyone and everyone interested in food and food culture is feeling it. Anthony Bourdain wasn’t just another TV host and writer. A testament is the incredible outpouring of grief and tributes from fans all over the world.

Smarter and more eloquent people than me have eulogised his tragic suicide and the funny insightful travel and food programmes he presented. I won’t rehash another Wikipedia obituary here. Rather, I like to think about why he had such a profound effect on so many of us.

Beloved icons and celebrities pass all the time but not many have this kind of singular, personal impact. For me, the last two might be Prince and David Bowie. I think Bourdain’s cultural resonance echoes just as loudly. More than anyone else in popular culture, he gave food commentary meaning, substance and context.

The most frequent term used to laud what he did was “storyteller”. So, what exactly was the story he told?

I liked his shows because his voice was rooted in an authentic personal tone. From day one, he was the cynical ex-chef who spent too many years in a gulag kitchen to spew any kind of restaurant hype.

Yet he still had a sense of wonder for the world, its people and their food. And he was willing to drink it all in with Dionysian abandon.

As many have noted, he didn’t really do food shows. They were travelogues, filmed as social journalism aspiring to be visual essays of absurdity. Food was always just a metaphor. It was the excuse to delve into deeper ideas. He philosophised and acted as the prism to see traditions and countries in different lights. Sometimes he showed a brighter perspective, other times the dark neglected corners.