As we approach a holiday centered around food, love, and connection, it’s nearly impossible not to be reminded of Anthony Bourdain. As a man whose entire career revolved around connecting with people through sharing meals, Bourdain served as a model for empathy in a world severely lacking it.
In America, where only about 30% of families eat dinner together, food is losing its sacredness. In a culture so focused around productivity and work, meals are viewed as merely fuel instead of being used as an outlet for connection and pleasure. Anthony Bourdain understood the importance of food as a link to humanity better than most, and both his writing and television presence reflected that.
Bourdain began his career as a chef at a variety of respected restaurants after graduating from the Culinary Institute of America in 1978. He began to write during this time and eventually published the memoir Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly. While the novel exposed issues within the restaurant industry, it also discussed problems Bourdain faced in his own life as well including his prior struggle with heroin addiction. The memoir brought Bourdain into the limelight and he starred in a multitude of food and travel based television shows including A Cook’s Tour, Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations, and Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown. During filming for the last season of Parts Unknown, Bourdain passed away suddenly and tragically.
While his death shook the world, Bourdain’s model of empathy, honesty, and kindness will not be forgotten by anyone that has had the pleasure of viewing or reading his work. Yet, during the holiday season, I feel that we should remember and attempt to embody Bourdain’s view on the importance of connection and love in the act of sharing and cooking a meal. Eating is a universally pleasurable and satisfying human quality. Celebrate this act, and remember the words of Anthony Bourdain:
“You need love.
Hopefully it’s love for the people you’re cooking for, because the greatest and most memorable meals are as much about who you are with as they are about what you are.”
Anthony Bourdain, Les Halles Cookbook
Happy Holidays!