Anthony Bourdain biography

Synopsis

After his article "Don’t Read Before Eating This" appeared in the New Yorker to raves in 1997, Anthony Bourdain moved from one high-profile culinary project to the next, including TV shows A Cook’s Tour and Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations. He has also written several books, including Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly.

Early Years

Born on June 25, 1956, in New York City, Anthony Bourdain attended Vassar College for two years, and graduated from the world-renowned Culinary Institute of America in 1978. He soon began running the kitchens of New York restaurants such as the Supper Club, One Fifth Avenue and Sullivan's. He became executive chef at Brasserie Les Halles in 1998.

Early Culinary Writing

In 1997, the New Yorker published Bourdain's now famous article "Don’t Eat Before Reading This," a scathingly honest look at the inner workings of restaurants, specifically their kitchens. With his credibility as a renowned chef, the article carried much weight and led to other writing projects. In 2000, his bestselling book Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly, a vast expansion of the New Yorker article, came out to great popularity.

A Cook's Tour: Global Adventures in Extreme Cuisines, an account of exotic food and his travel exploits around the world, followed in 2001. The book was written as an adjunct to his first TV series, A Cook’s Tour, which debuted a year later and became a bestseller.

The 2000s: TV Successes and More Bestsellers

In 2002, Anthony Bourdain started his two-season run on the Food Network’s A Cook’s Tour, a series featuring Bourdain traveling the world seeking culinary adventures. In 2004, Bourdain released Anthony Bourdain’s Les Halles Cookbook: Strategies, Recipes, and Techniques of Classic Bistro Cooking, and in 2006, The Nasty Bits. Both books went on to become New York Times bestsellers.

In 2005, Bourdain premiered a new Travel Channel TV series, Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations, which explored similar themes as A Cook’s Tour. The show shot its seventh season in 2011, and enjoyed a wide audience. Also in 2005, because of the huge popularity of Kitchen Confidential, Fox aired a short-lived sitcom based on the book. On the show, the character "Jack Bourdain" was loosely based on Anthony.

Other Ventures

While maintaining his No Reservations schedule, Anthony Bourdain has also appeared as guest judge on Bravo's Top Chef reality cooking competition show several times, and was one of the main judges on the eighth season of Top Chef All-Stars.

Always up for a new experience, Anthony Bourdain appeared in an episode of reality show Miami Ink, on which he received a skull tattoo. He also had a brief cameo in the 2008 movie Far Cry and appeared on Nick Jr.'s Yo Gabba Gabba! as Dr. Tony. He also serves as a writer and consultant for the HBO series Treme. Bourdain’s latest book, Medium Raw: A Bloody Valentine to the World of Food and the People Who Cook, was published in 2010.