Culinary Industry Mourning the Death of Chef Anthony Bourdain
TORONTO, June 08, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Chefs and food-lovers alike are mourning the loss today of Anthony Bourdain, chef, writer, TV host and culinary advocate. Bourdain passed away while in France to film episodes of his hit TV series Parts Unknown.
"Anthony Bourdain was a spirited and adventurous ambassador, and this is a great loss for our industry," said Shanna Munro, President and CEO of Restaurants Canada. "He was an inspiration to many and brought the world together through food exploration."
Bourdain graduated from the Culinary Institute of America in 1978 and spent many years working in kitchens around the world. He wrote his first book in 2000, the bestseller Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly, and wrote several more books as well as many articles and essays for a variety of publications.
In 2002, he hosted his first food and travel show, A Cook's Tour, which led to more TV shows, the last of which was Parts Unknown for CNN. Bourdain came to Canada in the fall of 2017 to film an episode in Newfoundland. Jeremy Bonia, co-owner of Raymond's Restaurant in St. John and a Restaurants Canada board member, had the enviable task of showing Bourdain the local sights and delicacies.
"He was great. We basically brought him out to the middle of Newfoundland, so he had to talk and hang out," said Bonia. "We were in the woods for three days and did this big feast on the beach down there. They seemed to enjoy everything."
While known for a hard-drinking lifestyle and struggles with addiction, Bourdain was also an advocate for many issues affecting the restaurant industry, including staff safety, sexual harassment, food waste and mental health.
Restaurants Canada extends their deepest condolences to Bourdain's daughter, family and friends.
Restaurants Canada (formerly CRFA) is a growing community of 30,000 foodservice businesses, including restaurants, bars, caterers, institutions and suppliers. We connect our members from coast to coast, through services, research and advocacy for a strong and vibrant restaurant community. Canada's restaurant industry is an $84 billion industry, directly employs 1.2 million Canadians, is the number one source of first jobs and serves 22 million customers every day.
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