9 Little-Known Facts About Anthony Bourdain

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In 2018, the world lost one of the most influential voices in the culinary world. Anthony Bourdain's candid approach and unwavering curiosity inspired millions, and his legacy will long continue to shape how people think about food and travel. With a rare ability to strip away pretense, Bourdain brought unfiltered and sharp-witted storytelling to life through his iconic television shows and acclaimed literary works, whether he was sampling an exotic street food dish, immersing himself in local cultures, or writing about his infectious love of food and the people behind it.

While most know Bourdain best for his star-studded career as a chef, author, and media personality, there was far more to his story than his public image suggested. Behind the scenes, there were personal passions, projects, and relationships that were just as integral to his identity, which reveal a whole other side to the man we saw on screen. Here's what you might not know about Anthony Bourdain's remarkable life beyond the spotlight.

Anthony Bourdain penned four New York Times bestsellers during his lifetime, and while his most popular books were centered around food and travel, these weren't the only genres he explored. Before the chef became a household name, he also dabbled in crime writing, publishing two fictional novels titled "Bone in the Throat" (1995) and "Gone Bamboo" (1997). 

Bourdain's first crime novel is described in its blurb as "a wildly funny, irreverent tale of murder, mayhem, and the mob," and unsurprisingly, the story still has a strong link to food. Main character Tommy is a rising chef working in a New York restaurant, much like Bourdain himself at the time. Two decades after its release, "Bone in the Throat" was adapted into a film starring Ed Westwick and Vanessa Kirby, with Bourdain taking the role of executive producer. Meanwhile, "Gone Bamboo" tells the story of two professional assassins living on a picturesque Caribbean island. Bourdain's aim, as set out in the book's introduction, was to "write a sociopath beach book," and it seems he achieved exactly that. The novel fully embraces its darkly comic premise, with reviewers noting its dry wit and escapist vibes. 

This wasn't the last of Bourdain's fictional work, either. In 2002, following the runaway success of his "Kitchen Confidential" memoir, the chef released a third and final crime novel ("The Bobby Gold Stories"), which further showcases his knack for gritty, character-driven storytelling.

Anthony Bourdain was a familiar presence on screen for almost two decades, so it's easy to assume that the chef had always been at the top of his game. However, his big break actually came far later than you'd think. Bourdain was 44 years old when Bloomsbury commissioned him to write his hit 2000 memoir, "Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly." This came shortly after The New Yorker ran Bourdain's short piece titled "Don't Eat Before Reading This" — which was essentially an exposé of the restaurant industry. The story was swiftly spotted by a sharp-eyed editor, who immediately saw potential for a long-form version.

"When that book came out, it was immediately a bestseller, and it changed my life overnight," Bourdain later told Fast Company. He went on to explain that, prior to the book's success, he'd been working as an executive chef at Brasserie Les Halles in New York City. Severely in debt and behind on rent, he was still grinding through the demanding realities of restaurant life. 

Little did Bourdain know, he was about to become one of the most recognizable figures in food media. The chef went on to write multiple bestsellers, as well as hosting acclaimed television series, such as "A Cook's Tour," "No Reservations," and "Parts Unknown."

His passion for food was clear to anyone who watched his shows or read his books, but a lesser-known love of Anthony Bourdain's was punk rock music. Long before his stardom, the chef was deeply immersed in the punk scene. In 1970s New York City, the movement was exploding in downtown clubs, including the legendary CBGB, where Bourdain frequently attended gigs. 

In his early 20s at this time, the young chef clearly identified with the somewhat chaotic, anti-establishment spirit of the scene. Bourdain even found himself rubbing shoulders with the stars. In a 2007 article written for Spin magazine, he explained, "Because chefs shared the same hours and many of the same proclivities, my friends and I frequently found ourselves moving in the same circles as our heroes." In fact, in exchange for free concert tickets, Bourdain even cooked for members of punk legends like the Ramones, Dead Boys, and Voidoids.

Bourdain carried his passion for punk into his restaurant kitchens, too. He had no qualms about playing carefully curated mixtapes as he worked, though he was famously clear about his tastes. In a 2004 interview with Entertainment Weekly, the chef even proclaimed that anyone playing Elton John or Billy Joel would risk being fired on the spot.

While Anthony Bourdain was best known for his books and on-screen appearances, he was also heavily involved with another ambitious project. Back in 2014, the chef unveiled plans for Bourdain Market, which would see Pier 57, an unoccupied building on New York City's waterfront, transformed into a sprawling food hall. The concept was inspired by the bustling street food markets that Bourdain had encountered throughout his travels. His role would be that of a curator, hand-picking the very best vendors from around the world and bringing their impressive culinary offerings together in one location.

Despite there being a huge amount of excitement around the project, plans for the food hall were slow to materialize, with issues around vendor visas and difficulty securing a lease for the site. Sadly, in 2017, Bourdain announced that the market would no longer be going ahead. He explained in a statement (via Eater), "Launching what is admittedly a very ambitious venture has proven to be challenging at every turn. It seems increasingly clear that in spite of my best efforts, the stars may not align at Pier 57."

Some four years after Bourdain's untimely passing, Pier 57 did eventually see its food hall dreams lived out. The vendors were instead curated in partnership with the James Beard Foundation. Today, Market 57 is home to an impressive selection of local food businesses, and it's firmly established itself in NYC's vibrant culinary scene. Meanwhile, Bourdain's friend and collaborator, KF Seetoh (pictured, left), partnered with Urbanspace in 2022 to bring the duo's original vision to life with Urban Hawker, which focuses on Singaporean food, in Midtown Manhattan.

A man of many talents, Anthony Bourdain also had a serious passion for Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. He first took up the martial art in his late 50s, inspired by his then-wife, Ottavia Busia-Bourdain. She was already an accomplished practitioner with a rigorous training schedule, and she actively competed on the BJJ circuit. True to character, Bourdain whole-heartedly threw himself into his newfound hobby. In an interview on "Charlie Rose" in 2014, the chef talked of reveling in "the incremental, tiny satisfactions of being a little less awful at something every day." 

Bourdain's passion for the sport saw him progress quickly. Training whenever he could, he reached blue belt level and found success on the competition circuit, too. Just a few years after picking up Jiu-Jitsu, Bourdain won the Blue Belt Masters 5 Middleweight Division at the 2016 IBJJF New York Spring International Open Championship. Today, Bourdain is sorely missed by the Jiu-Jitsu community, but his enthusiasm for the sport lives on. The chef has no doubt inspired countless others to get on the mat, proving that it's never too late to try something new.

Anthony Bourdain's interest in food was sparked at an early age, and one memorable moment served as the catalyst for his lifelong fascination with the culinary world. In his "Kitchen Confidential" book, Bourdain wrote about the life-altering experience of trying oysters for the first time. 

At the age of just 10, while on holiday with his family in France, Bourdain was offered a fresh oyster by a local fisherman, who had plucked the slimy-looking mollusk from the ocean just seconds before. While the natural response from most 10-year-olds would be that of disgust, the young Bourdain confidently slurped the oyster down, and that was the moment everything changed. "It tasted seawater ... of brine and flesh ... and somehow ... of the future," wrote Bourdain. "Everything was different now. Everything. I'd not only survived — I'd enjoyed. This, I knew, was the magic of which I had until now been only dimly and spitefully aware of. I was hooked." The future chef had tapped into food's unique ability to "inspire, astonish, shock, excite, delight, and impress," and he'd carry that sense of discovery with him throughout his life.

Naturally, oysters remained a firm favorite for Bourdain. On future trips, he made an effort to return to the seafood stand at the port where it all started, buying oysters by the dozen in brown paper bags. In an episode of his hit CNN series "Parts Unknown," the celeb chef is also seen enjoying freshly shucked oysters at favorite seafood counter in San Francisco, Swan Oyster Depot, which he described as "a touchstone in my worldwide wanderings."

In 2005, Anthony Bourdain's breakout bestseller "Kitchen Confidential" was adapted into a TV sitcom of the same name. The lead character, Jack, was loosely based on the real-life Bourdain. As an executive chef who had struggled with alcohol and drug addiction, the role of Jack required an actor with a convincing "bad boy" image, and it went to none other than Bradley Cooper. 

At the time, Cooper's career was yet to really take off, and Bourdain actually had some pretty strong reservations about the casting. In a 2013 Reddit AMA, the chef admitted, "Bradley Cooper as me? It was strange. I thought — this guy's going nowhere." Of course, he couldn't have been more wrong. While "Kitchen Confidential" was cancelled after just four episodes aired, Cooper's performance helped open the door to bigger opportunities. His big break came in 2009, when he starred in the hit comedy "The Hangover," and as of this writing, Cooper has since received 12 Academy Award nominations. The star also recalls his time on the short-lived series fondly, having told Yahoo! that he even had the opportunity to prep for the role by cooking at Le Halles, the NYC restaurant that kickstarted Bourdain's career.

For his part, Bourdain later owned up to his poor judgement regarding Cooper's career trajectory. "I thought he was brilliant in Silver Linings Playbook," he added to the Reddit discussion. "So about as wrong as a man can be."

Understandably, Anthony Bourdain kept his personal life relatively private, and his first serious relationship began way before his career thrust him into the spotlight. Bourdain met Nancy Putkoski when he was just a teenager. The pair attended high school together and went on to marry in 1985. However, the couple divorced two decades later.

Bourdain openly admitted that his then-relatively newfound stardom played a role in the split. The opportunities fame had afforded him dramatically shifted his perspective, and in an interview with The Guardian, he talked of returning to America after his travels through Vietnam, only find that "everything felt flat." Bourdain said, "I knew that my whole previous life was doomed. It was no longer going to be normal. I had seen that ... color ... and I knew that that had changed me, altered the way I would look at things." Not long after, his marriage to Putkoski broke down.

The chef would marry again just a couple years later. He met his second wife-to-be, Ottavia Busia, through mutual friend and fellow chef Eric Ripert in the mid-2000s. Busia, originally from Italy, had been working in the restaurant industry in NYC at the time. Shortly after tying to knot in 2007, they welcomed their child, Ariane Busia-Bourdain. While the two decided to split almost 10 years later, Busia and Bourdain remained friends up until his death in 2018, with both remaining committed to co-parenting their daughter.

Anthony Bourdain sampled some pretty extraordinary dishes in his time, from eating fermented shark in Iceland and seal eyeballs in the Canadian Arctic, to experiencing Thomas Keller's 20-course tasting menu at the world-famous French Laundry. But despite his adventurous palate, many of the foods Bourdain loved best were remarkably simple.

One dish that Bourdain famously loved is the Italian classic, cacio e pepe. Typically made with just a handful of ingredients, this carb-forward favorite sees bucatini tossed with Pecorino Romano cheese and cracked black pepper. In an episode of "No Reservations," Bourdain is seen enjoying the dish at a traditional Roman restaurant, calling it "the simplest, nicest thing in the world." The chef also had a penchant for a hearty sandwich. His go-to was a crusty, toasted roll stuffed with pan-fried mortadella, provolone, mustard, and mayo — a combination inspired by a visit to the Bar do Mané eatery in São Paulo, Brazil.

The celebrated chef wasn't a snob when it came to fast food, either. He openly professed his love for Popeyes mac and cheese, and he was also partial to a good In-N-Out Burger. In a 2015 interview with Eater, Bordain explained that hitting up the iconic burger chain had become something of a ritual whenever he visited Los Angeles.