Anthony Bourdain [1] has a way with words. I don't have to tell you that if you're one of many avid watchers of Parts Unknown (which you can and should watch on Netflix [2]), No Reservations, or The Layover, or if you've read any of his bestselling books. The chef-turned-author-turned-TV host has led what could only be considered one of the most interesting and envied lives. Even Alton Brown admits Bourdain is "food god [3]." If you've always wanted to know more about Bourdain, these fun facts and quotes will enlighten you.
- He went to the Culinary Institute of America.
- He married his high school sweetheart, Nancy Putkoski. They dated in high school and married in the 1980s, and they were married until the 2000s.
- After nine years of marriage, Bourdain and Ottavia Busia split in 2016 [4], and the couple has a daughter named Ariane, born in 2007.
- He's written many books, and this year he's coming out with another: a cookbook called Appetites [5]. It's been more than a decade since he's published a cookbook, and we can't wait.
- He's an Emmy award winner.
- He does not eat plane food and advises you to steer clear, too. "I'd eat some cheese and drink myself stupid," he told Bon Appetit when asked what he'd eat on a superlong flight [6].
- He wrote an article entitled Don't Eat Before Reading This [7] for an April 1999 issue of The New Yorker while he was a chef at Les Halles [8] in New York City. The opinionated piece helped Bourdain get his big break [9] in the food world.
- His go-to meal to cook at home for a family dinner is linguine with white clam sauce [10].
- There are a few things he thinks everyone should be able to cook [11]: an omelet, a roast chicken, steak, a basic stew or soup, basic vegetables, and pasta. "I think it would make the world a better place if we all knew how to cook pasta properly," he has said.
- The first place he goes in a new city [12] is the central market. "I get an immediate sense of what's going on in a town and what the food's like."
- He thinks ordering room service is never OK. "If you really want to send yourself into a tragic spiral of depression, call down for a room service hamburger [13] when you're alone in your room."
- The one thing he can't turn down is a bowl of spicy noodles [14].
- His most life-changing trip was the first trip he took to Japan. "It was like my first acid trip [15]," he told Men's Journal.
- He's most definitely not a coffee snob and prefers it in a cardboard cup. There are "few things I care about less than coffee [16]," he has said.
- He's a jiu jitsu champion [17]. His wife convinced him to try it out, and now he loves it (they do it together [18]).
- The best advice he's ever received? "Show up on time [19]."
- He likes the macaroni and cheese at Popeye's [20]. Yep.
- If he had 24 hours to live and had to choose one thing to eat [21], he knows exactly what it would be. "I'd go to Sukiyabashi Jiro in Tokyo [22]."