Eric Ripert Remembers Anthony Bourdain
It's Bourdain Day on what would have been the chef and author's 68th birthday
Today, June 25, 2024, would have been Anthony Bourdain’s birthday. The celebrated chef and author took his own life on June 8, 2018 in a hotel room in France, while filming an episode of his series, Parts Unknown.
Venerable chefs Eric Ripert (who was one of the last people to see Bourdain alive) and Jose Andrés declared June 25 to be Bourdain Day just a few weeks later, asking fans of the culinary trailblazer to remember him using the hashtag #BourdainDay.
Years later, Ripert hasn’t forgotten his friend —or that promise of remembrance.
Today, he posted a photo of himself, Bourdain, Andrés, and Emeril Lagasse on his Instagram page, adding the simple caption: “WE ❤️ you Tony ... #bourdainday.”
Thousands of people took to social media to remember Bourdain, some posting his many quotes, including my personal favorite from Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly:
“Garlic is divine. Avoid at all costs that vile spew you see rotting in oil in screwtop jars. Too lazy to peel fresh? You don't deserve to eat garlic.”
I have a few personal stories about Anthony Bourdain, as so many of us do. Living in Miami, there were frequent Bourdain sightings.
One time, he was filming an episode of No Reservations, and word got out that he would be at a certain restaurant.
Bourdain didn’t want throngs of fans watching him film, so when the location was leaked on a website, he canceled the entire shoot, opting to film at an alternate location.
As a young food reporter, my editor assigned me the task of finding out the new location and infiltrating it. I’ve always been a great detective, so after driving around all morning, and exhausting all my local resources, I discovered where he would be filming: La Parrada de Edgar — a tiny storefront that sold Colombian hot dogs with toppings like crushed potato chips or berry sauce and whipped cream (no joke).
I arrived to find the windows covered with newspaper and a handwritten “Cerrado” sign on the door — I found the right place!
I tried the door, only to get thrown out by the film crew. I walked to the back of the store to find Bourdain waiting to film his segment. I also saw a red Corvette convertible just sitting there. I hid behind the dumpster at the IHop next door, waiting. What, exactly, was I waiting for?
I wasn’t sure until the cameraman moved outside and Tony hopped into the Corvette. I rushed out and got a perfect shot of Tony careening down Collins Avenue in the sports car. I can’t find the shot (and, alas the newspaper I worked on changed its formatting and deleted old pictures), but Tony in the Corvette lives on in the No Reservations segment.
Then, there was the time when Tony insulted me on Twitter after I recapped an episode of No Reservations, where the chef/traveler went to Mozambique. That led to a frank dialogue between Bourdain and myself where we tried to figure out where lines should be drawn in the sand. Even then, Tony was decidedly “Tony” — razor-sharp, slightly on the offensive, and a person who wore every emotion on his t-shirt sleeve.
I remember when my intern called me at 7 a.m. to announce that Bourdain had Tweeted about me. I was elated. “You didn’t read the Tweet,” she said, adding it wasn’t flattering. “That’s OK,” I replied. “Anthony Bourdain knows I exist.”
Anthony Bourdain not only existed. He made a profound impact on not just how we eat — but how we look at the world and each other. More than anything, he should be remembered for showing us how the act of sharing food and stories is the key to our shared humanity.