Anthony Bourdain Biography

Known to most Americans as the author of the bestseller, ‘Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly’, Anthony Bourdain was more than a famous chef-cum-author. He became a household name with the success of the book which led to offers to host television programs. In the travel and food show ‘A Cook’s Tour’, aired on Food Network, he traveled to several exotic locations all over the world in search of the perfect meal. The popularity of this show, in turn, resulted in the ‘Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations’ show on the Discovery Traveling and Living Channel. He also served as a judge on the cookery competition reality show, ‘Top Chef’ on several seasons, once judging the episode on exotic ingredients like alligator, abaloe and eel. The world famous chef was nothing like other celebrity chefs who were well-dressed, cheerful and polite—on the contrary, he was blunt and liberal in his usage of offensive language. He was a big time drinker and smoker and unabashedly candid about his past addiction to cocaine, heroin and cannabis. The bold cook also courted controversy by openly criticizing celebrity chefs like Paula Deen, Sandra Lee and Alice Waters. He was also notorious for his negative comments on vegetarianism and veganism.