Chefs Call For Celebrating Life Of Anthony Bourdain, Offer Scholarship
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) - Some celebrity chefs are trying to turn tragedy into a celebration by remembering the life and career of the late Anthony Bourdain.
Chefs Eric Ripert and Jose Andres are hoping everyone will raise a glass, go to a food truck, or even just eat a hot dog to honor their longtime friend and colleague on Tuesday, which would have been Bourdain's 63rd birthday.
Bourdain took his own life while in France in June 2018.
Bourdain was born in New York City and raised in Leonia, New Jersey. He was divorced twice and has a daughter from his second marriage.
He graduated from the Dwight Englewood school in in 1973 and then graduated from the Culinary Institute of America in 1978, moving onto several New York City restaurants. He became executive chef at Brasserie Les Halles in 1998.
Leading up to that, he wrote an expose for New Yorker Magazine and CBS2 did this report with him, interviewing him in April Of 1999.
He took viewers behind the scenes into the kitchens, where he was a whistleblower, advocating for cleanliness, healthier food and better working conditions for staff.
"I was in a cranky mood after my last restaurant closed and felt no reason not to tell the truth about a business I both love and have mixed emotions about," Bourdain told CBS2 in 1999.
His first book in 2000, "Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly" catapulted him to fame.
He had written that his love of food began as a youth while on a family vacation in France, when he ate his first oyster. He was candid about his personal struggles, saying that drug use led to his dropping out of Vassar College after two years.
In 2016, Bourdain spoke with CBS News' Anthony Mason.
"I think when you travel as much as I have, you, I don't want to say I'm more humble, but I think you become aware of how other people live, how hard their lives are, how big the world is and then of course fatherhood changes everything," Bourdain said. "At that moment, you stop being the star of the film. For me, that was an enormous relief and a gift."
Last month Ripert and Andres and The Culinary Institute of America announced The Anthony Bourdain Legacy Scholarship. The goal of issuing the first of these scholarships for the Winter 2020 semester. The number and dollar amount of scholarships awarded will be determined by the funds raised. For more information about the scholarship fund, see the CIA website.
