CELEBRITY SPOTLIGHT: Anthony Bourdain

CELEBRITY SPOTLIGHT:  Anthony Bourdain

WHY IS HE FAMOUS

Author and chef Anthony Bourdain's 2000 memoir Kitchen Confidential: Adventures In The Culinary Underbelly became aNew York Times bestseller, and established him as a celebrity chef with an edge. Since 2005, he has hosted Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations, a culinary and cultural voyage program broadcast on The Travel Channel.

Anthony Bourdain Quote

"Context and memory play powerful roles in all the truly great meals in one's life."

72 MAGNETISM

Woman who would find your regular 9-to-5 company man a bit boring probably regard Anthony Bourdain as the antithesis of that male archetype. He's a globe-trotting connoisseur of fine food, wine and beverage, a veritable bon vivant who is equally passionate about discovering new gastronomical delights as he is learning about exotic cultures. This cultivated chef-at-large isn't overly sophisticated so as to come off as a pretentious pain in the butt either. On his No Reservations series, Anthony Bourdain doesn't shy away from revealing his rougher edge, and he has no problem grossing his audience out by sampling culinary oddities that most folks would find absolutely repulsive. Throw into the mix Bourdain's magical talents in the kitchen, and this tall, slim, celebrity chef could be considered quite a catch for any lady who's grown tired of the average, unadventurous, hamburger-and-pizza eating dude.

74 SUCCESS

The first decade of the 21st century seems to be the decade of the famous chef, with people like Mario Batali, Gordon Ramsayand Bobby Flay becoming household names. Anthony Bourdain is one of them. Over the course of his nearly 30-year career as a professional chef, Anthony Bourdain ran a number of kitchens in some of New York City's top restaurants, including an eight-year gig serving as executive chef at Brasserie Les Halles. He launched a second career as a writer in 1995, releasing fiction as well as the non-fiction best sellers, which established him as a luminary of the culinary world. Kitchen Confidential earned Anthony Bourdain Bon Appétit magazine's Food Writer of the Year award in 2001, while A Cook's Tour was named 2002's Food Book of the Year by the British Guild of Food Writers. His No Reservations series has helped increase his profile immensely, while his appearances as a judge on Bravo's Top Chef program have also added to his fame. In addition to his books, Anthony Bourdain has penned several articles for publications such as The New Yorker, The Observerand Maxim, while his blog for Top Chef received a Webby nomination as best Cultural/Personal blog of 2008.

ANTHONY BOURDAINBIOGRAPHY

Anthony Michael Bourdain was born on June 25, 1956, in New York City, and was raised in Leonia, New Jersey. During the two year period he studied at Vassar College, he became interested in pursuing the culinary arts while working part-time in a variety of capacities in restaurants. Beginning as a dishwasher, Anthony Bourdain worked his way up to line cook, sous chef and, ultimately, chef.

Anthony Bourdain Launches His Literary Career

Anthony Bourdain received his diploma from the Culinary Institute of America in 1978, after which he ran kitchens in a number of New York City restaurants, including One Fifth Avenue, Sullivan's and the Supper Club. Bone In The Throat, his debut novel, was published in 1995, while Gone Bamboo, another work of fiction, appeared two years later. Both books were mobster thrillers which took place in a culinary setting, and a  third, similarly themed novel, Bobby Gold, was released in 2001, the same year his non-fiction work Typhoid Mary: An Urban Historical, hit the shelves.

In 1998, Anthony Bourdain became executive chef at Brasserie Les Halles in Manhattan. After serving as chief cook at that establishment for almost a decade, he gave up his position to allow him more time to travel, and he currently serves as honorary Chef-at-Large of Les Halles. In 2000, Bloomsbury published his racy memoir, Kitchen Confidential: Adventures In The Culinary Underbelly, an insider's look at the darker side of the restaurant business. The book entered The New York Times' bestsellers list, and made Anthony Bourdain an overnight celebrity of the culinary world.

Anthony Bourdain Turns To Television

2001's A Cook's Tour also became a bestseller, which prompted the Food Network to offer Anthony Bourdain a food and travel program of the same name. The show debuted in January 2002. The Travel Channel premiered Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations, a program which followed the same culinary and cultural travel theme as A Cook's Tour, in July 2005. In 2006, Anthony Bourdain made his first appearance as a guest judge on Bravo's Top Chef cooking competition series, and has since been featured on the program an additional four times.

Bloomsbury has subsequently published more Anthony Bourdain non-fictions titles, including Les Halles Cookbook (2004), The Nasty Bits (2006) and No Reservations: Around the World on an Empty Stomach (2007). In April 2007, he married his second wife, Ottavia Busia, just days after the birth of their daughter, Ariane. That same year, an episode of Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations received an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Informational Programming, while the show earned a Creative Arts Emmy Award for Outstanding Cinematography for Non-fiction Programming in September 2009. When he's not on his worldwide quest for obscure culinary delights, Anthony Bourdain resides in Manhattan with his family.

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