• Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Dish Our Town - NYC Food & Travel Blog

A Native NYC Family Blogging about NYC & Europe's Food Travel, One Dish at a Time.

  • Home
  • Destinations
    • New York City
    • Italy
      • Vatican City
    • USA
    • France
    • Belgium
    • Colombia
    • England
    • Spain
    • Hong Kong
    • Ireland
    • Malaysia
    • Mexico
    • Philippines
      • Travel Guide to Puerto Princesa, Palawan
      • Travel guide to Manila
    • Sweden
    • Thailand
  • Travel Tips
    • Packing Guide for a Family of Traveling Eaters.
    • How to Backpack in Style
    • Look First Class with this Getaway Packing List for Autumn
    • What to Bring, What to Leave Behind and Daily tips in the life of a traveler in the Philippines
  • Shops & Resources
    • Food & Travel Items we love on Amazon
    • Food & Travel Gift Guides
      • Gift Guide for Traveling Women
      • Gifts for Travel Loving Families | Gift ideas for the whole family
    • Hotels
      • Where To Stay in New York City
      • The Peninsula Hotel in Manila – An 11-year-old’s experience
      • Dorsett Shepherd’s Bush hotel in London
      • Manila, The Peninsula and Ali – The Greatest
      • Windsor Suites Hotel in Bangkok for Families – A review
      • The Dusit Thani – A Bangkok Legend
    • Tours
    • Tote Bags
  • About
    • About Dish Our Town
    • Work With Dish Our Town

New York City

Anthony Bourdain – Storyteller

8 Shares
Share8
Pin
Tweet
Flip

Anthony Bourdain At Enoteca DiPalo with our friends Sam & Lou Di Palo. Thank you for the photo.

I wasn’t alive on July 2nd, 1961. I’m sure if I were, I would have had the same reaction as I did on June 9th, 2018. I don’t often feel a sense of sadness the way I did that morning. Like Hemingway before him, Anthony Bourdain was one of the most inspiring and understandable storytellers of my and many generations to come. Regretfully the end of their lives also tells a common story.

 

Their words conjured up images of places and cultures in a way that aspired readers (and in Bourdain’s case, viewers as well) to get to know the world and its many cultures and people. It was their lust for life that made them and their stories special to many.

 

These two men were the impetus to all the journeys I have experienced in my life. Early on, akin to a “Camino” (pilgrimage) I did my best to follow the storied footsteps of Hemingway through travel, drink, and unabashed experiences. However, not unlike a saint, my relationship with him is on the folklore level. Saint Ernest, is unearthly.

 

Tony on the flip side, was of this earth. He had the power of media and technology on his side, which made him more approachable if you will. Every week, with his breadth of parlance, he came into our living room and implored us to try new things. And every week, I would take note and make sure to do so. This virtual contact through the television screen mirrored a conversation over drinks with a friend.

 

With his culinary background, lovers of food, such as myself gravitated to his stories. Many people in the food industry promote food movements; Tony went beyond this and made food moving. Emotional rather than simply informative. His approach to food made one realize as to why certain dishes mean so much to certain cultures, or how certain cuts of meat tell a story of a generation. Nobody, including Hemingway, did it as romantically as he.

 

Tony educated me on many things I did not know about the world. He was smart enough to tease me into tuning in with images of beautiful landscapes and meats on a stick, replete with fat dripping and culinary jargon. Meanwhile, as I salivate, what he was really imparting to me was historical, geographical, and social issues that needed to be heard.

 

Like a good friend, he wasn’t afraid to share his frailties. He was able to reproach himself and find humor in it with equal facility. This was one of his strengths. I wanted to know more about him, and hear what he had to say. This led me to tune into his show weekly, and when the season had finished, read one of his many publications.

 

Many years ago, my girlfriend at the time, and now wife, viewed a show on the Food Channel called, “ A Cook’s Tour”. There was a specific episode on San Sebastian that led us to put the destination on the top of our travel list. More importantly to try dishes and restaurants he had shared with us. Even in those nascent stages, when he was still a bit awkward, Anthony Bourdain was already inspirational. Wearing an oversized leather jacket, and a Marlboro Red in his mouth. He was refreshing. We followed him since.

 

He sharpened his skills which were made evident in his subsequent award-winning docu-series, “No Reservations“ and CNN”s “Parts Unknown”, respectively. The latter breaking the mold of traditional journalism.  However, he still maintained that rogue disposition that initially drew us to him. He was never too good for us.

 

I, along with my wife; and more recently, our daughter continued to be inspired by him to see and taste the world. If I can narrow inspiration down to one person as to why my wife and I decided to pursue the creation of our food and travel blog, it would be Anthony Bourdain.

 

We searched out food stalls and businesses he put on the map. We approached sites through a lens that was influenced by him. He continued to play part in navigating my restless spirit closer to being satisfied and sated.

 

Which brings me to the second emotion I felt that morning – confusion. “How does a person who lived such a life, decide to bring it to an end?”, I kept asking myself. I know that I can’t begin to answer that question. This affliction was beyond my comprehension.

 

The third emotion was that of anger. Angry that I had to speak about him in the past-tense. Then I came to terms with it, which led to my final emotion of acceptance. Accepting that the food and travel narrative will need to continue without its most authentic voice.

 

I don’t pretend that I knew him personally, though I did meet him formally at my place of work years ago. He was nothing short of humble. This quick transaction made me like him even more. That adage of being disappointed by your idols did not apply to him

 

My family and I viewed an episode of “Parts Unknown” last night. It may very well be the final episode CNN will broadcast. It was, appropriately on Berlin. A complicated city with a complicated history. A city that finds life within its margins. A city that defines, “noir”, yet sheds light on many creative people.

 

“I can’t believe it, he was so alive”, expressed my daughter. The episode ends with a Samuel Beckett quote, “You must go on. I can’t go on. I’ll go on”. Go on then my friend, and join the likes of the saints.  Thanks for everything.

 

To get help: In the US, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255.

8 Shares
Share8
Pin
Tweet
Flip

Categories: New York City Tags: Anthony Bourdain

Previous Post: « 5 Things to Do in NYC with Teens from a Local Family
Next Post: Australian Food Guide »

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Akbar says

    July 14, 2019 at 5:34 am

    That was cool and interesting. I read many post but it is more than better all of. That is different to other post Thanks for posting and keep happy.

    Reply
  2. Den Martin says

    May 7, 2019 at 5:33 pm

    Great post, keep up the good work, thanks for sharing.

    Reply
  3. Christina Thomas says

    June 13, 2018 at 10:38 pm

    Beautifully written! When you say “he was never too good for us” is one of the reasons I think we all admired him and have all been devasted by his tragic departure. His legacy must live on through all who were inspired by him to explore the world and appreciate our differences and similarities.

    Reply
    • Andrew says

      June 21, 2018 at 8:00 am

      Thank you, Christina. Those are kind words.

      Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Primary Sidebar

Food Advertising by logo

About

Welcome to Dish Our Town. We are the Tolentinos. A family traveling the world, one dish at a time. More about us

Proud to be a CK Mondavi Family Ambassador

Food Advertising by logo

Let’s travel the world together. Join the mailing list!

Food Advertising by logo

Footer

Don't miss any updates, tips, offers and dishes. Sign up with your e-mail!

Privacy Policy & Disclaimer

  • Disclaimer
  • privacy-policy

Categories

One Link

Amazon Disclaimer

We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.” Please read the rest of our disclaimer.

iTunes

Copyright© 2021 · Cookd Pro Theme by Shay Bocks

This website uses cookies to improve your experience. We'll assume you're ok with this, but you can opt-out if you wish.Accept Read More

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary
Always Enabled

Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.

Non-necessary

Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.