Some writers sharpen their words like knives. Anthony Bourdain set his on fire.
Before he was a household name or a face on TV, Bourdain was a writer first—funny, feral, unafraid to follow a story into the weirder corners. His voice was unmistakable: swaggering but self-aware, hungry for experience, attuned to both absurdity and ache.
This Bourdain Day — a celebration set on his June 25 birthday, started after his death in 2018 — we’re bringing together a short collection of his sharpest, funniest, most soul-scorching work for Salon, alongside the writing he ultimately inspired.
In the years since, Salon writers have returned to Bourdain’s life and legacy again and again, trying to understand the force of his charisma, the depth of his empathy and the ache he left behind. Together, they form a portrait of a man who never stopped looking, and a world that’s still hungry for what he saw.
Bourdain, in his own words
Before he was a TV host or culinary demigod, Anthony Bourdain was a writer: sharp-tongued, sensual, and totally unafraid to follow a story wherever it led. Whether recounting the trash-fire chaos that first seduced him into kitchen life or bearing witness to a beloved city unraveling under siege, Bourdain wrote like someone who had to. These two Salon stories — one rowdy, one reverent — show the range of his voice and the depth of his seeing.
Kitchen god
In “Kitchen God,” Anthony Bourdain recounts the moment he discovered his calling — not with a textbook or mentor. But by observing a sunburned pirate-chef getting busy with a bride over a trash drum behind a fried seafood joint. It’s Provincetown in the ‘70s and Bourdain, a feckless, acid-dappled teenager, stumbles into the chaotic seduction of kitchen life: the clatter, the heat, the dialect, the unholy mixture of lust, larceny and lobster tails. He starts as a dishwasher but falls hard for the cooks — swaggering rogues with bandanas and boning knives, who seem, to his young eyes, like gods.
“The life of the cook was a life of adventure, looting, pillaging and rock-and-rolling through life with a carefree disregard for all conventional morality. It looked pretty damn good to me on the other side of the line,” he wrote.
There’s nothing tidy about Bourdain’s origin myth. No white toque, no classic technique — just the gleam of grease and the indecent thrill of being close to danger, desire and dinner service.
Watching Beirut die
It’s some of Anthony Bourdain’s most sobering writing — stripped of bravado, uncharacteristically still.
In “Watching Beirut Die,” the chef arrives in Lebanon to film a food show and ends up documenting a war. What begins as a sunlit shoot — full of prideful locals, rooftop cocktails and hummus at Le Chef — is upended by rocket fire and airstrikes, with Bourdain and his crew trapped in their hotel, watching a city disassemble itself block by block. The piece is part dispatch, part lament: a love letter to a Beirut that had finally begun to bloom again, only to be bombed back into memory.
He wrote: “We watch the city we’d barely begun to know — and yet already started to love — destroyed, seemingly (from where we’re sitting) without sense or reason.”
We need your help to stay independent
Our favorite Salon stories about Bourdain
From the Salon archives, our writers’ favorite stories about Bourdain.
Anthony Bourdain didn’t say that (but we wish he did)
Every June, a quote attributed to Anthony Bourdain makes the rounds online — about cream sauce, rare steak and having a pint at 4 p.m. I wanted to believe it was real. I even found myself quietly living by it. But when I started digging, I discovered the truth: It wasn’t Bourdain at all, but something written by a fan after his death. Here, I unpack the internet’s longing for more Bourdain. And why, even if the quote is fake, the desire behind it feels painfully real.
In 2023, nobody knows how to discuss the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. In 2013, Anthony Bourdain did
In this searing essay, Senior Culture Critic Melanie McFarland revisits the Parts Unknown episode set in Jerusalem, the West Bank and Gaza — and explores why it remains one of Anthony Bourdain’s most courageous and urgent hours of television. In a media climate where honest conversations about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict feel near-impossible, McFarland argues that Bourdain’s approach — sit down, listen, eat, see — offered a kind of clarity we’re still hungry for today.
Bourdain collaborator Joel Rose: “Anthony was just as your mom saw him on TV”
Here, Senior Writer Chauncey DeVega speaks with Joel Rose — Anthony Bourdain’s longtime friend and co-author on the graphic novels “Get Jiro!” and “Hungry Ghosts” — about their decades-long creative bond and the private tenderness behind Bourdain’s public persona. Rose reflects on Bourdain’s humility, his generosity, and his relentless desire to grow as a writer. It’s a tribute filled with raw grief, deep friendship, and the kind of honesty Bourdain himself would have admired.
Chasing Anthony Bourdain’s “perfect little things”: Kitchen work and what I hungered for
Novelist and poet JoAnna Novak reflects on her years working in restaurant kitchens and the hunger that drove her—not just for food, but for meaning and belonging. Through the lens of Anthony Bourdain’s reverence for simple, soulful dishes like cacio e pepe, Novak explores the complex interplay of creativity, depression, and survival. It’s a beautifully raw meditation on how even the smallest acts of care—melting butter, seasoning pasta—can offer moments of grace amid life’s hardest struggles.
From “A Cook’s Tour” to “Parts Unknown,” Anthony Bourdain made us want to know him
Again, McFarland invites us to pull up a chair at Anthony Bourdain’s table, reflecting on the magnetic charisma and deep empathy that made him a star people longed to befriend. Tracing his journey from raw culinary explorer to seasoned cultural ambassador, this story honors Bourdain’s fearless curiosity and his profound understanding that food is not just nourishment but a sacred act of connection. In a world often divided by fear, Bourdain’s legacy reminds us how shared meals and open hearts can build bridges across cultures—and how sometimes, inviting someone unexpected to your table is the first step toward healing.
How to celebrate Bourdain Day
Ready to celebrate Anthony Bourdain Day with curiosity, good food and a spirit of fearless adventure?
Salon’s guide to Bourdain Day 2025
Looking for the perfect way to honor Anthony Bourdain Day? Find out where to dive into his groundbreaking shows and iconic books, plus how to channel his adventurous spirit in your own neighborhood—whether that’s ordering a daring dish, striking up a conversation with a stranger or raising a glass to curiosity and connection.
Bourdain’s 5 best comfort food recipes
You can eat like Anthony Bourdain, too! Dive into five of his most comforting, no-fail recipes — from rich mushroom soup to a classic roasted chicken — and bring a little of his bold, soulful cooking into your own kitchen.
