Anthony Bourdain, the chef who became a world-traveling storyteller, has died at age 61, according to CNN.
He died in France, while working on an episode of his CNN show, “Parts Unknown.” Bourdain was found unresponsive in his hotel room by a close friend, French chef Eric Ripert, on Friday morning, CNN said. The cause of his death was suicide.
In a statement, CNN said:
“It is with extraordinary sadness we can confirm the death of our friend and colleague, Anthony Bourdain. His love of great adventure, new friends, fine food and drink and the remarkable stories of the world made him a unique storyteller. His talents never ceased to amaze us and we will miss him very much. Our thoughts and prayers are with his daughter and family at this incredibly difficult time.”
Bourdain was best known for his travel shows, where he told the stories of people and cultures from around the world through the food they ate. “Parts Unknown” was the latest in that series. Since premiering in 2013, the program has won five Emmy awards, and a Peabody.
Back in 2014, Bourdain wrote:
Americans love Mexican food. We consume nachos, tacos, burritos, tortas, enchiladas, tamales, and anything resembling Mexican in enormous quantities.
We love Mexican beverages, happily knocking back huge amounts of tequila, mezcal and Mexican beer every year.
We love Mexican people — as we sure employ a lot of them. Despite our ridiculously hypocritical attitudes towards immigration, we demand that Mexicans cook a large percentage of the food we eat, grow the ingredients we need to make that food, clean our houses, mow our lawns, wash our dishes, and look after our children. As any chef will tell you, our entire service economy — the restaurant business as we know it — in most American cities, would collapse overnight without Mexican workers.
RIP Anthony Bourdain
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