Good food is very often, even most often, simple food.

— Anthony Bourdain (1956-2018) American celebrity chef, author, and travel documentarian

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I was never so heartbroken about a celebrity as when I heard the news of Anthony Bourdain’s death in 2018. I was shocked, saddened, and still feel a deep loss. Of course, I never met him. I had only seen him on the TV shows he wrote and hosted. It was there I saw someone deeply in love with life, people, all cultures, food . . . and, I saw someone who experienced life as I did not. He jumped right in to taste new foods and to visit places all over the globe. He did this with an abandon I could watch and admire. I wished I had that drive and fearlessness.

There is a quote from a friend that I think about very often, “No one knows what is going on inside of you. They only know what they see on the outside.”

I think about that a lot in reference to my own feelings and how I appear to other people. I also look at other people and realize I do not know what goes on inside them unless they tell me.

Often, there seemed to be a sadness or melancholy in Bourdain’s demeanor, but I never knew what that was about. I did not take it as unusual. I am melancholy and know many people who have that temperament. 

In watching Tony’s shows, one could not help but notice that he seemed to be searching, examining, and deeply experiencing life through different food and cultures. He was unafraid to stare deeply into humanity. His insightful commentary made me feel like I, too, had also experienced it. 

I miss him and his insights about people, cultures, and the world.

When I read Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly (2000), I was deeply taken by his descriptions—especially of eating that first oyster in France. With his words, he made me experience vicariously the food, sensations, and emotions. He was not afraid to describe the grittiness, the rawness, or the pure pleasure of any experience. It felt as if he traveled precisely so that he could have as many unusual and probing encounters as possible. By doing so himself, he let us all do it as well.

In his TV shows, he always talks about the beauty in simplicity: there is nothing better than a simple meal prepared with love. In the act of sharing a common meal we connect with those whose lives, language, and experiences are different from our own.

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Truth is ever to be found in simplicity, and not in the multiplicity and confusion of things.

— Isaac Newton (1642-1727) English mathematician, physicist, astronomer, theologian, and author

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Bourdain took us along on his search for simplicity in food, people, cultures . . . and what makes us all the same. If we could share a simple meal with those who we don’t understand we would learn something about them and we might change our mind about them. We could empathize with their experiences and lifestyles. 

A few things Bourdain said during a 2016 interview for “Fresh Air” have stuck with me: 

. . . some travel writer said that, you know, you – what you’re really looking at when you travel is inward all the time.

. . . I found it’s just very, very useful to not be a journalist. I mean, journalists drop into a situation, ask a question. People sort of tighten up. Whereas if you sit down with people who just say, hey, what makes you happy? What’s your life like? What do you like to eat? More often than not, they will tell you extraordinary things, many of which have nothing to do with food.

. . . it just seems to me the more you are able to show people’s everyday lives often as they revolve around food and daily tasks when something happens in the news, you have a better idea who we’re talking about here.

Bourdain’s honesty and straightforward attitude encouraged people to open up to him and respond with that same honesty in their conversations. What Bourdain gave to his viewers was a gift. He gave us experiences, insights, and a broader appreciation for life.