Remembering Anthony Bourdain, And His Trip To Butte

Anthony Bourdain: Celebrity Chef, author, and travel documentarian.

Bourdain is one of those individuals whose career is so varied, that different people have different entry points into ‘Bourdain fandom’.

Some people were introduced to Anthony via his writing, the big one being “Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly”. Kitchen Confidential was a New York Time Bestseller and an eye-opening read for anyone who has never worked in a kitchen. He also penned several mystery novels, which grew in popularity, as his personal popularity grew. His writing credits don’t end there, he also had a hand in several graphic novels, most notably “Get Jiro!” which he co-wrote with Joel Rose.

NEW YORK, NY - JUNE 21: Anthony Bourdain attends the Anthony Bourdain and Joel Rose "Get Jiro!" Book Launch Party at Les Halles Downtown on June 21, 2012 in New York City. (Photo by Theo Wargo/Getty Images)

If Bourdain’s writings didn’t bring you into his orbit, it was probably television. The amazing success of Kitchen Confidential, mixed with his personality, and view of the world landed him “A Cooks’ Tour’ his first food/travel show on Food Network in 2002.

Bourdain described the show model like this “I travel around the world, eat a lot of S***, and basically do whatever the F*** I want”

People loved it. Bourdain instantly became the first “Rock Star Chef”

‘A Cooks Tour’ ran for three years, producing 35 episodes.

No Reservations was next in line for Anthony, the show was very similar to A Cooks Tour, but with a bigger budget, and more diverse locations. The series was nominated for four Emmys, winning two. No Reservations produced 142 episodes over 7 seasons.

LOS ANGELES, CA - AUGUST 16: TV personality Anthony Bourdain poses in the press room during the 2014 Creative Arts Emmy Awards at Nokia Theatre L.A. Live on August 16, 2014 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Frazer Harrison/Getty Images)

Bourdain announced he was leaving the Travel Channel in 2012. He went on to host Parts Unknown for CNN. Parts Unknown is what brought Bourdain to the Mining City.

“At First Look, you’d think this is the worst place on Earth. A ravaged, toxic, godforsaken hill threatened from above, riddled with darkness from below, but you’d be wrong.”

I am no writer. Not even close. Knowing that, I still get jealous of how ‘on the nose’ Tony hits Butte. I’ve lived here my entire life, I love this valley and everyone in it, and yet a guy from Manhattan who can put it into words better than I is a bit infuriating.

The whole Montana episode of Parts Unknown is attached, (but I have it starting at the Butte segment). Watch what you have time to, if it’s just the Butte segment, awesome. If you have time to watch it all, even better.

One of the things I truly loved about Bourdain is he tried to tell stories from multiple angles. Some of his stuff I am behind 100%, and others, not at all. But I listen to it all and try and learn. Which I feel is an important step.

Anthony Bourdain passed away 5 years ago this week. I, for one, am still eternally grateful that he made it to Butte, and was able to see what we are made of.