As one of the most famous chefs and television personalities, Anthony Bourdain was no stranger to the spotlight. Here are some facts you might not know about the Kitchen Confidential chef.
5 Facts About Anthony Bourdain
1. Bourdain’s first kitchen job was washing dishes at a wedding, and he saw the chef having sex with the bride
When Tony was 17, he worked as a dishwasher for a wedding reception. Later on in the evening, he spied the bride and chef having sex by the garbage. From that moment on, he knew he was on the right career path.
2. Bourdain was a 15-minute early, kinda guy.
“Show up on time. I learned this from the mentor who I call Bigfoot in Kitchen Confidential. If you didn’t show up 15 minutes exactly before your shift — if you were 13 minutes early — you lost the shift, you were sent home. The second time you were fired. It is the basis of everything. I make all my major decisions on other people based on that. Give the people you work with or deal with or have relationships with the respect to show up at the time you said you were going to. And by that I mean, every day, always, and forever.
3. Bourdain gave Bradley Cooper his big break
In 2005 Kitchen Confidential was adapted into a short-lived TV series with a star-studded cast beginning their careers. Bourdain cast Cooper to play Jack Bourdain, the “bad-boy chef” who runs wild in his NYC restaurant.
4. Bourdain grew up wanting to be a comic book artist and then became one.
Tony co-wrote a Get Jiro! A DC Comics graphic novel published in 2011. The comic book, which Bourdain described as “set in near-future L.A., where warring clans of chefs with differing ideologies slaughter each other in the streets, and people literally kill for a seat at the best restaurant” rose to the top spot on the New York Times bestseller list.
5. Bourdain is cool with Billy Joel but hates his music.
Once at dinner with Billy Joel, Tony told him how much his music sucks. “We’ve actually sat at a table together, I’m socking back the Negronis, and he was like “Really, you hate all my songs?” “Yeah, pretty much.” I liked his first band, Attila; they rocked.” He said in a conversation with top chef BFF Eric Ripert.
Stay tuned for more fun facts that you might now know about other famous chefs.
