From the restaurant kitchen, to the Nigerian coast, to the markets of Singapore,Anthony Bourdain was a world class chef, writer, and storyteller. Hisdetermination to bring light and honesty to his culinary pursuits continues tomake waves in the industry even today, some three years after his death. June 25marked what would have been Bourdain's 65th birthday, so to celebrate, we'llremember what made this globe-trotting foodie so great. Photo credit: Robb Report[https://robbreport.com/food-drink/dining/anthony-bourdain-food-journalism-impact-2799474/].Anthony Bourdain was born in Leonia, New Jersey, to parents who helped inspirea desire for knowledge from a young age. After trying his first oyster on a tripto France, Bourdain was hooked. He began his culinary career as a restaurantdishwasher, a role that he later[https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2016/10/27/499308031/in-appetites-bourdain-pleases-the-toughest-food-critic-his-9-year-old] described as responsible for “every important lesson, all the most importantlessons of my life." Indeed, one of Bourdain's greatest strengths as a foodconnoisseur and storyteller was his ability to reframe one's relationship tofood. His first major print publication, a 1999 article in The New Yorker titled"Don’t Eat Before Reading This[https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/1999/04/19/dont-eat-before-reading-this],"was met with immediate acclaim. In the article, Bourdain drops insider knowledgeof the industry (order fish on a Tuesday, never order your meat well-done), buthis witty, honest voice tells another, more poignant story: lean into theexperience of food in all its messy and imperfect glory. As this[https://www.vox.com/culture/2018/6/8/17441418/anthony-bourdain-new-yorker-essay-kitchen-confidential] Vox article puts it, > "That was the food world that Bourdain helped create and make wildlyfashionable: one in which eaters could unabashedly celebrate their food, and theinsistent physical fact of it."The 1999 New Yorker article soon grew into Bourdain's first brush with fame: his2000 book Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly. Thepublication became an immediate bestseller, and ultimately opened the door toBourdain's international success as a writer, respected TV host, and lover offood. Within the decade, Bourdain had earned several Emmys for hisgroundbreaking narrative technique and journalistic integrity (he wrote his ownvoiceovers, and sought his own food destinations). His 2001 book A Cook’s Tour chronicles his travels to places including Vietnam, Mexico, Russia, Morocco andCambodia. In it, he eats a still-beating cobra heart (among other things). Photo credit: CNN.Most notably, Bourdain's entry into the writing world markedhis departure from the haute world of high-end cooking. Bourdain replaced thebistro food of the rich with the soup of Lagos, the noodles of Vietnam, and thefish of the Philippines. Taking to the streets of countries and cities acrossthe world, Bourdain began his search for great food, culture, and thedemystification of places that he thought to be previously "off the map" in aseries of TV shows that he hosted up until the time of his death in 2018. Hisfinal program, "Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown" on CNN, explored cuisine andculture in every nook and cranny of the world. The show was among his mostsuccessful, and won twelve Primetime Emmy Awards out of 31 nominations, as wellas a 2013 Peabody Award.Even posthumously, Bourdain continues to remind us what a gift it is toexperience wonderful food, in all its forms. He reminds us to step out of ourcomfort zones, try new things, and embrace uncertainty with gusto. On the 65thanniversary of his birth, enjoy a lovely meal in the name of the late and greatAnthony Bourdain. Photo credit: Celeb[https://www.celebstoner.com/reviews/tv-and-movies/2019/09/23/anthony-bourdain-parts-unknown-wins-final-emmys/].