Another star has died, but unlike those involved in fashion or film, this one is in food. In light of Anthony Bourdain’s passing, an article he wrote - published by the New Yorker - came to my attention. It’s an older piece from 1999 but the content of it is as relevant today as it was then.
It must be noted that I like food. I love food. I don’t eat much but I eat out regularly, maybe once or twice a day. My wallet is much thinner than me.
I have to thank my family for feeding me well when I was younger. I grew up in a wonderful area for good food. Farm-to-table dining began as a social movement up here in Northern California and notable proponents are as close as a ten minute walk away from where I attend school. According to the Michelin Guide, the Greater SF Bay Area is the country’s capital for fine dining. I’ve been to many restaurants on the guide, one with a star - Gary Danko’s - and I hope to go to many more in the future.
However, it must be recognized that some of the best restaurants to eat at aren’t the fanciest. I've definitely been to establishments that I didn't enjoy because of the setup and ostentatious cuisine. It’s difficult to enjoy a meal if you aren’t comfortable. Especially with my favorite kinds of cuisines - think European style, French, Italian, or Chinese - the restaurants I hold dear are not always the fine dining of vogue. The best places to eat, I believe, are modeled after places like my grandmother’s kitchen.
In other words, good food is a home where the heart is warm.
Anthony Bourdain was well known for several things in the food industry: his expertise, his passion, and his values. Significantly, he understood that food has cultural meaning. Food is powerful.
The article I reference here is not about the fashionably shallow appeal of the fine dining we see in Instagram pictures and Yelp reviews. Instead, Bourdain exposes the reality that the kitchen and dining experience is not as clean as it should be. The kitchen is a community - communities are often messy and not often very pleasant.
I consider myself a foodie, but I’m probably one of the few foodies in the developed world that has helped raise the food she’s eaten. In addition to getting down and dirty in the garden, I have to admit that the best tasting lamb I’ve ever had was raised in my backyard - you can’t go more farm-to-table than both the farm and the table taking place on a 0.28 acre property.
I grew up with an appreciation for food because I knew where it came from.
Bourdain did a lot of good for the world by telling it how it is. Things that seem really clean and nice and perfect aren't always that way on the inside, and vice versa. Life can be quite confusing. Death, in the case of Bourdain, even more so as we try to wrap our heads around it. If icons succumb to the very issues that they've symbolically manifested, the truths they've given us start to come to question all around us.
There's nothing special to be found in the ramblings of a person who just likes food and wants to appreciate the life of another person.
Maybe, if anything at all, here is a lesson to remember all the good in someone's life. In particular, let's eat and appreciate life. Let's live life while we have it. Let's explore all the senses we have to appreciate this world with. Let's walk from place to place, let's listen to music, let's feel the breeze blow by the seas and the field, let's look at all the colors of art and flowers and nature and fiction. Let's eat with our family and share these experiences with our neighbors and friends.