Anthony Bourdain was an American celebrity chef, author, and travel documentarian who starred in programs focusing on the exploration of international culture, cuisine, and the human condition.

Bourdain was a 1978 graduate of The Culinary Institute of America and a veteran of many professional kitchens during his career, which included several years spent as an executive chef at Brasserie Les Halles in Manhattan. He first became known for his bestselling book Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly (2000).

Bourdain's first food and world-travel television show A Cook's Tour ran for 35 episodes on the Food Network in 2002 and 2003. In 2005, he began hosting the Travel Channel's culinary and cultural adventure programs Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations (2005–2012) and The Layover (2011–2013). In 2013, he began a three-season run as a judge on The Taste and consequently switched his travelogue programming to CNN to host Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown. Although best known for his culinary writings and television presentations, along with several books on food and cooking and travel adventures, Bourdain also wrote both fiction and historical nonfiction.

Bourdain's love of food was kindled in his youth while on a family vacation in France when he tried his first oyster from a fisherman's boat. In 1973, he enrolled at Vassar College but dropped out after two years. He worked at seafood restaurants in Provincetown, Massachusetts, while attending Vassar, which inspired his decision to pursue cooking as a career.

As his star rose as a celebrity chef, he was called "the original rock star of the culinary world” and the "culinary bad boy," due to his liberal use of profanity and sexual references in his television show No Reservations. Anthony Bourdain was known for consuming exotic local specialty dishes including "black sausage" in Finland, sheep testicles in Morocco, and ant eggs in Puebla, Mexico.

Anthony Bourdain was known for his sarcastic comments about vegan and vegetarians but he also believed that Americans ate too much meat, and admired vegetarians and vegans who put aside their beliefs when visiting different cultures in order to be respectful of their hosts.

Sadly, Anthony Bourdain took his own life at the age of 61. May he find peace and comfort In Heaven with the Stars.