What Did Anthony Bourdain Do Before Hosting His First TV Show?

When Anthony Bourdain first appeared on television, he looked like he'd been born into the industry. Sharp and witty, he intrigued viewers with his extensive knowledge of food, travel, and the restaurant industry, all while maintaining a no nonsense kind of charisma. His first television hosting gig was "A Cook's Tour," which ran on Food Network from 2002 to 2003. It was based on his book of the same name.

Although Bourdain went on to host several more, very successful television shows, he was a chef well before the cameras found him. The New Jersey native graduated from the prestigious Culinary Institute of America in 1978 and worked in numerous restaurants over the years, including stints at The Supper Club, The Rainbow Room, and Les Halles. (He would later write a Les Halles cookbook that's packed with classic recipes.) Bourdain also dabbled in writing during this time, penning two crime novels in the 1990s. 

It was during his time working as the executive chef at Les Halles that Bourdain wrote an article for The New Yorker titled "Don't Eat Before Reading This." In this article, Bourdain spilled the dirt on the cutthroat world of the restaurant industry, revealing the good, the bad, and the very ugly things that were only known to those working in kitchens (including why Bourdain would never order mussels from a restaurant). The very next year, Bourdain followed up his famous article by writing a book called "Kitchen Confidential" which expanded on the inner workings of commercial kitchens and gave readers an autobiographical account of his life. In 2001, "A Cook's Tour" was published. The aforementioned show followed soon after. From this time until the end of his life, Bourdain was basically a permanent fixture on the television screen.

Although Anthony Bourdain was steadily working as an executive chef before he found himself yanked from anonymity, he never returned to professional cooking on a full time basis. Instead, he authored several more books and hosted various television shows (along with doing guest appearances and editing and producing a number of magazine, TV, and film projects). The shows that he himself hosted (that is, when he wasn't part of a guest panel or co-hosting with others) were produced by and aired on several different stations, but they all followed a general theme. In them, Bourdain traveled, ate almost everything, and waxed poetic on everything from people to politics.

"A Cook's Tour" was followed by "No Reservations" which aired on The Travel Channel, the station which also produced "The Layover." "Parts Unknown" aired on CNN and was, arguably, the most successful of Bourdain's shows, earning 12 Emmy's over the five years it was on air. In these programs, Bourdain traveled to all parts of the world. He constantly sought out the mystery and intrigue of these locations, and made his viewers want to follow in his footsteps. With his constant globetrotting, it's easy to see why people sometimes forget he was once a chef, but it was his time and experiences as a chef that launched his journey, and I, for one, loved the ride he took us on.