And then there is Bourdain!!

Chefs. They are a peculiar species. You could call them a cross between executives and artists, creating and serving works of art (well, sometimes) and running a kitchen for a professional enterprise all at once. Let's look at some of the best in the business.
Ferran Adria - El Bulli, Spain
Gordon Ramsay - Various restaurants
Thomas Keller - French Laundry, LA
Nobu - Nobu's, various locations
Famous, talented and awe-inspiring they are, but there is one who has chosen to be radically different from all of them and has in the process created a fan following his peers could only dream of.
Womanizer, two-pack-a-day smoker, self-confessed cocaine and heroin addict, vegetarian and vegan loather. Doesn’t sound like much, does he?? Hold on, don't judge him till you've read through this post. For all you foodies out there, he's a lesson on being a foodie. Ladies n gentlemen, I give you Anthony Bourdain!!

Bourdain started out by doing odd jobs in restaurants in and around the New Jersey area. But he wasn't like any of the Michelin star chefs I mentioned at the start. He was a maverick - and still is. He wasn't in it for the Michelin stars. He wasn't in it for the fame. He had two needs - he wanted women, and he wanted drugs. Being a chef gave him both. His first big break in the business was a job at an upmarket New York restaurant called Brasserie Les Halles where he is the executive chef today.
So what makes our man so special? Well there's a twist in the tale. He's taken to traveling around the world sampling cuisine wherever he goes, writing books and making TV shows while he's at it. Now, there are other travel show hosts who do this but Bourdain is different.
Firstly, there are no five star hotels or resorts or big restaurants on his show. The man eats with regular local people wherever he goes. In Portugal, it was a friend's farmhouse, in Mexico his assistant's village and in our very own Mumbai the Khau Galli. Secondly the man will eat anything; I repeat anything that is offered to him. Wanna know some of the things he's had to eat? Here goes.
(Warning: This is not for the faint hearted)

Ant-eggs in Mexico
Cobra with beating heart in Vietnam
Sheep testicles in Morocco
Seal eyeball somewhere in Scandinavia
And finally the piece de resistance -
Warthog anus in Namibia!!

Despite all his idiosyncrasies and his maverick status, the fact remains that Bourdain is a rock star and a blessing for foodies around the world. I am definitely hooked on and even you should be - if you're a foodie that is. I leave you with a list of his books and TV shows.

Bibliography

Fiction

Bone in the Throat
Gone Bamboo
The Bobby Gold Stories

Non-Fiction

Kitchen Confidential
A Cook's Tour
Typhoid Mary: An Urban Historical
Anthony Bourdain's Les Halles Cookbook
The Nasty Bits

TV Shows

A Cook's Tour - Discovery Travel & Living
Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations - Discovery Travel & Living