This will provide grant money to one or more Culinary Institute of America students per year to study abroad. Bourdain attended the school’s Hyde Park, New York, campus in the late '70s.
His CNN show focused on food as well as culture and politics. President Obama made an appearance during an episode shot in Vietnam. Bourdain had left his Travel Channel show "No Reservations" in 2012 after a fight with the network.
War between Israel and Lebanon broke out while Bourdain was shooting "No Reservations" in Beirut. He and his crew managed to escape the country with help from the U.S. Marine Corps.
Bourdain published his most famous book — "Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly." The book wound up a New York Times bestseller and would change Bourdain's career forever. This followed a series of both fiction and nonfiction works.
Bourdain became executive chef at Brasserie Les Halles. He stayed there for many years — eventually becoming what the restaurant called its "chef at large."
