Chef, author and TV personality Anthony Bourdain died suddenly in France on Friday.
The profanity-inclined 61-year-old was irresistible.
He once admitted the title "celebrity chef" was both an embarrassment and an oxymoron, as no one could be both a star and a professional cook. Additionally, he seemed embarrassed of the power he wielded with publishers.
I became a lifetime fan after reading his book, Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly - a New York Times bestseller and a rite of passage for any chef.
![Flowers are left at a makeshift memorial for Anthony Bourdain outside the building that once housed Le Halles restaurant on John St, New York. Photo / AP](https://www.nzherald.co.nz/resizer/v2/BRXGBFSBVJCWYHL5P2Y4TSLP7M.jpg?auth=d843bab20cad253f27eb3090b1194ad83cb9ee4bc16cfe7d7e87165f9a33bd5e&width=16&height=11&quality=70&smart=true)