Anthony Bourdain was a complicated person. He had many demons. Could tear his friends to pieces with sharp and targeted words. He battled depression most of his life. He had a severe inadequacy complex, never thinking he was good enough for any of his significant others or daughter.
But Anthony Bourdain was the great empathizer. He had the ability to disarm anyone, make them feel safe, yet vulnerable, all around a table with food. He knew how to put into words the human experience. He never looked down, always straight ahead. (Unless your name happened to be Henry Kissinger, then he looked down on you and spit in your general direction)
It's one of those weird relationships where we've never met Anthony in person, but he meant a lot to Sal and I. Part of our travel-lust was born out of watching Anthony bravely share a meal in places deemed "too dangerous" for the average tourist. We saw him go to places like Vegas, but instead of spending all of his time wandering the Sahara, he took you to Atomic Liquor off the strip. He was always more interested in the people that could take him to the local places, than going to restaurants owned by celebrity chefs.
