Anthony Bourdain…Plot points and parts known.

I’ve seen tributes and quotes and grief throughout today. Another loss, another question unanswered. I could pay tribute or put up a quote. (which would be bullshit, because I haven’t memorized anything the dude said)

Let me do this instead: I want to share what I learned from Anthony Bourdain in the long time I spent watching his shows and reading his work.

I am a carpenter and he was a chef. I deal in wood and he dealt in food. Two very narrow professions from a certain perspective. Both considered to be of the trades, both considered to be an art within the right context, expertise and audience.

Mr. Bourdain took his vocation in food and drew a big circle around it. He then laid out thousands of plot points in that circle and around its circumference. These plot points, without context could be meaningless, politics, geography, poverty, oppression, culture, history, war, et al. Yet, somehow he connected all of these grand thoughts to the simplicity of food and cooking.

Anthony Bourdain helped me to bridge the divide between what I thought to be a lowly trade-skill with wood into something that had a circle of richness around it. Instead of an underachiever I felt revolutionary. From the history of domestic architecture to the genius of complex structural design to the beauty of a simple crafted crown molding detail. What I did, what we did, what we all do matters and is rooted in something deep.

His art was to convince us that what we do can be art, that what we do has a past that is beautiful and poetic.

I will miss you Anthony Bourdain. You spoke to my heart more than I expected and I grieve.

Rest, I hope you have found peace.

Aaron

@aaronthomasquinas