Celebrating ‘Bourdain Day’ through love of food, cultures: Vancouver celebrity chef
Posted June 25, 2020 2:48 pm.
Last Updated June 25, 2020 2:56 pm.
VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) — By sharing the flavours and stories of other countries, one friend remembers Anthony Bourdain for his legacy of breaking down barriers between cultures.
Since his passing in 2018, chefs and fans around the world have celebrated his birthday, June 25, as “Bourdain Day.”
“The influence that he had was he made chefs think outside and experience the world of other cultures and other parts of the world that were probably not accessible to that line cook,” Vikram Vij, Vancouver restaurant owner and chef tells Breakfast Television.
Vij was on Bourdain’s show “No Reservations” in 2008.
Watch: Chefs declare June 25 ‘Bourdain Day’
He remembers his friend, who he refers to as Tony, for his love of food and travel and how he brought that passion to others.
“He did it so beautifully. He wove a story of different cultures, different histories. Most importantly, he said, ‘Break bread with people of different cultures,’ and made them understand where he was coming from.”
“He had one of the best palates I’ve ever seen, and that came from experience.”
When filming the show, Vij says they went to the Punjabi Market near 49th Avenue and Main Street in Vancouver.
“We were walking on the street and all these Punjabi people who knew of me would come up and say hello to me,” he says. “They never said hi to him. They didn’t know this tall, lanky, non-Indian walking down the Punjabi Market.”
Vij says he joked that it was his town with Bourdain.
“He just laughed so hard and took it so humbly and beautifully that here he was Anthony Bourdain getting no recognition in the Punjabi Market,” he says. “That was the kind of human being he was.”
While people still can’t travel to experience other foods, Vij says trying to bring other cultures to the kitchen is still an option to honour Boudain.
“He wanted to give back to the world and build these tolerances with other cultures and different histories. That’s why I think it’s so appropriate to call June 25 Bourdain Day.”
-With files from Breakfast Television
