Famed chef and television personality Anthony Bourdain was found dead Friday morning in a hotel room in France. The cause of death was suicide, CNN reported.
The following article was written by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution in 2015.
CNN food critic and world traveler Anthony Bourdain had never eaten at a Waffle House.
CNN’s “Parts Unknown” host made a career out of visiting some of the world’s most eccentric locales and eating whatever the local populace will put on a plate, stick or shingle.
The worst thing he's ever eaten? Fermented shark in Iceland, which somehow beat out maggot fried rice and raw seal eyes.
The best? Could it be a pecan waffle from Waffle House?
Bourdain visited a South Carolina Waffle House back in 2015 with southern chef Sean Brock, who said he has visited the roadside eatery since he was a young because he enjoys watching food being prepared.
Brock, from Charleston, apparently has the two-sided menu implanted in his DNA and instructs the man who has tasted everything to get a pecan waffle. He then shows him how to slather a butter-like substance into every waffle grid and soak it in syrup.
Bourdain’s review? He says Waffle House is “indeed marvelous” but seems as captivated by the late-night lunacy as the food.
In the opening of the video, the famous chef (and imbiber of adult beverages) offers up high praise, calling the familiar diner a “yellow beacon of hope” for the “seriously hammered.”
Customers of all races, creeds and “degrees of inebriation” seem welcome, he says. “It never closes” and “is always there for you.”
Waffle House not only has delicious grub, but it’s a “place of safety and nourishment” for all, says Bourdain, who may have been consuming something fermented other than Icelandic shark while putting this piece together.
“That’s good,” exclaims Bourdain as he stuffs some waffle in his face.
Brock, in referencing a famous French restaurant in California, says “You don’t come here expecting The French Laundry” … “you expect something amazing.”
“This is better than The French Laundry,” says Bourdain, who may have trouble getting a reservation the next time he is in Napa.
But, with 2,100 Waffle Houses in the U.S., he probably won't go hungry.
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