The 47-year-oldTop Chefhost and judge heard the news on Friday when she was in Kentucky, wherethe longtime Bravo competition series is currently filming season 16.
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Hours after the news hit, Lakshmi and herTop Chefcostars returned to filming the series. Bourdain had appeared on the show as a frequent guest judge and was a self-described“regular viewer” and “fan”of the program.
“It’s obviously hard on all of us,” Lakshmi said. “He was great onTop Chef. He brought a breath of fresh air and a new energy and made it his own. He was very much himself. He made me laugh the whole time. He was like a swashbuckling pirate that just out of nowhere landed onto our judges table.”
Everet
Though the two both shared a love of food and travel, it was the birth of Lakshmi’s daughter Krishna Thea, 8, that connected them on a deeper level.
Bourdain’s role as a father to daughter Ariane, now 11, showed Lakshmi a different side of him as the two “really bonded over our girls.”
Lakshmi also has found memories of Bourdain’s sense of humor. “He definitely had this mischievous rebel side to him. He always had a twinkle in his eye. You could tell he was winding up to say something really funny and really off color,” she said. “He’s one of the wittiest people I’ve ever known, and I’ve known some pretty witty folks. He was whip-smart. Because he was so funny, he often got away with a lot of his commentary.”
“The important thing to know about Tony is that he didn’t take himself very seriously. He really wore his success lightly,” Lakshmi added. “I know a lot of people in the entertainment business, I know a lot of writers, and I know a lot of chefs. But I didn’t know a lot of people like Tony. He was somebody I really admired. He was somebody who was generous with his time. He was never too grand or too big. He said it like it was but he also admitted when he was wrong. And not many big chefs have an ego that allows them to do that but he did.”
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But mostly, Lakshmi will remember the legacy he left behind.
“The reason people loved him and watched him travel around the world was that he had an innate curiosity about other people and other cultures,” she said. “He had an uncanny ability to see the humanity in everyone, whether he could identify with them or not. He made us understand that food is about more than physical sustenance — it’s also about what connects us emotionally. He wanted to connect with the world and connect us to each other.”
After Bourdain’s death, Bravo released a statement mourning the loss of the star.
“Our hearts are heavy to learn of the passing of Anthony Bourdain,” the network wrote on Twitter. “He was a beam of light not only as an incredible chef, author and entrepreneur, but also someone we considered family at Bravo andTop Chef. We know that his legacy will live on and he will be greatly missed.”
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source: people.com
