Chef and co-owner of Michelin-starred restaurant Le BernandinEric Ripertis publicly opening up about his friendship withAnthony Bourdainfor the first time since his death in June.
He also shared his insight on Bourdain’s “curious personality.”
“[Anthony was] very respectful of cultures and he wanted to share with the public his discoveries,” Ripert says. “The idea was do not be scared of traveling and do not be scared going to other countries and do not stay at the resort, do not stay at the hotel and eat the normal menu. Just go out, go in the street and engage with people. Try the food and learn the culture from that experience and I think he did really well in breaking walls, right, in between us and other countries that we sometimes are a bit scared or nervous to visit and that was really a great part of his legacy.”
Ripert reminisced on some of their good times together, including their nationwide tourGood vs. Evil.
“We were actually amazed we were sold out in theaters,” he toldCBS. “We used to play pranks on each other and we used to have a lot of fun but he never criticized my food, which was nice.”
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Two days beforeBourdainwas found dead in his luxury hotel room, the close friends were spotting riding in the countryside on a tandem bicycle.
After a final season of the hit CNN show, the network confirmed to PEOPLE that the episode Ripert and Bourdain were filming in the Alsace region of France when he diedwill not air.
“From the completed footage, the producers were able to create five location episodes (including Kenya, Asturias, Indonesia, and Far West Texas) plus two specials,” a CNN spokesperson said in a statement. “Alsace was not included.”
source: people.com
