Anthony Bourdain Inspired 1 of the Funniest Scenes in ‘Chef’
Anthony Bourdain‘s legacy centered around cooking on and off television. He went from being an executive chef in Les Halles to being a TV personality in various food shows. He even became an author of a best-selling book early in his career.
The book he wrote was titled Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly. It is a memoir and an inside look at kitchens in high-end restaurants. Additionally, one of the stories in it influenced a scene in Chef.
‘Chef’ is a movie that stars Jon Favreau
Chef is a 2014 road comedy-drama about Carl, a chef who gets into an incident with a critic. As a result, he gets fired from his job at a well-known restaurant. He then travels to Miami with his son and ex-wife and acquires a run-down food truck.
After fixing up the truck, Carl has a renewed passion for cooking. He drives around the country and becomes popular in a few places. Eventually, the food critic returns and offers to help him start a new restaurant. Credits for the writing and directing of the film belong to Jon Favreau.
Favreau also portrays the lead character. Other cast members include Scarlett Johansson, Sofía Vergara, and John Leguizamo. The movie was successful, leading to the Netflix series The Chef Show. Additionally, culinary lovers may recognize a couple of references in the film.
For example, the critic’s name likely comes from famed chef Gordon Ramsay. There also is a reference to his show Hell’s Kitchen. Additionally, the late Anthony Bourdain influenced a scene.
How Anthony Bourdain influenced ‘Chef’
According to Eater, Jon Favreau mentioned in an interview that he had no kitchen experience. Therefore, he read many anecdotes about cooking from books that chefs wrote. He used the stories to inspire some of the scenes in Chef. One of those books was Kitchen Confidential by Anthony Bourdain.
Kitchen Confidential contains various anecdotes and insights into the culinary trade. After Leguizamo joined the cast, Favreau had him read it. The actor later suggested they have a part that features something the book mentioned. The scene in question involves the use of cornstarch.
“There’s a scene in the movie, we’re sprinkling cornstarch on our nuts, that was a suggestion that John Leguizamo said, ‘We should have a scene with cornstarch’ because he had read the book. I said, ‘Yeah, yeah, so Bourdain talks about putting cornstarch in your balls.’ It ends up being a real laugh,” Favreau said.
People who have read Bourdain’s book may have caught the reference. Still, Favreau enjoyed that a part of the audience was wondering what they were doing. Regardless, the scene was humorous for chefs and non-chefs alike.
Anthony Bourdain’s culinary legacy
Anthony Bourdain accumulated a net worth of $16 million before he died in 2018. He became a successful chef and gained a following as a TV personality. His fame and wealth all started with an article. He sent his work to various magazines until The New Yorker published his writing.
Soon after, Bourdain wrote his first book Kitchen Confidential. It became a bestseller, and the rising chef eventually landed a show on Food Network. Later, his next series was Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations on the Travel Channel.
Bourdain earned two awards for the series. Over the years, he has worked as an executive producer and appeared in other TV shows. For example, he was a guest judge on Top Chef multiple times. He has given tips to food lovers as well.
Some of Bourdain’s advice has been about finding the best restaurants. People have learned a lot about cooking and the industry from him.
