This summer, my sister and I found ourselves with a day to spend in Paris and not sure how to make the most of it. Before stepping out, we watched the Paris episode of Anthony Bourdain’s travel show The Layover. He said don’t bother visiting the Eiffel Tower. Drink coffee, visit bookshops, eat oysters, wonder aimlessly, sit at little cafes and watch people walk by. We did, and it really was the perfect day in Paris. Tony had some great advice.

The late chef/author/documentarian was blunt, passionate, and sarcastic. In his shows, he explored food, travel, culture, and people. He was authentic and opinionated, an antidote to mainstream niceties. His shows have a way of inspiring, making you laugh, and making you a bit melancholy. That’s Bourdain’s filmmaking legacy - but there are many layers to the man and his history.

Directed by Matt Johnson (creator/star of Nirvana the Band the Show), this A24 film isn’t your average biopic. For starters, it’s largely fictionalized, loosely inspired by the opening chapters of Bourdain’s memoir Kitchen Confidential. It portrays Bourdain as a chaotic 19-year-old who ends up training as a chef completely by accident. After failing to get a writing fellowship, he follows his crush Nancy to Massachusetts and falls into a seafood restaurant called The Flagship (helmed by Antonio Banderas’s “Chef”). Attracted by the drug-fuelled action of the kitchen (it’s the mid-70s, by the way), Tony discovers a new life-long passion. 

The maritime character of Cape Cod, the sweltering kitchen of The Flagship, and the film Tony sees at the drive-in (the new summer blockbuster Jaws) give the film a cool, sweaty, nostalgic tone. The melancholy vibe is rounded out by the knowledge of Bourdain’s tragic death in 2018. But surely a tribute to him should be full of joy, chaos, badass chefs, and a bit of sadness? A tribute to spontaneity and accidental adventures, some blood in the water, and feel-good moments in the darkness? Sounds about right. 

Written by Jodie Passey

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