How an encounter with Anthony Bourdain meant the world to an Island chef

It was the mid 2000s and John Pritchard, who now works with Pure Kitchen Catering on P.E.I., was serving as the executive chef at a new resort in Bermuda.

At the time, there was a culinary arts festival happening in the area and Anthony Bourdain was part of it, Pritchard said.

• Anthony Bourdain was a dream dinner guest, Winnipeg foodie remembers​​
• How Anthony Bourdain left a mark on Montreal's culinary scene

Pritchard happened to be within earshot of the celebrity chef during an event. Bourdain saw him and invited Pritchard over to chat.

"Right up front he was a super gracious guy, really inclusive and warm. A real … big personality," he said.

Pritchard would run into Bourdain the next night, but this time Pritchard had his sous chef with him.

"I was taking my sous chef out as a thank you for a great season, and it happened to be a dinner that Anthony Bourdain was putting on," he said.

"We left the dinner and went downstairs to the lobby and Anthony Bourdain was standing there and my sous chef was a big fan."

Anybody could walk up and have a conversation with Bourdain, Pritchard said.

So he encouraged his colleague to walk over and chat him up. After some time the three left together, grabbing a cab to get a drink at a seaside pub.

"We hung out for probably four or five hours and drank probably way too much and then we all got in a cab and went to our respective places to put our heads down for the night."

'I just count myself lucky to have met him'

Pritchard vividly recalled those few nights in Bermuda all those years ago after hearing the news of Bourdain's death, by suicide, in Strasbourg, France, on Friday.

Bourdain was 61.

"I just count myself lucky to have met him and had a conversation with him," he said. "The world is going to be a slightly dimmer place the next little while without him."

• Celebrity chef and TV host Anthony Bourdain dead at 61
• 'Be kind, be nice, be sweet': Montreal restaurateur on the best advice Anthony Bourdain ever gave him

Like many chefs across the world, Pritchard remembers Bourdain as an inspiring figure. There were few people as down to earth as he was, Pritchard said.

"What you saw was what you got. His TV personality was exactly his everyday personality, full of interest and didn't really hold himself in any position above people," he said.

"Things aren't always good in the kitchen. It's a tough life and kitchens have always attracted outsiders and misfits and people that weren't quite sure what they're going to do or how they're going to fit in," Pritchard said.

To those "misfits" and "outsiders" Bourdain was someone to be idolized, he was genuinely interested in what people had to say, Pritchard said, and what their opinions were — "especially with cooks."

"For a lot of people … he was somebody that people in this industry could really relate to and look up to for that matter."

Anyone needing emotional support, crisis intervention or help with problem solving in P.E.I. can contact The Island Helpline at 1-800-218-2885, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

For more information about mental health services on P.E.I., find resources from Health PEI here, or from the Canadian Mental Health Association P.E.I. Division here. 

More P.E.I. news