Remembering Anthony Bourdain's time in Sheffield after top chef's tragic death

Anthony Bourdain, right, with Fergus Henderson at the Crucible Studio, Sheffield, in 2004.

Bourdain was yesterday found dead in his hotel room aged 61, having apparently taken his own life.

He was filming an episode of his CNN series Parts Unknown near Strasbourg in France when the tragedy happened.

Bourdain was a best-selling food, fiction and non-fiction author - and in October 2004 he came to Sheffield to talk about his work as part of the city's Off The Shelf literary festival.

He spoke about his Les Halles Cookbook - at the time, his first recipe collection - at the Crucible Studio, alongside his friend and fellow chef Fergus Henderson, known for espousing 'nose to tail' eating that involves using every part of an animal's carcass in dishes.

Afterwards, the Sheffield Telegraph reported, Bourdain and Henderson went to the Wig & Pen on Campo Lane for a meal.

"There was daube of beef and in-house Eccles cake, a Henderson classic," said Malcolm Schooling, then one of the restaurant's owners. "They liked it and we stayed up until the early hours."

The Off The Shelf event was attended by many local chefs - Rupert Rowley, of Fischers at Baslow Hall, Adrian Cooling, of Thyme Cafe, Christian Szurko of One Eleven, Alex Shaw from the Wig & Pen and Jonty Cork of West 10 were all spotted, according to the Telegraph.

Asked what would be his final meal, Bourdain plumped for Henderson’s roast bone marrow.

Bourdain, who was once the executive chef at now-closed brasserie Les Halles in New York, became famous in 2000 with the hit memoir Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly, which lifted the lid on the world of fine dining, as well as containing candid accounts of the chef's use of drugs including cocaine, heroin and LSD.

His TV shows were A Cook's Tour, No Reservations and latterly Parts Unknown, a travel and food show which is in its 11th season. He had a daughter, Ariane, with his second wife Ottavia Busia. The couple divorced in 2016.

CNN said in a statement: "His love of great adventure, new friends, fine food and drink and the remarkable stories of the world made him a unique storyteller.

"His talents never ceased to amaze us and we will miss him very much. Our thoughts and prayers are with his daughter and family at this incredibly difficult time."

Authorities in France's Alsace region confirmed his death at Le Chambard luxury hotel in Kaysersberg, adding that no foul play was suspected.