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

It was the mid 2000s and JohnPritchard, who now works withPure 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 areaand Anthony Bourdainwas partof it, Pritchard said.

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Pritchardhappened to be within earshot of the celebrity chefduring an event.Bourdainsaw him and invitedPritchardover 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 Bourdainthe next night, butthis time Pritchardhad 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 andchat him up. After some time the three left together, grabbing a cabto 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 caband went to our respective places to put our heads down for the night."

'I just count myself lucky to have met him'

Pritchardvividly recalled those few nights in Bermuda all those years ago after hearingthe news ofBourdain'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."

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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"Bourdainwas 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 needingemotional support, crisis intervention or help with problem solving in P.E.I. can contactThe Island Helplineat 1-800-218-2885, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

For more information about mental health services on P.E.I., findresources from Health PEI here, or from theCanadian Mental Health Association P.E.I. Division here.

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