An Unlikely Friendship

Learning from the wise: Anthony Bourdain and Eric Ripert

“Your body is not a temple. It’s an amusement park. Enjoy the ride.” Anthony Bourdain

Are Buddhism and Hedonism basically the same thing? There’s a reason why Anthony Bourdain, bad-boy journalist, enthusiast, and hedonist got along so well with Eric Ripert, buttoned-up sweet as can be Buddhist. Whey they enjoyed such an easy chemistry. Whether fishing, exploring a new town, or sharing a meal.

“Tony” would pretend to be miserable, grumbling about a hangover and smoking his three-hundredth cigarette. Saying the most outrageous thing he could think of to get a laugh out of Eric, so polite he had a hard time swearing even after Szechuan chili heat and a much-protested fifth beer. How can two impossibly different men enjoy one another’s company so much? It makes no sense!

Well, it turns out the answer is pretty simple. Because they had the important things in common.

Reverence for the food on the plate. For the amount of work it took to get there. Love and admiration for every pair of hands that planted, watered, harvested, washed, prepped, cooked from the heart to feed them. Respect for the grandmas who opened their homes and took them in for a meal. Delight at new flavors, ancient cooking techniques, timeless traditions.

Eric doesn’t like drinking excessively because of the Buddhist tradition of maintaining mindfulness. Presence in the moment. Tony loved drinking excessively as a way of losing all barriers, prejudices, mental blocks that might keep him from fully engaging in the moment.

Underneath it all, are these two men, these two opposing philosophies the same?

One thing’s for sure. If they’re sitting at the table, they’re appreciating the hell out of that meal and every beautiful plant, animal, and human that had anything to do it with it. That’s enough of an answer for me.