Goodbye, Friend

And last Friday morning, we felt the tremors.

Did we know Anthony Bourdain, personally? Had we ever met him face-to-face? No. But we did spend many hours with his words reverberating through our minds, digesting the work that he did, letting our mouths fall open at his honesty, his courage, his lack of bullshit.

We're not sure how it is that the death of someone you don't know can strike a chord in you, but we're suspicious that is has something to do with connection. How many of you read the newsletter each week and feel like you know us a little bit (or a lot)? What is the point of making art and sharing it, of growing food and bringing it to market, if not to reach out across the borders between our bodies, into one another's hearts and minds?

Like many, Taylor remembers when she first picked up Kitchen Confidential. It was one of the first books that made her fall in love with reading (yes, she read things before, but his words could only be devoured). She snatched up A Cook's Tour the day it came out, and it took her around the world, as she sat on the beach in New Jersey the summer before heading off to her first year in college.

It seemed as though, although Bourdain had worked in kitchens for two decades prior, his food culture coming-of-age was happening at the exact same time as ours. And that felt revolutionary - like we had a real friend who valued the same work we did.

There are stages to grief to go through, and we hope you'll be gentle and accommodating of your own, if you're experiencing them. Do you have a story to share about Bourdain? Feel free to reach out - we'd love to hear from you.

Tay + Dor

Co-Founders, Good Food Jobs

THERE ARE SOME THINGS THAT SHAKE YOU.

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