US celebrity chef Anthony Bourdain' s show set for Kenya

Celebrity chef Anthony Bourdain attracted a large audience for his free-wheeling journeys to different countries across the globe. Before his suicide in June, he was the host of CNN series "Parts Unknown", which is set to be shot in Kenya. PHOTO | AFP

What you need to know:

  • Kenya will be the setting for one of the final episodes in the CNN series "Parts Unknown" in which US celebrity chef Anthony Bourdain travels the world sampling cuisines and cultures.
  • Mr Bourdain rose to fame on the basis of his book, Kitchen Confidential, published in 2000.

Kenya will be the setting for one of the final episodes in the CNN series "Parts Unknown" in which US celebrity chef Anthony Bourdain travelled the world sampling cuisines and cultures.

"Parts Unknown" won six Emmy awards during its five-year run. And Anthony, its host, attracted a large audience for his free-wheeling but respectful journeys to different countries across the globe.

Chef Anthony committed suicide in June at age 61.

The Kenya episode, set to air on CNN on September 23, is co-narrated by W Kamau Bell, an African-American comedian and social commentator.

"Nairobi is super, like technicolour. It's a lot to take in," Mr Bell says in an interview accompanying a one-minute 48-second preview of the show posted online. "Tony has made some of the best television in the history of television."

SUICIDE

Following the suicide, former US President Barack Obama, who appeared on "Parts Unknown" in a segment shot in Vietnam last year, mourned Anthony's death in a tweet.

"He taught us about food — but more importantly, about its ability to bring us together,” Mr Obama wrote. “To make us a little less afraid of the unknown. We’ll miss him.”

Mr Bourdain rose to fame on the basis of his book, Kitchen Confidential, published in 2000. In it, he lays bare, in brutal and often hilarious detail, what happens behind the scenes of posh restaurants in New York and other US cities.