ATLANTA—After an untimely passing three years ago that left his fans, friends, and family shocked and deeply saddened, Anthony Bourdain visits the afterworld in a special two-hour episode of his award-winning CNN show, “Parts Unknown,” lunching with God in a café with a heavenly view and later having hot pot for dinner with Lucifer in a tightly packed, elbow-to-elbow eatery next to the actual Hell’s Kitchen.
The legendary chef, writer, and TV celebrity first visits heaven for a week, where he’s recognized by the attendants at the gates, who immediately wave him through. He gets a tour of the city, including its endless beaches lapped by crystal clear water and canopied by beautiful blue skies. Bourdain says he’s never seen anything so, well, heavenly, in his life on Earth. Back at his hotel, he even changes his mind about infinity pools, which he always thought were cheesy. On his last day, which turns out to be a Sunday, Bourdain visits with God at a small café. Having lived a euphemistically “adventurous” life, he seems genuinely surprised that God loves him and the show. But, when God asks what he thinks of the food in heaven, Bourdain, never one to mince words, is brutally honest: “The food stinks here. There’s just no flavor. Look, I figured meat would be off limits, but plants, too? I mean, Jesus, I’d get shit from critics on Earth because I ate animals. But now even plants are your creatures?” A shocked God notes that the main ingredient in everything is pure love. Without hesitation, Bourdain replies, “You do realize that ‘made with love’ is mostly a bullshit term your mom would say because she couldn’t really cook, right?” The segment ends with Bourdain, the pure objectivity of one of journalism’s greats in his eyes, staring at God, waiting for an answer.
Bourdain then descends into hell, trekking for what seems like an eternity down a foul-smelling, slippery spiral staircase with no handrail. He comments, “If Walt Disney had been the devil, this is how you would have gotten to Space Mountain.” At the gates, Bourdain is, as he was in heaven, recognized by the attendants, who let him in on what is essentially a work visa. Unlike in heaven, however, there is no tour and he quickly realizes that what most people think of hell really is true, at least in the sense that it’s not where you want to end up in the afterlife. But on his last night, after dinner with Lucifer himself at Heat Restaurant, a local favorite, Bourdain discovers there may be an exception. Initially, though, he has trouble just getting into the eatery; despite a standing reservation, he’s bounced for what seems like an eternity for not meeting the strict dress code. “Who knew it was so formal down here?” he remarks, annoyed. He finally gets in after borrowing a tux, something he hated wearing while on Earth. Looking around, he notices none of the other diners have tuxes on, and he realizes Lucifer was messing with him, which makes him chuckle. After waiting for what again seems like an eternity, Lucifer finally appears and the two enjoy what Bourdain, through teary eyes and with a sweating forehead, calls “the best fucking hot pot I’ve ever had.” With a laugh he says, “I wish my dear friend Eric were here,” a reference to an earlier “Parts Unknown” episode when he and French chef Eric Ripert visted Sichuan, China. Ripert, a practicing Buddhist and inherently good-natured, had a, to put it mildly, difficult—though also humorous—time tolerating the spice of Sichuan cuisine. Lucifer, who had been reticent the entire meal, reveals to Bourdain that he thoroughly enjoyed the Sichuan episode because Bourdain’s gastronomic torture of Ripert was hellishly brilliant. In particular, Lucifer says, he loved when Ripert, referring to Bourdain, told fellow diners, “He’s the devil.” Bourdain repays the compliment, remarking, “I can’t say I’d ever want to live down here, but man, I’d love to drop by every now and then for a meal.”
