Anthony Bourdain Explains the Root of All Life's Problems

The U.S. is in the midst of a massive food hall boom, but as it’s currently envisioned, Bourdain Market will best them all. Anthony Bourdain’s highly ambitious, 150,000 square-foot project slated for Manhattan’s Pier 57 is a massive undertaking, with plans to bring in top street food vendors from across the globe — but will it actually happen?

In the latest of a never-ending string of Bourdain profiles, Vogue’s Oliver Strand calls the deal behind the Market “complicated, even a bit tenuous”; and of course, there’s the issue of getting all those vendors into the country. But Bourdain’s determined to pull the project off — or die trying, it seems.

Strand also delves into numerous other aspects of Bourdain’s life, including his relationship with his family, his recent Hollywood film role, his tattoos, and the fact that he apparently cries at Disney movies. Here now, the best lines from Vogue’s new Anthony Bourdain profile (it also appears in the November 2016 print issue complete with some gorgeous food photos):

Director Adam McKay on why he gave Bourdain a cameo in The Big Short: ““Agree with him or not, everyone knows his opinions come from a real place. So he was a perfect choice [for] cutting through mounds of banking bullshit and doublespeak.”

Bourdain on his surprising success as a TV star: “I assumed from the get-go that every minute I was on television was a freakish anomaly that would be over quickly. It came as a sobering and confusing moment when I realized I was still on the air. What the fuck is going on?”

Bourdain on his life philosophy: “Life is complicated. It’s filled with nuance. It’s unsatisfying...If I believe in anything, it is doubt. The root cause of all life’s problems is looking for a simple fucking answer.”

Bourdain on how his childhood set the stage for his career as a world traveler: “My parents were pretty adventurous. We would go into New York and eat at a Swedish restaurant or a Japanese restaurant or something. We liked movies with subtitles in my house. That meant something. The ‘other’ wasn’t bad or frightening. It was interesting.”

Bourdain on why he quit smoking: “I mean, I’ve had more time on this Earth than I probably deserve, and I enjoy cigarettes very much, but now I feel that I owe this child who loves me to at least try to live a little longer, you know?”

Bourdain’s recently-estranged wife Ottavia Busia on his softer side: “Disney cartoons make him cry. He has no problem admitting to terrible things, like drug addiction, crazy escapades, but he doesn’t admit his soft side.”

Strand on the huge potential of Bourdain Market: “It took centuries for Bangkok to develop its market culture; New York could have one of the greatest food halls in the world within a couple of years.”

Bourdain on how Americans’ palates have changed in recent years: “People are lining up for food that would have burned their head clean off their shoulders ten years ago. People are craving and lining up to eat kimchi, which, you know, they would have bullied a kid for eating ten years earlier if they brought it with their lunch.”

Bourdain on the high expectations for Bourdain Market: “I feel in my bones this is a space that New Yorkers should be able to call their own, and I find myself in the ludicrous position of being able to make that happen, apparently. I’m going to fucking make it happen if I can, or fail gloriously.”

Bourdain on what he’ll do if the food hall fails: “If it feels like a Todd English product, then we can all just go home and throw a noose over the fucking shower stall.”