Sabga-Aboud saddened by Anthony Bourdain's apparent suicide

MARIO SABGA-ABOUD, owner of the Rituals coffee chain, is saddened by the apparent suicide of Anthony Bourdain, 61, American chef and host of the acclaimed TV show Parts Unknown.

"It's sad, so sad. My condolences go out to his family."

Speaking with Newsday today, Sabga-Aboud described Bourdain as "a gifted storyteller, someone who made you feel part of whatever story he was telling."

Bourdain visited TT in January 2017 to film an episode of Parts Unknown, which aired on CNN five months later.

"We spent a lot of time together while he was in Trinidad last year. He was fun. But what amazed me the most about him was his wealth of knowledge and his ability to remember everywhere he'd been. Anthony could tell you stories as if you were there."

Mario Sabga-Aboud, owner of the Rituals coffee chain.After the TT episode aired in June 2017, there was overall positive feedback about how this country was portrayed, but lots of controversy about TT's so-called "one per cent" ruling the other 99 per cent.

Reflecting on how Bourdain helped educate the world about TT's cuisine and culture, Sabga-Aboud told Newsday: "Anthony made Trinidad a place you would want to come and visit.

"People who never knew about us learned about our doubles, roti, liming on the avenue, river limes, crab and dumplings in Tobago, even the (gritty) side of TT, from his show.

"Wherever I went in the region after the show aired, people would tell me how proud they were, that the Caribbean is one big family, and to see TT being represented so well made them proud. I felt the same way."

During a family dinner with Bourdain, Sabga-Aboud infamously described the Syrian-Lebanese community as the "smallest and most powerful" ethnic group in TT.

Asked about his assessment a year on, Sabga-Aboud said, "It was very regrettable."

While maintaining his comments had been taken out of context, he declined to criticise the editing, saying, "I blame no one. Not production, not editing, no one. Anyone who knows me, they know that isn't me. It was totally taken out of context."

Refocusing on the chef and host's legacy, Sabga-Aboud said Bourdain "had a special gift for getting anyone to open up to him and using that to create a holistic view of whichever country he'd been to. Anthony will be greatly missed by the whole world."