Anthony Bourdain was “born in New York and grew up in New Jersey”. His parents both had good jobs and by Bourdain’s “own account they exposed him to great music, film and literature, and holidayed in France where his interest in food was sparked, but he rebelled, got into trouble at school and began experimenting with drugs while still in his early teens.”
He attended Vassar College in Poughkeepsie, New York but he dropped out after his second year. The then went to the Culinary Institute of America. He graduated in 1978 and went to work in kitchens in New York City.