How Anthony Bourdain helped a Flushing family food stall become a New York noodle empire

Xi'an Famous Foods will donate 100% of Friday's net sales to the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline.



The tragic news of Anthony Bourdain's death by suicide stunned fans and colleagues of the internationally renown chef, television personality and world traveler, with a deluge of tributes to his unique life, career and legacy pouring out Friday across social media and beyond.

One such remembrance came from Jason Wang, CEO of New York City noodle chain Xi'an Famous Foods, who shared about the time Bourdain visited and ate at his family's tiny basement food stall in Flushing for Travel Channel's No Reservations in 2007. The endorsement lit a spotlight that helped propel Xi'an from a small noodle stand to a popular restaurant mini-empire boasting a dozen locations and counting.

Wang was still a college student at the time (and no idea who Bourdain was). But years later, he had the opportunity to tell Bourdain how that visit to his family's restaurant had changed their lives.

On Friday, June 8, in honor of Anthony Bourdain's memory, Xi'an Famous Foods will be donating 100 percent of all net sales to the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline. Here's Wang's tribute, shared on social media:

Watch Roy Choi's 'Street Food' online now

CNN digital documentary series explores the lives of cultural influencers, trendsetters and tastemakers.



Check it, Roy Choi fans. The renegade Los Angeles chef/restaurateur/author just dropped his new digital documentary series Street Food on CNN. We follow one of the food world's hottest tastemakers as he explores the unique worlds of influencers and trendsetters in style, food, entertainment and more.

Street Food features conversations with the likes of musicians Dumbfoundead and TOKiMONSTA, makeup star Michelle Phan, fellow CNN traveler Anthony Bourdain, filmmaker Jon Favreau, photographer Estevan Oriol, painter Sage Vaughn and Mike D of the Beastie Boys. Basically, some of the coolest players ever.

You can watch all of the episodes online now. Great stuff. Check it out:

Roy Choi's L.A. SON Book Tour 2013

Live & Direct! Catch chef/restaurateur/author Roy Choi on tour.



Renegade chef, restaurateur, food truck pioneer and now author Roy Choi's debut book L.A. Son: My Life, My City, My Food hits shelves on November 5. Part cookbook and part memoir, it tells the unlikely story of how a Korean American kid went from lowriding in the streets of L.A. to becoming an acclaimed chef.

To celebrate the release of L.A. Son, Roy is heading off on a book tour throughout the month of November. If you happen to be in New York, you can join Roy in conversation with Anthony Bourdain for the official book launch, Tuesday, November 5 at The Powerhouse Arena. $85 gets you signed copy of L.A. Son, wine, and food from Momofuku and Momofuku Milk Bar. That sounds like a pretty fun night.

Here's some more information about the rest of the tour:

The Mind of Chef Season 1 DVD

If you missed the television broadcast, season one of the PBS cooking/traveling series The Mind of a Chef, is now available on DVD. Narrated and produced by Anthony Bourdain, the show takes you on a cultural and culinary journey into the mind of noted chef/restauranteur David Chang, the guy behind New York City's wildly popular Momofuku restaurants and the and the New York Times best-selling cookbooks Momofuku and Momofuku Milk Bar. Take a look at the trailer:

David Chang in PBS series 'The Mind of a Chef'

This one's for the food fans. Executive producer Anthony Bourdain's new TV show The Mind of a Chef premieres on PBS this Friday, November 9.

Season one of the 16-episode travel-cooking series follows the adventures of New York City chef and restaurateur David Chang in the kitchen and beyond. I think it looks pretty cool. Here's a sneak peek of the show: