Barack Obama Tweets About Anthony Bourdain After His Apparent Suicide

Following the news of CNN host Anthony Bourdain’s sudden passing on Friday morning, former President Barack Obama has shared a message about his late friend to social media.

“‘Low plastic stool, cheap but delicious noodles, cold Hanoi beer.’ This is how I’ll remember Tony,” Obama wrote on Twitter. “He taught us about food — but more importantly, about its ability to bring us together. To make us a little less afraid of the unknown. We’ll miss him.”

Sharing an image of their time together in Hanoi, Vietnam for an episode of Bourdain’s Parts Unknown, Obama and Bourdain shared a $6 meal together in 2016 at streetside restaurant, Bún Chả Hương Liên, that has now preserved the seats and table for posterity, according to the National Post.

The pair sampled bún chả, a traditional Vietnamese dish made of grilled pork, rice noodles and vegetables.

The restaurant owner Nguyen Thi Lien knew a foreign TV crew would be coming into her establishment, but never knew it would be President Obama.

Bourdain wrote about the experience with the then-president for CNN, sharing how Obama was “very relaxed and at ease” during their time together.

“What can I tell you about what it’s like to sit across from the President of the United States and drink beer from the bottle?” he wrote. “I can tell you that Barack Obama was, in spite of having had a high-ranking leader of the Taliban whacked in Pakistan a few days previous, very relaxed and at ease. He seemed to enjoy himself sitting on a low plastic stool eating noodles and pork bits with chopsticks.”

He added that the president was “oddly resigned to and forgiving of his enemies.”

“And when I asked him if — given the very likely ugly and frightening contents of the daily intelligence briefings to which he is privy — if it was ‘going to be OK’ for my daughter as she grew up, he replied with confidence that on balance, it would.”

Bourdain, 61, died by suicide on Friday morning after he was found unresponsive in a hotel room in France, where he had been shooting an upcoming episode for his CNN series.

In a statement to employees, CNN President Jeff Zucker called Bourdain an “exceptional talent.”

“Tony will be greatly missed not only for his work but also for the passion with which he did it,” he said.

Bourdain, who made a name for himself as a chef on Travel Channel and food writer, joined CNN in 2013 as host of the culturally beloved and signature travel show, Parts Unknown.

If you or someone you know needs help, please call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255).