Anthony Bourdain’s Cherished Knife And Writing Desk Among Items To Hit Auction

Some of Anthony Bourdain’s most cherished possessions will hit auction next month, more than a year after the chef and writer’s death in June 2018. 

The items for sale include clothing, art, books, furniture and kitchen tools, among them a beloved chef’s knife that’s expected to go for the highest price of all, according to The New York Times. The auction, which is being presented by Lark Mason Associates, will include nearly 200 lots that will be divided into categories the auction house says reflect Bourdain’s many interests: travel, film, art, cooking, writing and culture. 

Proceeds from the sale will go to Bourdain’s family and a new scholarship created in his honor at his alma mater, The Culinary Institue of America. The Anthony Bourdain Legacy Scholarship will be awarded to students interested in following in the chef’s footsteps by studying abroad or enrolling in one of the school’s international programs.

The knife was custom made for Bourdain by former chef and master knifemaker Bob Kramer. “It took years of waiting,” Bourdain wrote in 2016 when he received the knife. “I might have to go back to working brunch shifts to afford it.”

Other items of note include a chrome duck press, the Midcentury Modern desk where Bourdain wrote, an original typed manuscript or early draft of his first novel and a jacket given to the chef by the Navy.

According to the Times, Bourdain and his “No Reservations” production team were evacuated out of Beirut, Lebanon, in 2006 during the conflict with Israel by way of the cruiser Nashville, where sailors presented him with a jacket affixed with a special patch featuring kitchen knives. 

Items for sale will be available for preview online starting Oct. 2. Exhibitions will be shown in New York City; Savannah, Georgia; and New Braunfels, Texas, from Oct. 9 to 30.