him a unique storyteller. His talents never ceased to amaze us and we will miss him very much," CNN said.

"Our thoughts and prayers are with his daughter and family at this incredibly difficult time."

Bourdain leaves behind a teenage daughter Ariane, from his relationship with his ex-wife Ottavia Busia. He had been dating Italian actress Asia Argento since 2017.

Bourdain was also big fan of Sarawak laksa, specifically the one from Choon Hui Kopitiam in Kuching.

In May 2015, he posted a picture of the laksa on Instagram, and captioned it "Breakfast of the Gods". The post has since received over 47,000 likes.

A gifted storyteller, Bourdain explored haute cuisine and street food alike in his travels, passionately encouraging viewers to "eat and drink with people without fear and prejudice".

He often drankon the show and was public about his struggle with own demons, including drug abuse.

"We ask very simple questions: What makes you happy? What do you eat? What do you like to cook?" Bourdain said in an acceptance speech for a Peabody Award in 2014. "And everywhere in the world we go and ask these simple questions. We tend to get really astonishing answers."

After a start washing dishes in a restaurant, Bourdain gradually rose through the ranks to become a chef.

Bourdain's profile began to soar in 1999, when the New Yorker magazine published his article Don't Eat Before Reading This, which he developed into the 2000 book, Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly.

That led him to become a television host, starting with A Cook's Tour on the