Anthony Bourdain’s producer talks star’s ‘guilty pleasures,’ missing his family: ‘It was hard for him’

Anthony Bourdain's longtime director and producer Tom Vitale shares his favorite memories of working with the late celebrity chef.

Vitale, Bourdain’s longtime producer and director, wrote his own book titled "In The Weeds," referring to a kitchen slang for being backed up during a rush. It details how the pair embarked on more than 70 trips around the world together while bringing Bourdain’s show to life."After Tony died, I pretty much did nothing," Vitale admitted to Fox News. "I just couldn’t go back to work because Tony wouldn’t be there. So in writing this book, it let me keep that job [with him] alive for a little while longer, as strange as it sounds."

After years of working as a chef in New York, Bourdain’s book "Kitchen Confidential" catapulted him to fame in middle age. In "Parts Unknown" and other far-flung travel shows that feasted on not just indigenous foods but a wide spectrum of culture, history and shared passions, Bourdain quickly became a television icon. Vitale was just 26 when he began collaborating with Bourdain."Tony’s public persona and the private person that he was were two sides of the same coin," the now-44-year-old shared. "Tony wasn’t so dramatically different from his on-camera persona… [But] he was shyer and more introverted. He was also much funnier and brutally honest. He was hilarious and intimidating. Everything was bigger in real life and what made it to the air."

And Vitale made plenty of surprising discoveries about his boss and pal during their months-long journeys.