Anthony Bourdain Auction to Benefit His Family and the Culinary Institute of America

A collection of Anthony Bourdain’s belongings will be sold in an online auction in October, as the New York Times reports. Proceeds from the sale will be divided, with 60 percent going to his wife, Ottavia Busia, and daughter Ariane. The remaining 40 percent will be donated to the Culinary Institute of America to fund a new scholarship in his name that will allow recipients to spend a semester abroad or study international topics.

Auctioneer Lark Mason estimates that the 215 lots for sale have a market value between $200,000 and $400,000. Some of the items that will be sold in the auction include artwork by Ralph Steadman and John Lurie, a metallic duck press that was featured in an episode of Parts Unknown, a U.S. Navy jacket that was gifted to him by sailors on the U.S.S. Nashville in 2006 after he and his crew had to be evacuated from Beirut during the Israeli-Lebanese conflict, and a custom Bob Kramer steel and meteorite chef’s knife — which is expected to sell for the highest price.

“He was thrilled, and I was thrilled,” Kramer, who gifted Bourdain the knife in 2016, told the Times. “He walked right to the bar and he was like, ‘Oh man, I’ve been looking forward to this.’ He held it, looked at me, I don’t know, we just connected there for a second. Because he got it and I’d made it for him.”

Bourdain passed away in June 2018 at the age of 61. The auction will run online between Oct. 9th and Oct. 30th.

“He was a larger-than-life personality with so many interests other than food and this sale reflects his multidimensional persona,” Mason said in a statement. “We have kept the estimates low so that everyone who loved Tony will have the opportunity to purchase something from this sale and know that part of the proceeds will be going to a good cause.”

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