All About Anthony Bourdain's Daughter Ariane Busia-Bourdain

Anthony Bourdain and Ottavia Busia-Bourdain welcomed their daughter Ariane in April 2007

On April 9, 2007, Anthony Bourdain welcomed his only daughter Ariane Busia-Bourdain with his then-wife Ottavia Busia-Bourdain in New York City.

The celebrity chef spoke about his love for fatherhood in his 2016 book, Appetites: A Cookbook.

"From the second I saw my daughter's head corkscrewing out of the womb, I began making some major changes in my life," Bourdain wrote. "I was no longer the star of my own movie — or any movie.”

Related: Remembering Anthony Bourdain: His Illustrious Life and Career in Photos

“From that point on, it was all about the girl,” Bourdain added. "Fatherhood has been an enormous relief, as I am now genetically, instinctually compelled to care more about someone other than myself. I like being a father. No, I love being a father. Everything about it."

In a 2013 essay for The Guardian, Bourdain reflected on what fatherhood meant to him. "There's a picture of me and my daughter, aged four, in the Cayman Islands. She's sitting on my lap, eyes closed. I'm holding her tight, my face sunburned and blissed-out with the joys of fatherhood," he wrote. "Ariane has me wrapped around her finger. All I can realistically hope for is that she feels loved."

Shortly before his death by suicide on June 8, 2018, Bourdain spoke about the pressures of family life and his busy work schedule, in what would be his final interview with PEOPLE.

“I’ll go back, see my daughter, unpack, repack, mimic a normal life, which is extraordinarily pleasurable to me,” he said.

In 2021, Ariane opened up for the first time about her relationship with her dad in the book Bourdain: The Definitive Oral Biography. "He pretty much encouraged every single thing I wanted to do in my life, and gave me the information to back it up," she said, per Vanity Fair.

Here’s everything to know about Anthony Bourdain’s daughter, Ariane Busia-Bourdain.

Bourdain and Ariane's mom kept their daughter out of the public eye during childhood

Bourdain and Busia-Bourdain seldom posted images of their daughter on social media, shielding Ariane from the public eye. When sharing moments throughout her childhood, Bourdain made sure to keep her face out of the frame, either cropping the photos from the neck down, shielding her face with an object or only taking photos from behind to retain her privacy.

Ariane was also purposefully left out of the 2021 documentary about Bourdain, Roadrunner. In some scenes, she appeared as a toddler with Bourdain doting on her. However, there were no present-day shots of Ariane other than at the end of the documentary when she was filmed walking away from the camera with her mom.

She inherited a passion for food from her father

Bourdain ensured that he passed along his love for food to his only daughter. Even when his daughter was just 19 months old, he was adamant about introducing Ariane to a wide variety of foods to keep her palate expansive.

“I very much don’t want her to fall into a groove where she wants a grilled cheese sandwich with the crusts cut off and nothing else," he said in 2008, per Today. Bourdain added that he encouraged his then-toddler to “eat like an adult,” adding, “the more often that she does, the happier I am.”

When Ariane was 9, Bourdain kept up the habit of keeping things interesting in the kitchen, especially when it came to packing school lunches. He told PEOPLE in November 2016 that he liked “filling little plastic containers with delicious things."

Bourdain continued, "My daughter sometimes challenges me to not repeat myself, so it’s something different every day. I love sending her to school with stuff other kids don’t have and never will have."

Ariane also liked to help her father out in the kitchen. In a 2016 interview with The Canadian Press, Bourdain said Ariane was “very happy” when she got to cook with her dad, though it made him “nervous.” He explained, “The first time she picked up a knife, for a dad that’s a terrifying thing.”

In 2021, Ariane said that she often cooked ratatouille and schnitzel with her dad and opened up about what she learned from Bourdain. "When we were in the Hamptons, he’d cook dinner, cook breakfast, so that’s when he really cooked for me," she said in Bourdain: The Definitive Oral Biography. "He taught me how to cut things and not chop off my fingers, to curl my fingers under. He gave me my own little knife, and I still have it, and still use it."

She has practiced jiu-jitsu

Ariane follows after her parents in more ways than one. Since she was 4 years old, Ariane pursued an interest in jiu-jitsu. Busia-Bourdain is an MMA fighter and jiu-jitsu pro, while Bourdain also practiced the martial art. He even took home a gold medal at the 2016 New York Spring International Open Championship.

Speaking to Mom.com in May 2015, Bourdain said, “My soul [sic] duty as a parent and as a father, particularly raising a little girl who is going to grow up to be a young woman, is that she will never look to men for affirmation, or anyone else for affirmation or self-worth or be physically intimidated by anyone. My daughter spinning arm bars is a thing of envy — Ronda Rousy [sic] quality."

After Bourdain's death, a source spoke to PEOPLE about the late celebrity chef, including his thoughts on Ariane's budding love for jiu-jitsu. The source explained, “He was so proud that she was into jiu-jitsu and would say that at her age she was stronger than he was. He was a tender giant. It’s a side he didn’t show too often.”

She often bonded with her dad at the beach

In addition to their shared love of food and jiu-jitsu, Bourdain and Ariane would often bond in nature, especially on the water. The late cookbook author shared several glimpses into their father-daughter beach and boat trips, enjoying time by the water and fishing as a duo.

Bourdain posted a celebratory image from one of their fishing trips in August 2016, snapping a picture of his daughter standing on a boat as he obstructed the view of her face with one of the fish that she caught.

He shared sweet words about his daughter’s accomplishment in the caption, writing, “My little fish killer! Rough seas, rain on her first fishing trip--and she brings home dinner! 3 fluke!”

She is a devoted daughter

Ariane was only 11 years old when her father died. In a December 2018 GQ story, Bourdain's close friend and Big Gay Ice Cream co-owner Doug Quint opened up about the aftermath of Bourdain’s death including Ariane’s reaction. At the time, he recalled her asking, “‘Is this something that people outside of New York are gonna know about?’ And we were like, ‘Yeah. All around the world, people are sad about this.’ ”

“Telling her that made me realize, Jesus, God, this is world news,” Quint said. “He changed lives around the world.”

Quint also celebrated Busia-Bourdain’s mothering after the death of her estranged husband through a series of messages on social media.

“For five weeks I have watched my best friend display more poise and grace than I could ever imagine, in the face of a global publicity s---storm,” he wrote. “For five weeks I have seen the best mothering imaginable. This whole f------ thing sucks so horribly and it always will but I discovered she’s not just my best friend. Ottavia is my idol.”

Ariane has remained a devoted daughter to Busia-Bourdain in the years since her father’s death. The MMA fighter shared a sweet Mother’s Day gesture from her daughter when Ariane was 12 years old. At the time, Busia-Bourdain shared an image on her Instagram Story of the hand-drawn card Ariane made for the occasion, alongside the message, “Best Mom Ottavia. She cooks, she draws, she cleans, but most importantly, she’s a super mom!”

Anthony Bourdain Remembered began as a "keepsake" for her

Published on May 28, 2019, Anthony Bourdain Remembered was meant to be a "keepsake" for Ariane following the death of her father. However, Daniel Halpern, president and publisher of Ecco, told PEOPLE that rather than CNN keeping the book private, permission was granted by Bourdain’s estate to share the book publicly.

The project included photos, memories and quotes from admirers of the late chef, including Barack Obama, Questlove and José Andrés.

If you or someone you know is considering suicide, please contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255), text "STRENGTH" to the Crisis Text Line at 741-741 or go to suicidepreventionlifeline.org.

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