Restaurant owner who says Anthony Bourdain changed their lives donates profits to suicide hotline

The owner of a New York City restaurant announced Friday that he would donate 100 percent of his business’ profits for the day to the National Suicide Hotline following the death of famed chef and TV host Anthony Bourdain.

Jason Wang, the son of the founder of Xi’an Famous Foods, tweeted that the move was his way of thanking Bourdain for featuring his family’s business on an early episode of “No Reservations,” which Wang says caused the restaurant’s popularity to boom overnight.

“Today’s a day of extreme sadness for us here at Xi’an Famous Foods,” Wang wrote on Twitter. “I’ve lost a dear friend today, and we mourn with the rest of the world.”

Today’s a day of extreme sadness for us here at Xi’an Famous Foods. I’ve lost a dear friend today, and we mourn with the rest of the world. I remember the time in 2007 when Tony first visited our basement food stall in Flushing for Travel Channel’s No Reservations while I was… pic.twitter.com/z7FBcWnMID

— Xi’an Famous Foods (@xianfoods) June 8, 2018

Bourdain’s decision to feature the man’s family on the show “helped bring our family out from living in one room in Flushing to living the American dream,” he wrote.

“We were able to grow our business and provide great food for our guests, and opportunities for our employees,” Wang added.

“In honor of his memory, and all of those dear people who left us all too early, and in taking whatever action we can to prevent suicide in the US, Xi’an Famous Foods will be donating 100% of our net sales on today, Friday, June 8, 2018, from all of our stores, to @800273TALK.”

Wang told BuzzFeed News that he estimated the total donation amount could reach as high as $60,000.

CNN said Friday that Bourdain, 61, had been discovered unresponsive by his longtime friend, French chef Eric Ripert, at his hotel room in France on Friday morning while the two were working on an upcoming episode of Bourdain’s CNN show, “Parts Unknown.” Bourdain took his own life, the network said.

“It is with extraordinary sadness we can confirm the death of our friend and colleague, Anthony Bourdain,” CNN said in a statement. “His love of great adventure, new friends, fine food and drink and the remarkable stories of the world made him a unique storyteller.”

“His talents never ceased to amaze us and we will miss him very much. Our thoughts and prayers are with his daughter and family at this incredibly difficult time.”