Anthony Bourdain's Friends Pay Tribute to the Late Chef on His Birthday 6 Years After His Death

Bourdain Day is here.

Eric Ripert, José Andrés and more close friends of the late Anthony Bourdain honored him on June 25, which would have been his 68th birthday. Bourdain died by suicide on June 8, 2018. A few weeks later Ripert, 59, and Andrés, 54, declared their friend’s birthday as #BourdainDay, encouraging fans to take "a moment to post & share your tributes & memories," Ripert said at the time.

Now, six years later, Ripert paid tribute to his friend on Instagram, sharing a photo of himself, chef Emeril Lagasse and Andrés with Bourdain.

"WE ❤️ you Tony ... #bourdainday," Ripert wrote in the caption.

Andrés followed suit, reposting Ripert's photo on his Instagram Stories and uploading a post of his own.

"My friend @ericripert and I began this holiday to celebrate everything Tony did for the world, and how he used food to break down walls and build longer tables," the Spanish chef wrote. "He will always be missed terribly by all of us…but we can honor his legacy as we continue to do actions big and small to create a better world."

Chef and TV host Andrew Zimmern remembered his late friend both on and offline, mentioning in an Instagram post that he spent the day at an event raising mental health awareness with the University of Minnesota.

"Felt good," he wrote about the event in the caption. "#love is all that matters and the older I get the more I believe it to be ALL that matters."

Former Top Chef judge and Food Network regular Richard Blais recognized #BourdainDay by posting a picture of himself wearing a T-shirt emblazoned with a painting of Bourdain's face.

"Here I am in the future still thinking about Tony Bourdain," Blais captioned the photo, which used an old-age filter to make Blais appear decades older. "If you miss him or have a Bourdain story, drop it below."

Asia Argento, Bourdain's girlfriend at the time of his death, also posted images of Bourdain to her Instagram Stories.

Known for his hit TV series No Reservations and Parts Unknown as well as his book Kitchen Confidential, Bourdain is remembered as an inspiring chef, a master storyteller and a dedicated friend. 

His loved ones have been open about their friendships with Bourdain in the past. In 2018, Ripert, who was shooting Parts Unknown with Bourdain when he died, shared a statement with PEOPLE. “He was an exceptional human being, so inspiring and generous," he said.

Andrés — who previously cited his late friend as a source of inspiration for his own travel show, José Andrés and Family in Spain — spoke about Bourdain in an interview with PEOPLE in 2022.

“He was a poet. He was a guy that understood the moment and was able to transform the moment into a phrase that we'll forever remember,” Andrés said. 

Zimmern told PEOPLE Now in September 2018 that he was thinking about Bourdain “all the time.” 

“Everyone wanted to be around him and he was just a symphony of a human being,” Zimmern said. 

In their last conversation before Bourdain died, Zimmern recounted how the two chefs discussed finding personal happiness.  

“He was telling me about pursuing my own happiness and he gave me his long sort of speech about it, that I deserved to be happy,” Zimmern said. 

On an episode of Andrés’ podcast Longer Tables in August 2023, he and Ripert described how the death of their friend brought them “closer together.” On the podcast, Ripert remembered Bourdain as a “very noble man,” and Andrés praised Ripert for his support.

“I remember I was in Guatemala on the day that our friend decided to go to another, better life," he said to Ripert. "And I remember the day — I spoke briefly with you and I know you went through this like a true friend and champion because you were so near him when all of that happened.”

"He was a very great friend of ours, of you José, he loved you very much, very great friend of mine, very noble man," replied Ripert. "And we were very lucky to have him as a friend."