“Your body is not a temple, it’s an amusement park. Enjoy the ride.” – Anthony Bourdain
Dominic Sessa is the star of our cover and the star of Tony, a film co-written and directed by Matt Johnson, due to be released this August. Sessa’s performance as the young Anthony Bourdain in the biographical comedy-drama is both raw and brilliant.The story follows 19-year-old Tony from when he takes a summer job in a restaurant in Provincetown, Massachusetts, to his discovery of the greater world and parts of himself as he searches for meaning and forges his life’s path. If one had to describe what Sessa portrays in this film as a journey, it would surely be a grueling Tour de France, passionate, dramatic, exhausting, filled with twists and turns, highs and lows, with every day a new adventure, very much like Bourdain’s actual life.
Unlike many people’s life path, Bourdain’s never followed a straight line. This globetrotter felt the need to do something different every day, which certainly kept his network producers on their toes. Many people who work in television fear that one day they’ll lose their jobs or their popularity with fans. Bourdain’s approach was to shock and challenge his producers, and he often said that his attitude wasn’t based on integrity, but on the fact that, unlike others, he didn’t measure his success based on his past achievements.
Bourdain would often ask total strangers “What do you like to eat? What makes you happy?,” and the answers were always very revealing. It was his zest for and curiosity about all the flavours the world had to offer, that hunger to explore and create, that made him the original rock star of the culinary world. That was why the news of his death by suicide was so shocking to all of us who admired his character on and off the page and screen. His tragic death on June 8th, 2018, left us feeling a void beyond words. This film is sure to become a crowd favourite and a reminder that Bourdain still holds an iconic global status, and will be lovingly remembered as a chef, filmmaker, author, father and a teacher of human compassion and empathy for others.
It’s a lesson to all of us to be reminded how fragile and beautiful life can be at the same time. Live it to the fullest and try to take care of each other.
God bless your life and we hope you enjoy our latest edition of City Life Magazine.
Michelle Zerillo-Sosa Publisher/Editor-in-Chief
Fernando Zerillo Co-Founder/Creative Director
@citylifemag
@amorebagstoronto
@fernandozerillo
