Anthony Bourdain remembered fondly at Frank's Deli in Asbury Park

Austin Bogues , Shannon Mullen | Asbury Park Press

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ASBURY PARK - Just after a snowstorm in January 2015, Anthony Bourdain filmed at Frank's Deli in Asbury Park for CNN during a tour of Jersey Shore eateries.

The famed chef and and TV food-show host spent time chatting with customers at the counter of the iconic Main Street diner and posed for a photo with owner Joe Maggio and his wife, Mary, along with singer Southside Johnny Lyons.

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That picture still sits on the counter at Frank’s Deli, which Maggio’s father opened in 1960.

“I didn’t realize Anthony was that tall,” Maggio said, looking at the photograph, as you can see in the video above. Maggio recalled the visit fondly on Friday, as news reports broke that Bourdain had died at the age of 61, in an apparent suicide.

“The guy goes all over the world sampling food from different places and then he came to Frank’s.”

That day, Bourdain enjoyed a lunch of a sub sandwich with provolone, salami, boiled ham, capicola and pepperoni, with a special add on of hot peppers. A few months later when the segment aired Maggio said he went over to a relative's house so the whole family could watch it together.

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On Friday, Maggio said he was saddened by Bourdain’s death.

“I was shocked, you figured it was a heart attack, or a fall and accident or something. You don’t think a guy like that would commit suicide. You figure he’s got everything in the world but nobody knows what goes on in people’s lives,” Maggio said.

A few diners at Frank’s Deli paused to look at the photo of Bourdain Friday, as news reports flashed on the television about his death.

David O’Rourke, 58, of Oceanport, said he was a longtime Bourdain fan who first visited Frank’s Deli after seeing the Bourdain special air in 2015. On Friday, he ate breakfast there in tribute to him.

“He used food to show respect for people of all cultures and races,” O’Rourke said. “I felt he really loved people.”

Brian Donohue, a longtime journalist with the Star-Ledger newspaper who is now a TV reporter for News 12’s “Positively Jersey” segments, consulted with Bourdain's crew on the New Jersey episode, and shared a memorable on-camera meal with Bourdain at Dock's Oyster House, a landmark Atlantic City restaurant.

"When he ate, he really ate. We ordered mountains of food and just stuffed our faces. It was awesome, on that level," Donohue recalled.

What most impressed Donohue, though, was the depth of research and reporting that went into the episode. Donohue spent hours on the phone with the show's producer talking about New Jersey and its culinary scene, and the epic oyster fest with Bourdain lasted a good two hours.

"When you're a local reporter, you're always struck when the national media helicopters in by how much they get wrong. Not just basic facts, but the dynamics and nuances of a place," he said.

"I guess I assumed that was going to happen with this, and when I saw this episode I was floored by how well he understood the place. "He didn't nail it just because he's from New Jersey," Donohue said. "He and his crew put in a lot of time to get below the surface.”

The episode, he said, "made me give more credence to the work he did in all his other shows. It really made me trust his take on other places."

Austin Bogues 732-643-4009; abogues@gannettnj.com