(CNN) As someone most at home in a pair of broken-in jeans and a faded t-shirt, Anthony Bourdain once joked that putting on a suit to go to an awards show felt like making a court appearance.

"Not that I've ever been in court," he quickly told the red carpet reporter who'd posed a question about his black tuxedo.

The truth is, says Sandy Zweig, an executive producer at Zero Point Zero Productions, the company behind Bourdain's eponymous travel series, he was always willing to show up to events, even if it meant a temporary departure from his signature attire.

"I think he was always happy about it," she tells CNN. "Tony was the sort of public face of the show, but he knew well that there were lots of people working to make it really happen. I think that it was always a nice moment to have those people acknowledged as well."

Zweig, speaking to CNN ahead of this year's Creative Arts Emmys, knew the event would be a "bittersweet" affair if there ever was one.

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