'Bigger than life': Australian chefs, foodies mourn Anthony Bourdain

"The Australia tourism campaign is the f---ing worst, it's always been the worst ... I'm not going on vacation to throw shrimp on the barby with Paul Hogan."

So said Anthony Bourdain when he visited Melbourne, a city he loved. He had, in his own words, become particularly connected with the city's "chef mafia", including Andrew McConnell, Greg Malouf and Paul Wilson.

Tributes from Melbourne have been among those around the world flowing for Bourdain on social media, from people rocked by news of his death on Friday.

The 61-year-old chef, writer and broadcaster was found dead in a hotel room near Strasbourg, France, where he was shooting an episode of his current CNN show, Parts Unknown. The cause of his death was suicide, the network said.

MasterChef Australia co-presenter and food writer Matt Preston paid tribute to Bourdain as "one of the best dining companions you could ever hope for, a wise counsel, and a legendary Trugo player to boot".

"My thoughts are with his daughter and family," Preston said via Instagram.

In 2009, Bourdain shot two episodes of his global hit series No Reservations in Australia, one each in Melbourne and Sydney. Bourdain also appeared on MasterChef in 2011 and again visited Australia in 2012.

For the Melbourne episode, Preston took Bourdain on a tour of the city's food hot spots including Sydney Road in the north, and to play the peculiarly local sport of Trugo in Footscray, where Bourdain flogged Preston at the game created by railway workers.

During that visit Bourdain described the Crocodile Dundee image of Australia portrayed in films and advertising as an "unfortunate misstep".

Instead, he lauded Melbourne as a "cafe and pub town with deep tradition" and a "fantastic" melting pot of cultures.

Melbourne chef Tony Tan took Bourdain on a tour of the city's Chinatown district for the same episode.

It was a "nerve-racking experience", Tan told The Age, but beneath Bourdain's suffer-no-fools exterior he was a "genuinely warm, caring person".

"He had an intense curiosity for people and places and that's what endeared him to so many," Tan said.

"He had an amazing appetite for incredible generosity.

"He was bigger than life."

Tan took Bourdain to Dainty Sichuan, at that time "a little restaurant" in Bourke Street.

"He said, without reservation ... [that] it was one of best Sichuan meals he'd ever had in his life outside of China," Tan said.

"That was such a massive compliment to us here in Australia, that we have a regional style of Chinese food on par with anywhere in world.

"Particularly when it comes from somebody as experienced and well-travelled as Anthony Bourdain."

Tan said he understood Bourdain's battle with depression, having gone through it himself.

"We talked about what his life was going to be like ... and he's gone, all because of depression," he said.

"We've all got to take care of our friends, and be very aware of another person's feelings and emotions."

Support is available, for those who may be distressed, by phoning Lifeline 13 11 14; beyondblue 1300 224 636; Kids Helpline 1800 551 800; Mensline 1300 789 978.