HOW THIS ALL CAME TO BE

The League Origins, in the press

Kiki Aranita is our kind of writer: a professional cook, an excellent wordsmith, someone who does fine-art crochet of food items (seriously, check out her fiber art, it's very cool). Also, she wrote wonderfully for Roads & Kingdoms in the past, which we are always grateful for.

So when she called for a story about the joys of traveling with chefs, it naturally turned into a longer conversation about where we are and where we've come from. Given the space constraints of articles these days, it was a succinct distillation of the steps from our all-media past to our media-and-cookouts-by-the-river present.

From Kiki's article:

"Chefs are a really compelling way to organise travel," declares Nathan Thornburgh of the previously media-focused Roads and Kingdoms. "We had been partners in media and business with Tony [Bourdain] for years. When he killed himself, we were very deeply involved with video projects, the podcast, creative ventures with Tony, and lots of projects of his, with CNN and Parts Unknown. That all wound down in 2019 as we couldn't replace his role in the business. And he was irreplaceable."

At the onset of the pandemic, Thornburgh was in a Zoom call with José Andrés and Roads and Kingdom's co-founder Matt Goulding. "In a very Jose way, he… kicked our asses into action," says Thornburgh. Andres invested in the travel side of Roads and Kingdoms, dubbed the League of Travelers, and Thornburgh went to Asturias, Andres' homeland for reconnaissance. That was part of the deal. "He would help us build this travel side [of R&K] but we would have to shine some light on this incredible place that he's from."

This is, in fact, how it was all born. We never shot for Parts Unknown, but we got to travel with Tony for other productions (including our Emmy-winning Little Los Angeles series), and his style of travel—stylish hotels, charismatic locals, a mix of bombastic and humble meals—became a north star for the League of Travelers.

Andy Ricker at a beachfront cookout in Asturias. Photo: Michael Magers, top photo by Arthur Bondar

The article also dives into our long and torrid travel-obsessed love affair with chef Andy Ricker, whom Tony introduced us to with something like a premonition of good things to come. Andy is hosting trips with us this fall to José's homeland Asturias, to Northern Vietnam, and to his adopted home Chiang Mai. Thoughts about working with Andy, and about our charitable connections with the project, and more, in Kiki's article here. We're glad to be in the same piece as many worthies, especially our old friends at Terroir.

Much of our Autumn schedule is sold out, but if those Ricker trips strike a chord with you, send us a note; we've still got a few spots. You can find all our itineraries, including in 2024, on the League site. We are proud of what we're building, and we hope you can join.

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