That People article you posted illustrated one of the techniques his team employed to create a natural and causal environment for his subjects and he to engage in. If he just rolls up with 3 cameras, lights, a couple of producers and starts firing questions, the results are going to be shy and evasive people offering shallow and uninteresting responses.
A part of the reason people respond(ed)
() well to Bourdain was because of his personality and nature. But the other part of it was tried and true experience of walking in cold to a situation. Doing everything in your power to set the tone and put people at ease is, I'm sure, one of the many tactics he and his crew took to capture those sort of special moments.
