Anthony Bourdain quotes

Anthony Bourdain was an American chef, author, and television personality, renowned for his travel and food shows. His unique storytelling and adventurous spirit brought global cuisines and cultures into the spotlight. He inspired millions to explore the world with curiosity and empathy. Here are 211 of his quotes:

I don't like to see animals in pain. That was very uncomfortable to me. I don't like factory farming. I'm not an advocate for the meat industry. (Anthony Bourdain)
You have to be a romantic to invest yourself, your money, and your time in cheese. View quote
Anthony Bourdain
Meals make the society, hold the fabric together in lots of ways that were charming and interesting and intoxicating to me. The perfect meal, or the best meals, occur in a context that frequently has very little to do with the food itself. View quote
Anthony Bourdain
You have to love a town where you can both smoke and gamble in a pharmacy. View quote
Anthony Bourdain
An ounce of sauce covers a multitude of sins. View quote
Anthony Bourdain
I am in no way supportive of hunting for trophies or sport - would never do it and don't like it that others do. But if you kill it, then eat it, it's fine. View quote
Anthony Bourdain
Margarine? That's not food. I Can't Believe It's Not Butter? I can. If you're planning on using margarine in anything, you can stop reading now, because I won't be able to help you. View quote
Anthony Bourdain
There's something wonderful about drinking in the afternoon. A not-too-cold pint, absolutely alone at the bar – even in this fake-ass Irish pub. View quote
Anthony Bourdain
Skills can be taught. Character you either have or you don't have. View quote
Anthony Bourdain
PETA doesn't want stressed animals to be cruelly crowded into sheds, ankle-deep in their own crap, because they don't want any animals to die-ever-and basically think chickens should, in time, gain the right to vote. I don't want animals stressed or crowded or treated cruelly or inhumanely because that makes them probably less delicious. View quote
Anthony Bourdain
Cooking professionally is a dominant act, at all times about control. Eating well, on the other hand, is about submission. It's about giving up all vestiges of control, about entrusting your fate entirely to someone else. It's about turning off the mean, manipulative, calculating, and shrewd person inside you, and slipping heedlessly into a new experience as if it were a warm bath. It's about shutting down the radar and letting good things happen. Let it happen to you. (Anthony Bourdain)
Avoid at all costs that vile spew you see rotting in oil in screwtop jars. Too lazy to peel fresh? You don't deserve to eat garlic. View quote
Anthony Bourdain
your body is not a temple, it's an amusement park. Enjoy the ride. View quote
Anthony Bourdain
Don't lie about it. You made a mistake. Admit it and move on. Just don't do it again. Ever. View quote
Anthony Bourdain
Good food is very often, even most often, simple food. View quote
Anthony Bourdain
Travel changes you. As you move through this life and this world you change things slightly, you leave marks behind, however small. And in return, life - and travel - leaves marks on you. Most of the time, those marks - on your body or on your heart - are beautiful. Often, though, they hurt. View quote
Anthony Bourdain
No one understands and appreciates the American Dream of hard work leading to material rewards better than a non-American. View quote
Anthony Bourdain
If you're twenty-two, physically fit, hungry to learn and be better, I urge you to travel – as far and as widely as possible. Sleep on floors if you have to. Find out how other people live and eat and cook. Learn from them – wherever you go. View quote
Anthony Bourdain
For their own good, vegetarians should never be allowed near fine beers and ales. It will only make them loud and belligerent, and they lack the physical strength and aggressive nature to back up any drunken assertions. View quote
Anthony Bourdain
The way you make an omelet reveals your character. View quote
Anthony Bourdain
We know, for instance, that there is a direct, inverse relationship between frequency of family meals and social problems. Bluntly stated, members of families who eat together regularly are statistically less likely to stick up liquor stores, blow up meth labs, give birth to crack babies, commit suicide, or make donkey porn. If Little Timmy had just had more meatloaf, he might not have grown up to fill chest freezers with Cub Scout parts. (Anthony Bourdain)
I am not a fan of people who abuse service staff. In fact, I find it intolerable. It's an unpardonable sin as far as I'm concerned, taking out personal business or some other kind of dissatisfaction on a waiter or busboy. View quote
Anthony Bourdain
Hong Kong is a wonderful, mixed-up town where you've got great food and adventure. First and foremost, it's a great place to experience China in a relatively accessible way. View quote
Anthony Bourdain
For a moment, or a second, the pinched expressions of the cynical, world-weary, throat-cutting, miserable bastards we've all had to become disappears, when we're confronted with something as simple as a plate of food. View quote
Anthony Bourdain
I wanted to write in Kitchenese, the secret language of cooks, instantly recognizable to anyone who has ever dunked french fries for a summer job or suffered under the despotic rule of a tyrannical chef or boobish owner. View quote
Anthony Bourdain