The Wholesome Way Anthony Bourdain Defended A Small-Town Olive Garden Fan

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The year was 2012. North Dakota-based newspaper columnist Marilyn Hagerty wrote an article singing the praises of Olive Garden. The Olive Garden in Grand Forks, North Dakota, wrote Hagerty, totally ruled and served her a knockout chicken Alfredo, which we get. O.G.'s chicken Alfredo made Tasting Table's roundup of the 18 absolute best dishes to order at Olive Garden. But, when Hagerty's innocuous review suddenly went viral, the feedback was more condescending than commiserating. Snobbish internet bullies teased her positive take on the fast-casual Italian-American chain. That is, until late great Anthony Bourdain stepped in to defend her from the viral vitriol. Bourdain took to the social media platform formerly known as Twitter to back up Hagerty's everyman perspective, writing, "Very much enjoying watching Internet sensation Marilyn Hagerty triumph over the snarkologists (myself included)." 

Among the restaurants Bourdain himself practically worshipped, Olive Garden is sorely missing from the list. Still, other unfancy chain restaurants made the list with gusto. Bourdain was an outspoken, self-proclaimed fan of Waffle House and In-N-Out Burger. He also admitted to loving Popeye's mac and cheese as his go-to guilty pleasure food. Even though Olive Garden didn't seem to rank high on the classically trained French chef's personal radar, his (and Hagerty's) recognition of its accessibility stands. A few weeks after his initial tweet, Bourdain returned to social media, posting, "Marilyn Hagerty's years of reviews to be a history of dining in the America too few of us from the coasts have seen. We need to see."

There's something to be said of the "let people enjoy what they enjoy" dogma. Bourdain, however, wasn't always a proponent of this tenet. The chef-slash-writer was famous for his razor-sharp opinions, colorfully described. To Bourdain, vegetarians were "an affront to all I stand for, the pure enjoyment of food," as he wrote in "Kitchen Confidential." He called burger chain Johnny Rockets "soul destroying" in a 2016 interview on "Conan," via YouTube, and tweeted, "If there's a real Mr. Rockets, I'd like to hurt him" three years earlier. But, when it came to honest, unpretentious food journalism, Bourdain's take was a lot more inclusive and fiercely protective.

Shared love of Olive Garden or not, Bourdain and Hagerty met up for coffee and later, Bourdain published her 2013 book "Grand Forks: A History of American Dining in 128 Reviews." The book compiles Hagerty's 30-plus years of local North Dakota food writing. At the time of her Olive Garden review, Hagerty was 85 years old and had been writing the Eat Beat column for the local outlet "The Grand Forks Herald" for more than three decades. As Bourdain himself wrote in the book's foreword, "Anyone who comes away from this work anything less than charmed by Ms. Hagerty — and the places and characters she describes — has a heart of stone. This book kills snark dead." Especially high praise coming from his famously sardonic voice.