What Anthony Bourdain Really Thought About Food Network

Some of the absolute best lessons we learned from Anthony Bourdain deal less with cooking and more with living. As the intrepid traveler charted his own journey, staying true to the "more life" dogma meant obliterating the existing parameters of (ironically) digestible, chaste "food television" in the early 2000s — standards largely set by the Food Network.

Bourdain's personal favorite food scenes in television history, after all, came from NBC's "Hannibal," a rather unexpected source. But the late Bourdain appreciated the show's eye for artistry nonetheless, and wasn't shy about saying so. In this spirit, his views on the Food Network leaned opposite for the same reason. In a 2007 guest post he wrote for chef-slash-author Michael Ruhlman's blog (via Mashed), Bourdain even complements the culinary ingenuity of fellow "foodist" Alton Brown by expressing surprise at Brown's affiliation with the Food Network. "How did Alton slip inside the wire — and stay there all these years?" Bourdain said. "He must have something on them. He's smart. You actually learn something from his commentary."

Fast-forward to 2014 and an interview with Smithsonian Magazine, here Bourdain likens the Food Network's pantheon of programs more to "reality shows" than anything having to do with cooking. "People don't really cook on TV anymore [...] even the ones where they're actually cooking, it's more about interpersonal drama." Still, it's worth noting that the Food Network was the platform to initially broadcast "A Cook's Tour," Bourdain's first show.

Despite giving the chef/writer his on-screen start following the success of "Kitchen Confidential," Bourdain split following a fight with Food Network over creative control. Ratings, goes the story, were higher for episodes when Bourdain stayed inside the box of domestic America, and Food Network give the go-ahead to an episode outline in which Bourdain planned to visit El Bulli – the world-famous restaurant of chef Ferran Adria. The parting was arguably for the best, as in the nearly 20 years that followed, Bourdain's gonzo literary style would go on to reshape what food television could be. But, clearly, the parting wasn't on the best of terms — at least, not from Bourdain's side.

Atlanta Magazine covered the writer's 2015 "Close to the Bone" North America tour, in which he called Ina Garten "one of the few people on Food Network who can actually cook" (high praise in Bourdain's acerbic lexicon). "When Ina Garten makes mashed potatoes," he said, "those are some solid mashed potatoes." But, in the same performance, he also criticized the flamboyant brand of Food Network darling Guy Fieri: "I sort of feel in a heartfelt way for Guy [Fieri]. I wonder about him. He's 52 years-old and still rolling around in the flame outfit," further disavowing the Network's penchant for highlighting personalities rather than actually telling stories about food.

Static Media owns and operates Tasting Table and Mashed.