Why Anthony Bourdain Had Beef With The James Beard Awards, Despite Winning 4

Whether sampling pasta, encouraging travelers to step outside of their comfort zones, or advising restaurant-goers to clean the plates they were served, Anthony Bourdain was known to be vocal about his preferences. He was no different when speaking of awards organizations, even the James Beard Foundation Awards which not only nominated him for several accolades but also crowned him winner for consecutive years.

Bourdain was public about his distaste for the annual event and wrote about the James Beard Foundation disparagingly, even hate-tweeting the organization's financial information and comparing the award ceremony to an Oscars-like gathering that failed to recognize the right people in the industry. He vehemently despised the fact that many hard-working chefs were overlooked by the foundation while food writers accepting free meals writing fluff pieces were well-received. Bourdain also pointed out that in addition to failing to represent the diversity of those involved in the hospitality business, those working to prepare food for the attendees of the ceremony were not given adequate space to prepare meals. He did, however, find enjoyment in the nomination of Ruth Bourdain, a fictional food character penned by Josh Friedland, for the awards' humor category.

Bourdain certainly wasn't the first, nor the last, to question the nomination process and the process of awarding those involved in the food and beverage industry by the James Beard organization. However, Bourdain nabbed James Beard Awards for the best on-location television program in 2013, 2014, and 2015 and was inducted into the foundation's Who's Who of Food and Beverage in America in 2008.

Then, in an in memoriam piece after his passing, editors from the James Beard Foundation recognized that while Bourdain was indeed a winner of many of the foundation's awards, he was also one of the most openly verbal critics of the organization. "We honor him for his great work, which challenged all of us to ask hard questions and held us accountable for finding meaning in food, respecting the people who prepare it, and making change in the world," they wrote. This upfront honesty is one of the many reasons why Bourdain was well-loved by gourmands around the world.