Incredible merit, and the status and notoriety that make it possible, are recognized in award ceremonies as suggestions of aspiration. Winners take on the responsibility of representing an organization’s standards for excellence and fairness, and in the culinary world, there are few recognitions more revered than a Michelin star rating or a James Beard Award. It’s the very idea of “setting the standard” that has rubbed some chefs the wrong way, as this standard often doesn’t reflect the diversity of the food industry.
Anthony Bourdain was perhaps the most notorious James Beard Award hater while also being one of its most notorious recipients. At the 2012 “Great Googa Mooga” festival in New York, Bourdain took jabs at the James Beard Foundation, calling it “a big circle f*cking jerk” for its lack of engagement with non-white chefs (via YouTube). Preaching from his position in the so-called circle, he joked that, “According to the James Beard Foundation, apparently no Mexicans are working in any of our restaurants.”
At the time of Bourdain’s inflammatory food takes, Hispanic and Latino workers made up 16% of the total U.S. population. They accounted for approximately 23% of all food preparation and serving jobs in the United States, with the majority in back-of-house positions as cooks, prep cooks, or dishwashers. Despite 30% of cooks coming from Hispanic and Latino backgrounds, many chefs believed that these contributions didn’t receive adequate recognition from the James Beard Foundation.
The chefs Anthony Bourdain thought deserved more recognition
An exciting food festival rant wasn’t the first time Anthony Bourdain noted a lack of appreciation for Hispanic and Latino chefs by the James Beard Foundation and other prominent culinary institutions. He’s said many of the chefs who mentored him were originally from various countries and citizenship statuses, which is likely why he broached the topic in 2011.
In an interview with Eater, Bourdain commented on the James Beard Award’s lack of representation, saying, “Rarely can one see so many white people in one room. It really does look like the Republican National Convention or the last Wallace campaign, yet we’re talking about a business that’s between 30 and 70 percent non-white. It just seems to me that the right thing to do would be to show a little interest.” Bourdain called Mexican and Central American immigrants the “backbone of the industry” during a 2016 interview with Pete Dominick on Sirius XM.
It took time, but the James Beard Foundation showed its interest by making some commitments to improve fairness and inclusivity. In 2025, multiple Hispanic chefs earned James Beard Awards, particularly in the “Best Chef” category. The foundation released a statement on its website acknowledging that Bourdain held them accountable for “finding meaning in food, respecting the people who prepare it, and making change in the world.”
