How Anthony Bourdain Once Brutally Criticized Gordon Ramsay's Hell's Kitchen

Anthony Bourdain and Gordan Ramsay are two names in the culinary world that hold weight — and not only for their foodie-related fame. Both chefs were no strangers to voicing their (F-bomb-laden) thoughts and being an unignorable presence in the kitchen and entertainment industry. When it came to Bourdain, his opinions were anything but meek: either he was willing to get on his knees to praise a meal at a London restaurant, or he loathed the iconic sandwich most of the country adores. As for Ramsay's TV show "Hell's Kitchen," Bourdain wasn't much of a fan.

At a book signing event in 2008, Bourdain half-jokingly shared his disappointment about the show while attendees applauded and agreed with him (via YouTube). He referred to "Hell's Kitchen" as "an exercise in horrible cruelty," where viewers have to watch contestants suffer while waiting to see who buckles first under the pressure of Ramsay's ire. 

"Hell's Kitchen" is notorious for contestants receiving slack for their cooking efforts while standing before the brutally honest and foul-mouthed Ramsay. Having first aired in 2005, it has become one of the competitive cooking shows that divides watchers. Bourdain was clear on his stance, though; he hated the show. 

Anthony Bourdain visited Gordon Ramsay's restaurant in London back in 2002 during an earlier TV show, "A Cook's Tour," where he introduced him as being "considered to be the best chef in England. End of story." While Bourdain later insisted that "Hell's Kitchen" didn't do justice to Gordon Ramsay's personality, he did suggest that the Ramsay of "Kitchen Nightmares" was a better representation of who he actually is. On stage at the 2008 book signing event, he spoke of how much he liked Ramsay, saying, "Gordon's actually a really sweet, nice guy." He acknowledged the realities of a media personality where you can only be yourself to a certain extent. Having spent the majority of his career leading culinary TV shows around the world, such as "No Reservations" and "Parts Unknown," the renowned food writer and chef knew a thing or two about how to leverage an on-screen personality to keep viewers watching.

Even while their shows were received differently, there was still a mutual respect between Bourdain and Ramsay. They even found common ground in their palates, sharing a liking for one particular Filipino dish: sisig. When Bourdain tragically passed away in 2018, Ramsay shared a heartfelt tribute on X expressing his appreciation for the chef. Ramsay wrote that "[Bourdain] brought the world into our homes and inspired so many people to explore cultures and cities through their food."