Anthony Bourdain's Favorite LA Restaurant Was An Unexpected Choice

The late chef Anthony Bourdain enjoyed eating at a lot of upscale restaurants, and his favorite pre-dinner cocktail may have been a fancy negroni, but when it came to chowing down on a burger, it might surprise you to learn he loved one from a particular fast food eatery. In a 2016 interview with Daily Beast, Bourdain lamented his love for Shake Shack, explaining that if he had been out of the country for an extended amount of time, once back in New York City, "I'm having a double cheeseburger naked, please. No lettuce. No tomato. No nothing. Just cheese and two burgers on a potato bun. I'll have two of those and I'm happy." But even though that might have been his go-to meal when he was home, it was actually a California burger drive-thru that had his heart.

The "Parts Unknown" host shared in a 2015 interview with Eater that just like the one fast food chain Julia Child couldn't get enough of, In-N-Out was the first spot he, too, would hit for a meal when he arrived in the City of Angels. He called it his "favorite restaurant in Los Angeles" and claimed that, "It's the only fast-food chain I like." Forget glitzy, multi-course restaurants, Bourdain clearly liked things simple. Bourdain also noted during the interview that if you were counting likes on his IG, you would know that In-N-Out photos got the most likes of all his posts, so no one could ever charge Bourdain with being a food snob.

In-N-Out burgers are beloved, but what sets this fast food chain apart from the competition? Bourdain explained that the anatomy of a burger is really important, and it all begins with the bun. It needs to be fresh, squishy, and sturdy enough to handle the burger and all its toppings. Quality meat is also a must, but when it comes to the cheese Bourdain said you want to skip the fancy, quality stuff and whatever "cheese-like substance" In-N-Out uses, "...is just perfect."

Bourdain liked his double double burger "animal style" which is not the big secret that some have made it to be. It is simply the burger of your choice with hand-leafed lettuce, tomato, mustard, pickle, extra spread, and grilled onions piled on a hamburger patty. Bourdain liked double meat, which is two patties, hence the double double, because it created the perfect ratio of surface area for the cheese and all the other lovely toppings. 

Bourdain's burger approach was pretty straightforward, but he was also a thought leader in the school of if it isn't broke, don't fix it. In a Youtube video, he shared his philosophy saying, "Is...this thing I'm doing to a perfectly good classic dish, is it making it better?" He noted that there are plenty of things you can do to a burger to impress your eaters and even "delight" them, but if it doesn't make the burger better, why do it? 

Adding tomatoes and lettuce are delicious additions to your burger; however, Bourdain argued these could make it "structurally more difficult to eat." Hamburgers are called handheld foods for a reason and the celebrity chef believed when you bite into this sandwich, you should get a little bit of each element in your mouth to fully appreciate and enjoy it. In fact, he said that "the greatest sin in the burgerdom" is "making a burger that is difficult to eat. Clearly In-N-Out knows what it's doing if it has the seal of approval from Bourdain.