--- title: Anthony Bourdain Doesn't Eat Airplane Food description: From seal eyes in the Arctic to balut to New Mexican Frito Pie, Anthony Bourdain has built a reputation on trying any food at least once. canonical: https://time.com/4325309/anthony-bourdain-airplane-food/ author: Melissa Locker article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-05-10T21:28:03.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:32:18.306Z og:title: Anthony Bourdain on the One Type of Food You Should Never Eat og:description: He'll eat anything once og:url: https://time.com/4325309/anthony-bourdain-airplane-food/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt60348eaa99c194e2/698892ad2dce0140d89e904e/anthony-bourdain.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Inside The South By Southwest (SXSW) Interactive Festival og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Anthony Bourdain on the One Type of Food You Should Never Eat twitter:description: He'll eat anything once twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt60348eaa99c194e2/698892ad2dce0140d89e904e/anthony-bourdain.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Anthony Bourdain on the One Type of Food You Should Never Eat by [Melissa Locker](/author/melissa-locker/) ## Melissa Locker May 10, 2016 9:28 PM CUT  Anthony Bourdain on March 13, 2016 in Austin, Texas. Anthony Bourdain on March 13, 2016 in Austin, Texas.David Paul Morris—Getty Images by [Melissa Locker](/author/melissa-locker/) ## Melissa Locker May 10, 2016 9:28 PM CUT From seal eyes in the Arctic to balut to New Mexican [Frito Pie,](http://entertainment.time.com/2013/10/01/anthony-bourdain-regrets-the-error-frito-pies-not-gross-just-gross-looking/?iid=sr-link3 "undefined") [Anthony Bourdain](http://time.com/3987009/10-questions-with-anthony-bourdain/?iid=sr-link2 "undefined") has built a reputation on trying any food at least once. But there are a few things the _No Reservations_ and _Parts Unknown_ host will never eat again, including Icelandic fermented shark, Namibian warthog rectum —and airplane food. In a conversation with [_Bon Appetit_](http://www.bonappetit.com/people/celebrities/article/anthony-bourdain-parts-unknown "undefined"), Bourdain claimed that he never eats the food on the many, many plane rides he takes as he travels the world. “Never,” said Bourdain. “No one has ever felt better after eating plane food. I think people only eat it because they’re bored. I don’t eat on planes. I like to arrive hungry.” Even when he’s traveling from New York, where he’s building a massive [new food hall](https://www.instagram.com/bourdainmarket/ "undefined"), to Tokyo or New Zealand or some other far-flung destination, Bourdain refuses to scarf down airplane food. “For a super-long flight, I’d order cheese and s\*\*t load of port. I’d eat some cheese and drink myself stupid,” he said. Perhaps airplanes should consider serving still-beating cobra hearts to the author and chef because we know he’d [eat that.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ovwj0FYN0Qg "undefined") ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4325309/anthony-bourdain-airplane-food/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4325309/anthony-bourdain-airplane-food/"},"headline":"Anthony Bourdain on the One Type of Food You Should Never Eat","datePublished":"2016-05-10T21:28:03.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:32:18.306Z","description":"He'll eat anything once","url":"https://time.com/4325309/anthony-bourdain-airplane-food/","keywords":["Newsfeed","Food","Travel","food and drink","anthony bourdain"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt60348eaa99c194e2/698892ad2dce0140d89e904e/anthony-bourdain.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Melissa Locker","jobTitle":"","url":"https://time.com/author/melissa-locker/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt60348eaa99c194e2/698892ad2dce0140d89e904e/anthony-bourdain.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Inside The South By Southwest (SXSW) Interactive Festival","caption":"Anthony Bourdain on March 13, 2016 in Austin, Texas.","creditText":"David Paul Morris—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4325309/anthony-bourdain-airplane-food/","name":"Anthony Bourdain on the One Type of Food You Should Never Eat"}}]}] ```