Anthony Bourdain’s London: Discover the restaurants, bars, clubs and hotels the documentary filmmaker visited

New York-born Anthony Bourdain liked to refer to London as his “second home” – and considering he was so well-travelled, we’ll take that as a pretty big compliment.

Today would have been the chef, writer and documentary maker’s 63rd birthday. Tragically, Bourdain died by suicide last year, leaving many in the food world devastated.

Travelling the world and making friends in all sorts of unexpected places, Bourdain showed viewers and readers just how intrinsic cooking and sharing food is to culture and to humanity.

Chefs Eric Ripert and Jose Andres have kickstarted a campaign to have his birthday, June 25, become known as Bourdain Day – a day to appreciate all that his work celebrated.

Events celebrating Bourdain in London include a meal at Social 52 to benefit mental heath awareness organisations, and a mural of the chef has been painted on the side of a restaurant in south London.

Alternatively, remember the chef at the places he explored on his trips to London for the documentary series Parts Unknown, No Reservations and The Layover. From his “favourite restaurant in the world” to underground bars and Jamaican takeaways, this is where to eat Anthony Bourdain’s London.

St. John

Bourdain ate at more restaurants than most in his lifetime, and in every corner of the globe – but not one of them beat St. John in Clerkenwell. Bourdain frequently referred to the east London spot as his “favourite restaurant in the world”, with special admiration bestowed to chef Fergus Henderson, who he termed in The Layover as his “spiritual leader”. Bourdain returned to Henderson’s influential, offal-celebrating cooking in each of his London documentaries, gleefully extolling the virtues of blood cake, pigs head pies and, his favourite, the iconic dish of bone marrow on toast with parsley salad.

26 St John Street, EC1M 4AY, stjohnrestaurant.com

Sweetings

In The Layover, Henderson and Bourdain lunch together at Sweetings – lunch being the crucial term. The City restaurant first opened in 1889, its “Bill of Fare” noting a bountiful roster of largely British fish and seafood, all available fried, poached or grilled with recommendations available. A Black Velvet or two is a customary way to start, but only if you’re up for day drinking: it took Sweetings more than 100 years to extend its service to supper, launching a once-a-month service last year.

39 Queen Victoria Street, EC4N 4SF, sweetingsrestaurant.com

Wheeler’s of St James’s

Henderson may get top billing in Bourdain’s awe, but it's Marco Pierre White that he credited with revitalising the image of British food and making it “sexy” again. A regular companion on Bourdain’s British exploits, the original celebrity chef was the youngest ever to achieve three Michelin stars, with a rock ‘n’ roll image that wowed the young American. Over the years, the pair ate chip butties in Weymouth, Pigs Trotter a la Koffmann at the Rudloe Arms, and British seafood at White’s City restaurant Wheeler’s of St James’s.

5 Threadneedle Street, EC2R 8AY, mpwrestaurants.co.uk

The Princess Victoria

Bourdain was a man who understood the virtues (and the vices) of a good pub. In Parts Unknown, he was joined at the Princess Victoria in Shepherd’s Bush by his The Taste co-star Nigella Lawson. The pair tucked into pork scratchings, a Scotch egg – which Bourdain described as “a supernova of unhealthiness” – and deep-fried whitebait alongside properly fat chips. The pub will also be marking Bourdain’s birthday this year, remembering his visit by offering a black pudding scotch egg, whitebait and a pint of Guinness for just £10 on June 25.

217 Uxbridge Road, W12 9DH, princessvictoria.co.uk

Hazlitt’s

Soho is a part of London to which Bourdain returned time and time again – partly, no doubt, because he “personal oasis” there. The chef marked out Hazlitt’s, a hotel housed in three Georgian buildings that dates back to 1718, as his favourite place to stay in the capital. Frequented by writers over its long history, Bourdain gave us the guided tour of its library there in a 2008 episode of No Reservations, before promoting his own book Medium Raw there two years later.

6 Frith Street, W1D 3JA, hazlittshotel.com

Peppers & Spice

As we all know, London food isn’t all fish and chips and Scotch eggs – there’s a whole world of cuisines to be found within the M25. Bourdain tucked into one of them with The Kills frontman Jamie Hince at Dalston’s Peppers & Spices, the rocker’s favourite Caribbean fast food joint. At what Hince described as “the best Jamaican this side of Ocho Rios” the pair devoured vegetable patties, mutton curry and saltfish callaloo – before a pint or two, of course.

40 Balls Pond Road, N1 4AU

The Hunter S.

Although it’s not name-checked in the show, Parts Unknown sees Bourdain and Hince move onto Hackney pub The Hunter S. for said drinks and good old Brexit dissection. The watering hole – which is perhaps best known for its lurid urinals shaped like lipsticked mouths – is named for Hunter S. Thompson, the writer of Fear and Loathing In Las Vegas. The book was famously illustrated by artist Ralph Steadman, who Bourdain later met in the more gentle setting of The Chequers Inn in Kent.

194 Southgate Road, N1 3HT, thehunter-s-pub.co.uk

Bar Italia

For many, mornings after in Soho are propped upright by a trip to Bar Italia. Evenings too, for that matter, as the Frith Street cafe is open 24 hours a day. Bar Italia was opened 70 years ago by Italian couple Lou and Caterina Polledri, and is still sorting out Soho revellers to this day. Italian cafe culture is king, meaning that a drop of something stronger isn’t too far away. Bourdain joined Henderson here for coffee in The Layover, followed by a couple of Fernet-Branca liqueurs to kick start the day.

22 Frith Street, W1D 4RF, baritaliasoho.co.uk

Rochelle Canteen

Fergus isn’t the only Henderson to have made waves on the London restaurant scene over the last twenty years. Margot, the St John chef’s wife, is one half of Arnold & Henderson, the culinary duo behind Shoreditch’s celebrated Rochelle Canteen. Proving that London weather ain’t all that bad, Parts Unknown saw Bourdain join Margot for an al fresco lunch of vitello tonnato in the restaurant’s outdoor area. Sitting in the playground of an old Victorian school, the two chatted over the community in Shoreditch, and how it has changed over the last hundred years.

16 Playground Gardens, E2 7FA, arnoldandhenderson.com

E. Pellicci

The Full English is one of our small island’s most alluring culinary contributions – and yet one of the heartiest in London can be found at a caff run by an Italian family. Bethnal Green’s E. Pellicci has been serving up colossal breakfasts for decades, with future owner Priamo Pellicci starting work there back in 1900. This is where Bourdain pointed out the startling merits of a full eight-piece breakfast. “This, terrifyingly enough, is what most Brits expect from a proper fry up,” said Bourdain. Too right.

332 Bethnal Green Road, E2 0AG, epellicci.co.uk

Gerry’s

Soho’s historically raucous nightlife gets a good showing in Bourdain’s No Reservations episode – as does the threat to its survival. Bourdain visited Gerry’s, one of the few underground clubs still standing in the area, having been opened in 1955 by Billy Bunter actor Gerald Campion. After a show, he was given a late-night tour of the area by bartender and poet Phil Dirtbox – “I live between a brothel and a recording studio. It’s very quiet” – who pointed out how historic businesses are being replaced by trendier enterprises in the area.

52 Dean Street, W1D 5BJ, gerrysclub.com

Trisha’s

Finally, it’s Bourdain’s turn to show Marco Pierre White a thing or two about London. In The Layover, The American took the Brit to long-running Soho underground bar Trisha’s – also variably known as The Hideout and the New Evaristo Club. “There is no finer establishment,” says Bourdain. On White’s inaugural visit, Bourdain chastised him for not knowing his favourite London haunt, which began as an Italian drinking club a good 70-something years ago and is still serving late-night punters today.

57 Greek Street, W1D 3DX