Anthony Bourdain has made it clear he’s no fan of Donald Trump. But just in case you were wondering, he will NOT be dining at the president-elect’s Washington, D.C. hotel when its new sushi spot opens next year.
“I will never eat in his restaurant,” Bourdain told Eater in reference to the restaurant’s chef, Alessandro Borgognone. “I have utter contempt for him, utter and complete contempt.”
Borgognone’s restaurant, Nakazawa, is scheduled to open at the Trump International Hotel in D.C.’s historic Old Post Office Pavilion next summer. Chefs José Andrés and Geoffrey Zakarian were due to open eateries in the building, but pulled out of their leases in July 2015 because of Trump’s disparaging comments about immigrants. Borgognone announced his deal to open Nakazawa last month.
In his Eater interview, Bourdain also took issue with chef David Burke for agreeing to run a steakhouse in the building, saying his colleagues ought to have taken a stand rather than a business opportunity.
“It’s not helpful, that sort of thing [opening in a contentious hotel]. I’m not asking you to start putting up barricades now, but when they come and ask you, ‘Are you with us?’ You do have an option. You can say ‘No thanks, guys,’” he said, in part.
The drama over the hotel restaurants may ultimately be moot: Trump may instantly be in violation of the hotel’s lease when he takes office in January.
But for the incoming commander-in-chief’s moral chops, Bourdain had some meaty commentary.
“The man eats his steak well done! I don’t think he’s a good person,” he told Eater.
Boom, roasted!