Why Veggies Always Taste Better At Restaurants, According To Anthony Bourdain

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It's not hyperbolic to say that several different kinds of food are simply more tasty when they're made at a restaurant rather than at home, and, contrary to popular belief, it's not just a matter of your skill level as a cook. Among these foods are vegetables, which Anthony Bourdain claims are always better at restaurants due to two added ingredients that really make a difference — butter and sugar.

That's right, while chicken usually tastes better at restaurants due to strong marinating, brining, and searing techniques, it's all about butter and sugar as far as veggies are concerned. The respected chef explained as much while cooking a large dinner during an episode of "No Reservations" on the Travel Channel, where he added a whopping 2 pounds of butter to his carrot Vichy recipe before following it up with an additional 1½ cups of white sugar for good measure. " ... If you ever wonder why restaurant vegetables taste so good, now you know," Bourdain claimed, bluntly acknowledging the absurd amount of both sugar and butter he was using to make the veggies taste so great. While some chefs online claim that this is not always the case, it's quite common for restaurants to use butter or sugar — together or individually — in large amounts to get the job done.

This wasn't the first time Bourdain spoke about the amount of butter used in the restaurant industry. In fact, he was known for revealing professional chefs' over-reliance on butter, most notably in an old interview with Oprah Winfrey, when he said that butter is "usually the first thing and the last thing in just about every pan." However, he's no stranger to utilizing the remarkable ingredient to make his own vegetable dishes taste much better.

Beyond the aforementioned carrot Vichy that contained plenty of both butter and sugar, a popular recipe of Anthony Bourdain's proved that butter and bacon can even enhance the least favored of vegetables, like Brussels sprouts. In his cookbook — fittingly titled "Appetites: A Cookbook" — Bourdain revealed that cooking Brussels sprouts in bacon fat, adding butter, and then adding bacon itself into the pan alongside the vegetable can produce one of the best vegetable dishes you've ever had. In fact, Bourdain isn't the only one to swear by this method; Alton Brown is also a big believer in cooking Brussels sprouts in bacon fat, with his variation also adding Dijon maple syrup and apples to the mix to maximize the dish's sweetness and saltiness at the same time.

However, Bourdain also knew what to do with vegetables when he was looking to stray from the most common strategy and not use butter or sugar whatsoever. A great example of this is Bourdain's remarkable roasted cauliflower recipe. Bourdain would prepare the cauliflower (which Ina Garten believes is one of the most underrated vegetables) using two other common vegetable enhancers: salt and olive oil. By drizzling olive oil over the cauliflower and seasoning it with salt, pepper, dried oregano, and ground coriander, he created a remarkably simple yet flavorful vegetable dish perfect for those looking to avoid excessive fat and sugar.