Before he was the globetrotting TV host, star chef and cultural explorer, Anthony Bourdain grew up a New Jerseyan.

“Leonia was a fairly quiet, small town that was a short, eight-minute drive from New York,” Bourdain said in a 2015 interview with (201) Magazine. “That helped shape me in terms of what my aspirations and hopes were. I grew up like a lot of suburban teens, with a lot of the same pathologies. When bored, we’d drive around, looking for trouble.”

From those humble beginnings, Bourdain became a food media icon. Now, eight years after his death, the Bourdain biopic “Tony” arrives in theaters (in select cities now, nationwide Aug. 21), tracing the renowned chef’s early days as a teen in the kitchen of a Provincetown, Massachusetts, restaurant and the summer that would chart the course for the rest of his life.

But before and after the events portrayed in “Tony,” there were seminal moments that shaped his food perspective and which he held dear throughout his life. He told (201) Magazine in 2018, in one of the last interviews before his death, that he grew up on “crappy fake Cantonese food” and “overcooked, cover-sauced pasta … [with] only a glancing relationship to real Italian.”

Yet, he added, he always made time for his favorites: Hiram’s in Fort Lee, Baumgart’s Cafe in its original Englewood, New Jersey, location, several spots down the Shore and a bevy of others in New York City and throughout the Garden State. Though he tasted much of what the world has to offer, the tastes of New Jersey and New York still mattered to him. 

We checked back in at some of his local haunts to see if they still hold the magic with which Bourdain fell in love. You, too, can take a trip to the chef’s 10 favorite spots throughout the state on the Anthony Bourdain NJ Food Trail.

Hiram’s, Fort Lee

“I don’t spend a lot of time there,” Bourdain said of New Jersey in 2018. “What time I do, I have to admit, for better or worse, I’m going straight back to the flavors of my youth. And in that case, that means Hiram’s.”

Great choice, Tony. Hiram’s is the same as it ever was – a classic roadside stand that has stood the test of time with simply prepared, affordable and utterly delicious dogs, burgers and more.

Chris Bourdain, the chef’s brother, told us in 2019 that the pair would end up at Hiram’s at least once a month, often when their mom was too tired to cook. 

With $3 Miller High Lifes, birch beer on tap and Yoo-Hoo a suggested pairing, Hiram’s is a throwback to a simpler (and cheaper) time. And the dog itself is worth tasting for yourself (if you don’t trust Bourdain’s judgment). It’s a “French-fried” Thumann’s dog that is snappy, moist and substantial. Get it with mustard or a peppery chili, just not solely ketchup (per house rules).

Go: 1345 Palisade Ave., Fort Lee; 201-592-9602, restaurantsnapshot.com/HiramsRoadstand

Di Fara Pizza, Brooklyn

Well, Tony liked the classics and there are few New York-style pizzerias as iconic as Di Fara in Midwood, Brooklyn. 

“If you feel like humping out to Brooklyn, to Di Fara’s, you can get the best of the best,” Bourdain wrote in a 2005 piece in The Guardian. He also shouted out the white clam pie at Lombardi’s in Little Italy.

Now that praise came a long time ago and, regrettably, the pizzeria’s founder, Domenico De Marco, died in 2022. The immigrant from Caserta, Italy, opened his pizza shop in 1965 and made each pie himself. 

But today, Di Fara has grown under the ownership of Dom’s kids, and you can get frozen pies in most local grocery stores. Though much has changed, they’re still using double OO flour, fresh bufala mozzarella and carrying on their pop’s legacy.

Bourdain wasn’t alone in his praise for Di Fara pizza, by the way: Barstool’s Dave Portnoy gave it a 9.4 in his One Bite Pizza Review, which ranks as the second-highest score of the hundreds of pizzas he’s tried. 

Go: 1424 Avenue J, Brooklyn; 718-258-1367, difarapizzany.com.

Siberia, Manhattan

In 2000, Bourdain called Siberia, a subterranean dive welcoming a diversity of folks, “my favorite bar on Earth.”

In his iconic memoir “Kitchen Confidential,” he expounded on his affinity for the bar inside the downtown 1 and 9 subway station underneath 50th and Broadway: “You never know who’s going to be draped over couches or listening to live bands in the dungeon-like cellar – rock-and-rollers, off-duty cops, drunken journos, cast and crew from ‘Saturday Night Live,’ slumming fashionistas, post-work chefs, kinky politicos, out-of-work bone-breakers or nodding strippers. It’s heaven.”

Siberia, which opened in 1996, closed in 2001. A second iteration formed shortly thereafter but also closed in 2007. But now, the beloved dive-bar-that-could is back as of last fall in the 57th and Eighth subway station near Columbus Circle, helmed by original owner and self-proclaimed “Minister of Propaganda” Tracy Westmoreland. 

The early returns are good: great service, a funky environment and a maverick aura akin to the one it cultivated in its earlier iterations. Going there still feels like being let in on a local secret, which Bourdain and its many other regulars over the years would admire.

Go: W. 57th St., Eighth Ave, New York; 917-349-8922, siberia.nyc.

Baumgart’s Cafe, Fairview and Ridgewood

Baumgart’s is a unique Asian-American diner and ice cream parlor that Bourdain featured in a 2005 episode of his travel show “No Reservations.”

In the episode, Bourdain ordered a meal likely only available at Baumgart’s: chocolate ice cream soda, a chocolate egg cream, broiled eel and tuna sushi roll.

In 2023, Baumgart’s closed its original Englewood location, which had been operating since 1944. In fact, there used to be five Baumgart’s locations in North Jersey and New York, but now it’s down to two: one in Ridgewood and one in Fairview.

Fortunately, only the number of locations has changed; the eclectic menu still includes plenty of Asian fusion and American diner staples from mapo tofu to ice cream sundaes. 

Go: 158 Franklin Ave., Ridgewood; 201-612-5688, baumgartscafe.com; and 378 Bergen Blvd., Fairview; 201-496-6008, baumgartcafefairview.com.

Bonus: White Manna, Hackensack

Years ago, Bourdain visited White Manna to chat with Jason Perlow, who launched the food forum eGullet, which brought food lovers together before the age of social media. Bourdain remarked on the simple pleasure of the experience: “Do you think there’s a danger in overanalyzing? I mean it’s just a f—— hamburger, man.”

In recent years, White Manna’s burgers have lapped up accolades. They were named the best in the state by Thrillist, GQ named it as one of the 20 burgers to eat before you die and Food & Wine pegged it as one of the best burgers in the U.S.

White Manna (all of it, building included) is moving. The sliders may taste the same, but now you’ll have to follow the scent of its steamed beef and onion burgers about a mile down the road. 

Go: 112-120 Hackensack Ave., Hackensack; whitemanna.com.