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I love this quote from Auguste Escoffier “Good food is the foundation of genuine happiness.”
Food has the unique ability to capture moments in time. And, when you combine food experiences while traveling, you open the door to new culinary landscapes.
Food quotes can poetically take us to new places and we captured 100 to inspire you.
Whether you are looking to travel through food quotes. Or perhaps, in search of snappy food and travel quotes for Instagram, you’ll find them here.
Not to be missed are our favorite Anthony Bourdain food and travel quotes. His understanding of people and culture while encouraging curiosity and adventure continue to inspire our culinary travels.
Whether you are traveling or dreaming about food in exotic destinations, enjoy these personal favorite food and travel quotes.
All Time Best Travel and Food Quotes
Click and easily jump to the food travel quotes. And, if you like any of these food and travel quotes, feel free to save any of them. Simply hover over the photos and feel free to Pin them on Pinterest!
Best Food Quotes
Eating Together Quotes
Anthony Bourdain Food Quotes
Comfort Food Quotes
Inspirational Travel Quotes
Anthony Bourdain Travel Quotes
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Best Food Quotes
Food and each dish we make, or eat, is a story that reflects the person, place and tradition. The following food quotes touch on identity and the pleasure of food.
Enjoy some of our favorite food quotes.
1. ““Good food is the foundation of genuine happiness.” – Auguste Escoffier
2. “There is no love sincerer than the love of food.” – George Bernard Shaw
3. “You have to taste a culture to understand it” – Deborah Cater
4. “I know once people get connected to real food, they never change back.” – Alice Waters
5. “Food is our common ground, a universal experience.” – James Beard
6. “This magical, marvelous food on our plate, this sustenance we absorb, has a story to tell. It has a journey.” – Joel Salatin
7. ”No one is born a great cook, one learns by doing.” – Julia Child
8. “Food is not rational. Food is culture, habit, craving, and identity.” – Jonathan Safran Foer
9. “Food is a pretty good prism through which to view humanity.” – Jonathan Gold
10. “There ain’t a body, be it mouse or man, that ain’t made better by a little soup.” – Kate DiCamillo
11. “We all eat, and it would be a sad waste of opportunity to eat badly.” – Anna Thomas
12. “Life is a combination of magic and pasta.” – Federico Fellini
13. “One of the nicest things about life is the way we must regularly stop whatever it is we are doing and devote our attention to eating.” – Luciano Pavarotti
14. “First we eat, then we do everything else.” – M.F.K. Fisher
15. “If more of us valued food and cheer and song above hoarded gold, it would be a merrier world.”- J.R.R. Tolkein
16. “The stove is the shrine where I convene with my ancestors.” – Adam Ragusea
17. “You don’t need a silver fork to eat good food.” – Paul Prudhomme
18. “Pull up a chair. Take a taste. Come join us. Life is so endlessly delicious!” – Ruth Reichl
19. “All happiness depends on a leisurely breakfast.” – John Gunther
20. “Food is not simply organic fuel to keep body and soul together, it is a perishable art that must be savored at the peak of perfection.” – E.A. Bucchianeri
21. “People who love to eat are always the best people.” – Julia Child
22. “Le bonheur est dans la cuisine – happiness is in the kitchen.” – Paul Bocuse
23. “No rules. Don’t be afraid to do whatever you want. Cooking doesn’t have to have rules. I don’t like it that way.” – Masaharu Morimoto
24. “People would eat a boot if it was homemade.” – Elizabeth Bowen
25. “A recipe has no soul. You, as the cook, must bring soul to the recipe.” – Thomas Keller
26. “Cooking is about surrender.” – Tembi Locke
27. “It’s okay to play with your food.” – Emeril Lagasse
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Eating Together Quotes
One of the things we enjoy the most on our travels is connecting with locals over food. At the table is where strangers become friends. And, the local food culture is revealed.
With this in mind, we share some of our favorite food and travel quotes about eating together.
28. “The discovery of a new dish does more for human happiness than the discovery of a new star.” – J.A. Brillat-Savarin
29. “Sharing food with another human being is an intimate act that should not be indulged in lightly.” – M. F. K. Fisher
30. “I think preparing food and feeding people brings nourishment not only to our bodies but to our spirits. Feeding people is a way of loving them, in the same way that feeding ourselves is a way of honoring our own createdness and fragility.” – Shauna Niequist
31. “The oldest form of theater is the dinner table.” – Michael J. Fox
32. Laughter is brightest where food is best. – Irish Proverb
33. “Food is symbolic of love when words are inadequate.” -Alan D. Wolfelt
34. “Cooking is the ultimate giving.” – Jamie Oliver
35. “Cooking is about life. It gives us what we need to keep going, and it gives us something to share with other people.” – Joan Bauer
36. “After a good dinner, one can forgive anybody, even one’s own relations.” – Oscar Wilde
37. “Cooking is a caring and nurturing act. It’s kind of the ultimate gift for someone, to cook for them.” – Curtis Stone
38. “To me, food is as much about the moment, the occasion, the location, and the company as it is about the taste.” – Heston Blumenthal
39. “The social joys of making a meal with friends are known to all who have done so.” – Billy Bake
40. “Cooking is all about people. Food is maybe the only universal thing that really has the power to bring everyone together. No matter what culture, everywhere around the world, people eat together.” – Guy Fieri
41. “The dinner hour is a sacred, happy time when everyone should be together and relaxed.” – Julia Child
42. “Good food ends with good talk.” – Geoffrey Neighbor
43. “There are times when wisdom cannot be found in the chambers of parliament or the halls of academia but at the unpretentious setting of the kitchen table.” – E. A. Bucchianeri
44. “Growing up, I learned life’s important lessons at the dinner table.” – Chef John Besh
45. “Food brings people together on many different levels. It’s nourishment of the soul and body; it’s truly love.” – Giada De Laurentiis
46. “Food is our common ground, a universal experience.” – James Beard
47. “Tables create conversations.” – Authentic Food Quest
48. If you really want to make a friend, go to someone’s house and eat with him…the people who give you their food give you their heart.- Cesar Chavez
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Anthony Bourdain Food Quotes
When you think of the pursuit of new cultures and cuisines, the name Anthony Bourdain invariably comes up.
Like Anthony, we advocate for experiencing “local” culture through food. In a spirit of shared solidarity, we share some of our favorite Anthony Bourdain food quotes.
49. “Good food is very often, even most often, simple food.” – Anthony Bourdain
50. “The way you make an omelet reveals your character.” – Anthony Bourdain
51. “Food is everything we are. It’s an extension of nationalist feeling, ethnic feeling, your personal history, your province, your region, your tribe, your grandma. It’s inseparable from those from the get-go.” – Anthony Bourdain
52. “For me, the cooking life has been a long love affair, with moments both sublime and ridiculous.” – Anthony Bourdain
53. “You learn a lot about someone when you share a meal together.” – Anthony Bourdain
54. “I, personally, think there is a real danger of taking food too seriously. Food should be part of the bigger picture.” – Anthony Bourdain
55. “What nicer thing can you do for somebody than make them breakfast?” – Anthony Bourdain
56. “Barbecue may not be the road to world peace, but it’s a start.” – Anthony Bourdain
57. “Sometimes the greatest meals on vacations are the ones you find when Plan A falls through.” – Anthony Bourdain
58. “You have to be romantic to invest yourself, your money, and your time in cheese.” – Anthony Bourdain
59. “I’ve long believed that good food, good eating, is all about risk. Whether we’re talking about unpasteurized Stilton, raw oysters, or working for organized crime ‘associates,’ food, for me, has always been an adventure” – Anthony Bourdain
60. “Anyone who’s a chef, who loves food, ultimately knows that all that matters is: ‘Is it good? Does it give pleasure?” –Anthony Bourdain
61. “What nicer thing can you do for somebody than make them breakfast?” – Anthony Bourdain
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Comfort Food Quotes
Like a warm blanket or a bowl of hot chicken soup, comfort foods soothe the soul in many unexpected ways. And, in a similar fashion, these comforting food and travel quotes warm our souls.
We hope you enjoy these food quotes as much we do!
62. “Good food is an experience and a pleasure that makes life richer.” – Authentic Food Quest
63. “To invite people to dine with us is to make ourselves responsible for their well-being for as long as they are under our roofs.” – J. A. Brillat-Savarin
64. “Baking cookies is comforting, and cookies are the sweetest little bit of comfort food. They are very bite-sized and personal.” – Sandra Lee
65. “Life is too short for self-hatred and celery sticks.” – Marilyn Wann
66. “Food is the most primitive form of comfort.” – Sheilah Graham Westbrook
67. “All food starting with p is comfort food: pasta, potato chips, pretzels, peanut butter, pastrami, pizza, pastry.” – Sara Paretsky
68. “Life is uncertain. Eat dessert first.” – Ernestine Ulmer
69. “Comfort food is the food that makes us feel good – satisfied, calm, cared for, and carefree. It’s food that fills us up emotionally and physically. … Finding comfort in food is a basic human experience.” – Ellie Krieger
70. “Eat, as nobody is watching. Enjoy food like that’s the only thing left in your world.” – Nikita Dudani
71. “All food is comfort food. Maybe I just like to chew.” – Lewis Black
72. “The best comfort food will always be greens, cornbread, and fried chicken.” – Maya Angelou
73. “A balanced diet is a cookie in each hand.” – Barbara Johnson
74. “It’s difficult to think anything but pleasant thoughts while eating a homegrown tomato.” – Lewis Grizzard
75. “Comfort food is hearty. When hearts are heavy, they need gravitational and emotional equilibrium: meatloaf and mashed potatoes, macaroni and cheese, chicken pot pie, red beans and rice, creamy risotto. Food that reassures us that we will survive.” – Sarah Ban Breathnach
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Inspirational Travel Quotes
Travel quotes can help us express the awe and wander we experience when traveling to a new destination. These quotes can inspire us to take action, to boldly go forth and explore.
On our culinary travels, we’ve been inspired by many food travel quotes. Below, we share some of our favorite inspirational travel quotes. May they fuel your travel dreams as they have ours.
76. “Go confidently in the direction of your dreams! Live the life you’ve imagined. As you simplify your life, the laws of the universe will be simpler.” – Henry David Thoreau
77. “Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness.” – Mark Twain
78. “Wherever you go becomes a part of you somehow.” – Anita Desai
79. “The world is a book, and those who do not travel read only one page.” – Saint Augustine
80. “The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes.” – Marcel Proust
81. “Once a year, go somewhere you have never been before.” – Dalai Lama
82. “This wasn’t a strange place; it was a new one.” – Paulo Coelho
83. “If we were meant to stay in one place, we’d have roots instead of feet” – Rachel Wolchin
84. “There are no foreign lands. It is the traveler only who is foreign” – Robert Louis Stevenson
85. “Man cannot discover new oceans unless he has the courage to lose sight of the shore.” – Andre Gide
86. “A ship in harbor is safe, but that is not what ships are built for.” – John A. Shedd
87. “Travel far enough, you meet yourself.” – David Mitchell
88. “Life is either a daring adventure or nothing at all.” – Helen Keller
89. “Not all those who wander are lost.” – J.R.R. Tolkien
90. “Once the travel bug bites there is no known antidote, and I know that I shall be happily infected until the end of my life.” – Michael Palin
91. “Not how long, but how well you have lived is the main thing.” – Seneca
92. “We live in a world that is full of beauty, charm, and adventure. There is no end to the adventures we can have if only we seek them with our eyes open.” – Jawaharial Nehru
Anthony Bourdain Travel Quotes
An intrepid eater and fearless in his travels, Anthony Bourdain encourages getting out of ones comfort zone.
The best experiences are found at the edge, where authentic flavors come to life in nondescript places. Bold and courageous, these Anthony Bourdain quotes encourage us to go beyond.
May these quotes inspire your travels.
93. “Travel changes you. As you move through this life and this world you change things slightly, you leave marks behind, however small. And in return, life — and travel — leaves marks on you.” – Anthony Bourdain
94. “If I’m an advocate for anything, it’s to move. As far as you can, as much as you can. Across the ocean, or simply across the river. The extent to which you can walk in someone else’s shoes or at least eat their food, it’s a plus for everybody. Open your mind, get up off the couch, move.” – Anthony Bourdain
95. “I’m a big believer in winging it. I’m a big believer that you’re never going to find perfect city travel experience or the perfect meal without a constant willingness to experience a bad one.” – Anthony Bourdain
96. “Plans should be ephemeral, so be prepared to move away from them.” – Anthony Bourdain
97. “It seems that the more places I see and experience, the bigger I realize the world to be. The more I become aware of, the more I realize how relatively little I know of it, how many places I have still to go, how much more there is to learn.” – Anthony Bourdain
98. “I learned a long time ago that trying to micromanage the perfect vacation is always a disaster. That leads to terrible times.” – Anthony Bourdain
99. “Travel is about the gorgeous feeling of teetering in the unknown.” – Anthony Bourdain
100. “Travel isn’t always pretty. It isn’t always comfortable. Sometimes it hurts, it even breaks your heart. But that’s okay. The journey changes you; it should change you. It leaves marks on your memory, on your consciousness, on your heart, and on your body. You take something with you. Hopefully, you leave something good behind.” – Anthony Bourdain
Did you enjoy these food and travel quotes? Please let us know in the comments below your favorite quotes.
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Rosemary is the editor-in-chief and strategist at Authentic Food Quest.
Traveling slow since 2015 with her partner, Claire, she has explored the cuisine in 45 countries and more than 240+ culinary cities.
Her writing about local food specialties has been featured in Lonely Planet, Business Insider, Honest Cooking, Food Insider, and Huffington Post.
As a food and travel writer, Rosemary has co-authored three books, including one in collaboration with Costa Brava Tourism.
Rosemary is an avid runner when she’s not eating and exploring new destinations. She has run ten marathons and counting.
Before Authentic Food Quest, Rosemary held senior-level strategy positions in advertising.
Find out more about Authentic Food Quest
I love to hunt food every time I travel to new places. Might take notes on some of these quotes for my journal!
Wonderful. Glad you enjoyed the quotes 🙂 Cheers