Spilling Travel Tea with Chef Jonathan Bardzik
Have you ever wondered how some of your favorite celebrities traverse the globe? Every month, Vacationer Magazine takes you beyond the velvet rope to get a fun glimpse at a celebrity’s travel style with a few rapid-fire and in-depth questions.
This month, we had the opportunity to chat with Chef Jonathan Bardzik, who has penned a few articles for us, and his delicious recipes have been featured on our sister website, Bear World Magazine. In addition to his fun cooking demos on TV news shows, Bardzik has an eight-episode cooking show, Jonathan’s Kitchen: Season to Taste, on Revry, a global LGBTQ+ streaming network.
Let’s dig in and spill some travel tea as the celebrity chef reveals what inspires him to travel, his favorite food city, strangest souvenir, best travel advice, and more.
Vacationer Magazine: What inspires you to travel?
Johnathan Bardzik: New places, fresh culinary inspiration, and sharing experiences with the people I love.
Describe your travel personality in three words.
Trust the universe. I do a little planning and a lot of letting the adventure happen.
What’s your earliest travel memory?
Summers in Newport, RI. We stayed in simple cottages on the beach and cooked most of our food. The accommodations were humble but days in the water, hiking on the rocks, and riding our bikes on Ocean Avenue were a true luxury.
What do you still have left to cross off your travel bucket list?
So many places from Africa to Southeast Asia — but traveling to Poland, where my great grandparents are from, to connect the traditional foods we still eat to the towns, cities, geography, and people who created them, would be amazing.
How would you describe your favorite travel destination?
Local. I want to be somewhere that couldn’t be anywhere else in the world, whether defined by the people, the food, the décor or the view.
Vacation in the mountains or vacation on a beach?
I love the mountains, my husband loves the beach, and it truly warms my heart to see him happy. So, the beach it is.
What has been the most interesting item of food you’ve tasted?
The first night of our honeymoon in Spain we ordered a plate of mariscos, a platter of shellfish that had a distinctive salty flavor I hadn’t tasted before. The next day when I dove into the Mediterranean for the first time that taste lingered on my lips and I truly understood, for the first time, the connection between food and place.
Innovative cocktail, craft beer, fine wine, or flight of spirits (e.g. whiskey, bourbon, etc.)? Cucumber and gin Mojito with muddled basil. It’s simple, brilliant and easy to make at home as a reminder of that great trip.
What’s your favorite food city?
Paris. I know, I know, but it’s not just for the food (which is amazing) but the cultural commitment to living life well that informs the foods they eat and joy they bring to sharing them.
Where would you most like to live in the world?
There are so many places I want to see in the world, but DC is my home. It’s where I met my husband, it is where I followed my dream, and it is where we have made the home that is constantly filled with family and friends.
What makes a great travel companion?
I hate doing a lot of planning but recognize that a little research ahead is what delivers those memorable and off-the-beaten-path travel experiences. So I love to travel with someone who can go with the flow but will do some of that research ahead of time for both of us.
What celebrity would be a fun travel companion?
My good friend Amy Riolo is a Mediterranean Food and Culture expert. To travel with her is to understand a country like a local and experience its daily life. From her family’s home in Calabria, Italy around to Egypt I would love to experience the Mediterranean through her expert eyes.
What’s one thing you never forget to pack when traveling?
I always carry a few copies of my cookbooks to give away. From flight attendants to hotel staff I love seeing the smiles on their faces and the conversations they start about food are a great way to get to know people.
What’s the strangest souvenir you’ve bought on your travels?
A three-pound bag of Piment d’Espelette. Planning for a trip to Paris with my parents in the spring of 2019 my friend Paul said I had to visit G. Detou, a culinary dream in the 2nd Arrondissement. Shelves lined goods from fine baking chocolates and nuts to mustards and spices, I loaded up several bags to stock my pantry at home. Don’t miss nearby E. Dehillerin for cookwares.
Go somewhere new or go somewhere you’ve been before?
Both. It’s two different trips, right? One is to grow and explore, the other is to replenish and heal. I think we need both at different times in our lives and we should honor that.
Best movie to watch or book to read during a long-haul flight?
On a recent flight to Key West, I read Anthony Bourdain’s Kitchen Confidential from take-off to touch-down. It’s a great trashy travel read with none of the guilt. And now I always have roasted garlic in the refrigerator.
What recording artist is always at the top of your travel playlist?
On flights I usually get sucked into some new pop earworm, often listening to it on repeat, but when I settle into my accommodations or enjoy the night air with a glass of wine I turn to Billie Holiday, the perfect soundtrack to life’s most sublime moments.
Would you rather see a lot of places or get to know one really well?
Do less, better. Take your top ten list and really dig into five or even just two of them. You’ll see less but experience so much more.
What’s your top travel tip?
For adventure trips like international travel, my mom sits down each day and writes a quick journal entry capturing what she experienced. I record that summary with photos on my phone, but I try to limit it to just a few key images leaving plenty of time for the experiences which become lasting memories.
What’s the best travel advice you’ve received?
It’s actually advice my dad gave to my husband and me when we were planning our wedding. “You never know what might happen on the big day so make sure you enjoy the entire process.” Flights get delayed, luggage gets lost, and weeks get rained out. Spread the pleasure of travel over the planning so you aren’t relying on one or two days that are out of your control.
Jonathan’s Kitchen, Seasons to Taste, is now streaming on-demand at Revry.tv. The show is produced by Parrlime Productions & Tarnów Entertainment and directed by Jonathan Bardzik.
Jonathan’s Kitchen: Seasons to Taste sponsors include Central Farm Markets, Five Ways Forward LLC, All-America Selections, Red Bear Craft Brewery, and Seasons Olive Oil & Vinegar Tap Room.
