Who was Anthony Bourdain before becoming one of the world’s most renowned and admired chefs? This is the question the biopic Tony – Diary of a Young Chef by Matt Johnson seeks to answer, in theaters from August 27 2026.
In the film, where Dominic Sessa portrays a young Tony exploring the professional kitchens, the settings—altogether authentic and genuinely tied to the early years of his career—help to draw a kind of geography, more emotional than professional, with the chef at the center. Let’s explore the locations of Tony – Diary of a Young Chef together.
What is it about
Loosely inspired by the opening chapters of “Kitchen Confidential,” the irreverent autobiographical account by chef Bourdain of the world of dining that quickly became an international best seller, Tony – Diary of a Young Chef narrates the summer when the young Anthony realized what path really lay ahead for him.
Having temporarily relocated to Provincetown after a schooling disappointment and to follow a long-ago crush, Tony finds work in a fish fast-food joint. At the helm is Ciro—a quirky yet generous Latin American portrayed by Antonio Banderas who, along with the rest of the crew, helps cultivate Tony’s passion for the culinary world.
Amid plates of fried fish and the disasters to be repaired at the stove, the transformation begins of the restless, life-hungry nineteen-year-old into the strict and passionate chef that today’s viewers recognize.
Where Was the Film Shot
The locations where Tony – Diary of a Young Chef was filmed are exactly the places where a young Anthony Bourdain took his first steps in the restaurant trade, namely on the southern coast of Massachusetts, near Cape Cod.
Provincetown
The principal locations of the biopic are found, more specifically, in Provincetown: the town where Anthony Bourdain decided to move at nineteen after losing his scholarship to Vassar College and to follow Nancy, a girl he loved.
On screen, one can readily recognizethe main pier of Provincetown (MacMillan Pier), the historic downtown with the lively Masonic Place, some of the best-known streets for shopping and nightlife like Commercial Street, and above all the many beaches frequented by both tourists and locals.
The Cape Cod Restaurants
In Matt Johnson’s Tony – Diary of a Young Chef there isn’t a depiction of The Flagship, the first restaurant where he worked, now closed; however, there are several real spots that the chef frequented in the early days of his career. There’s the Lobster Pot, for instance, one of the most famous seafood restaurants on Cape Cod, and Gina’s by the Sea, another iconic address for seafood lovers.
Some scenes were shot inside Ciro & Sal’s, and the trivia worth noting is that, to make the coming-of-age tale of chef Anthony Bourdain more lifelike, real cooks and kitchen staff were involved in the production.
The essential interiors of the Old Colony Tap and the distinctly younger ones of Spiritus Pizza were used to recreate in the film the venues in downtown Provincetown where Tony and his colleagues would stop for a drink after service.
The South Shore
To recapture an atmosphere closer to the urban mood of the 1970s, Johnson and the production (I Wonder Pictures and Unipol Biografilm Collection) moved to the South Shore, another coastal Massachusetts locale, not far from Cape Cod and equally scenic, where filming took place between Plymouth and Kingston, with a focus on harbor settings and period costumes.
