BOND IS KNOWN for his ability to enter any restaurant in the world and always order the right dish with the right wine (or beer). Here is a short selection of some of Bond’s favorite foods.
At the Casino Royale
Bond’s dinner in Fleming’s novel of the same title includes caviar, tournedos—well cooked—with béarnaise sauce and a bit of artichoke, and half an avocado à la français for dessert. I don’t know what most of it means, but according to Fleming it’s very good. Champagne is, of course, required.
At Ma Frazier’s, in Harlem, New York
In Live and Let Die Bond and Leiter have fried chicken with ham and sweet corn (also Billie Holiday’s favorite dish, according to her autobiography Lady Sings the Blues). No information about drinks, although Bond’s favorite drink in New York is usually Miller High Life beer.
At the Blades Club, London
Smoked salmon (from the Highlands, not from Scandinavia), followed by lamb cutlets and asparagus with hollandaise sauce, and finished off with a pineapple slice, all with Dom Perignon, since M is paying the bill at his club in the novel Moonraker. Although I’d personally suggest a good red wine with the cutlets—not with the salmon.
At Scott’s, Near the Old SIS Headquarters
In Diamonds Are Forever, the suggestion Bond gives to M’s chief of staff Bill Tanner is special crabs with a pint of brown beer. Seafood with brown beer is quite an interesting mix.
In an Italian Restaurant
In the short story “Risico,” from the For Your Eyes Only collection, Bond has spaghetti al pesto, with the typical green sauce made of basil, garlic, and pine nuts. Pesto actually originated in the Italian Riviera, and Fleming might have tasted it in the ’30s, while following a car race near San Remo. You can have chianti with it, but the best wine suggestion—trust me, I’ve been there a lot—is a local white wine from the original pesto area: vermentino, pigato, or cinque terre.
Wherever
In Fleming’s non-fiction book Thrilling Cities you can find plenty of food suggestions, but there’s also the lesser known bonus short story “007 in New York,” where we learn all about Bond’s favorite dish: scrambled eggs “James Bond,” with butter, salt, pepper, and finely chopped chives or fine herbs. Tattinger pink champagne and low music recommended.