On Anthony Bourdain's birthday, Roads & Kingdoms publisher Nathan Thornburgh found himself at a farmers market in Zemun, Belgrade, eating a dish that would make the late traveller proud. His 30-hour layover turned into a pilgrimage of sorts.

Koordinata restaurant sits in a side alley of the Zemun market, a short walk from the hard rock bars along the Danube. It's tiny — a few tables beside a kitchen barely bigger than a pushcart — and it comes alive in the evenings once vendors pack up their tomatoes and courgettes and the neighbourhood cats start circling the butchers' stalls. The cooking leans French in technique but stays firmly Serbian in produce, most of it grown on chef Stefan Živković's farm near Novi Sad.

The Bourdain connection is easy to spot. In the kitchen window, among ferments, tinctures and jars from a Serbian herbalist, sits a stack of books topped by a Serbian edition of Medium Raw. And while the menu changes with the seasons, one dish never moves: Chicken Liver Anthony Bourdain — a mountain of sautéed livers in butter and plum reduction, slumped over homemade brioche. It's the only homage on the list.

Here's the twist: Bourdain never filmed in Belgrade or anywhere else in Serbia. He never set foot in this market. Yet his influence runs straight through it. Koordinata has been ranked among Serbia's top 25 restaurants, built on exactly the kind of unpretentious, produce-driven cooking Bourdain championed. That's the loop the article describes — places like this inspired him, and in turn his work keeps inspiring a new generation of cooks to open them, his books propped up in their kitchens.

For travellers, it's a reminder that some of the best meals are found in unexpected spots. A market alley in Zemun, a handful of seats, village wines and a rotating menu built on one chef's farm — that's a Bourdain-style evening you can actually book. If you're flying through Belgrade, a long layover here might be the best part of the trip.

Happy Bourdain Day to all who celebrate — and if you find yourself in the Serbian capital, you know where dinner is.

Reporting by Roads & Kingdoms.