Kitchen Confidential
Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly
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- $9.99
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- $9.99
Publisher Description
A deliciously funny, delectably shocking banquet of wild-but-true tales of life in the culinary trade from Chef Anthony Bourdain, laying out his more than a quarter-century of drugs, sex, and haute cuisine—now with all-new, never-before-published material.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Chef at New York's Les Halles and author of Bone in the Throat, Bourdain pulls no punches in this memoir of his years in the restaurant business. His fast-lane personality and glee in recounting sophomoric kitchen pranks might be unbearable were it not for two things: Bourdain is as unsparingly acerbic with himself as he is with others, and he exhibits a sincere and profound love of good food. The latter was born on a family trip to France when young Bourdain tasted his first oyster, and his love has only grown since. He has attended culinary school, fallen prey to a drug habit and even established a restaurant in Tokyo, discovering along the way that the crazy, dirty, sometimes frightening world of the restaurant kitchen sustains him. Bourdain is no presentable TV version of a chef; he talks tough and dirty. His advice to aspiring chefs: "Show up at work on time six months in a row and we'll talk about red curry paste and lemon grass. Until then, I have four words for you: `Shut the fuck up.' " He disdains vegetarians, warns against ordering food well done and cautions that restaurant brunches are a crapshoot. Gossipy chapters discuss the many restaurants where Bourdain has worked, while a single chapter on how to cook like a professional at home exhorts readers to buy a few simple gadgets, such as a metal ring for tall food. Most of the book, however, deals with Bourdain's own maturation as a chef, and the culmination, a litany describing the many scars and oddities that he has developed on his hands, is surprisingly beautiful. He'd probably hate to hear it, but Bourdain has a tender side, and when it peeks through his rough exterior and the wall of four-letter words he constructs, it elevates this book to something more than blustery memoir.
Customer Reviews
Wonderful
Great read. Miss the guy.
Instant Classic From the Ultimate Voice in Kitchen Culture
Admittedly, I love all things Anthony Bourdain. Can’t get enough of his expressive perspective on society, food, culture and human nature. He has a way of dancing between bleak defeatism and endless optimism, but ultimately staying true to his voice in a painfully honest sort of way. It is that authenticity that I believe draws people to him. Kitchen Confidential is the beginning of his storied career in writing and television, but proves now looking back that he never changed. He is as genuinely Anthony in ‘Kitchen’ as he was in any talk show, television series or interview you can find of him throughout his life. Bourdain is expressive, audacious, introverted, depressed, hopeful and full of life. Curiosity in the human condition seem to motivate him as much as his love of food and the culinary experience.
Anthony, why?
This book is a frank and oft disturbing view into the life of pro kitchen staff. It’s interesting and funny, and I mourn the man who wrote it.