Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly

Tony Bourdain is a smart, witty, funny, and deeply twisted individual, and is also a first-rate writer whose non-fiction is as entertaining and expressive as any novel I have ever read. I first became aware of Tony through his cable television show "No Reservations" (which is the only television show that I go out of my way to see each week.) I immediately bought this book after seeing the episode on Icelandic cuisine, as I thought he was intelligent yet not another insufferable food snob. He is a man who wants to try everything and has absolutely no fear or prejudices about food and excels at telling it like it is. This book recounts his life and career rising to the top of the pack in the culinary world. It is a deeply personal and unvarnished look at the world of big-league professional food, and is full of insights on both food and the restaurant business. When I was younger I worked as a line cook in a relatively nice restaurant. Although my experience was somewhat less frenetic and more sanitary than the scene in New York, I can certainly attest that the cast of characters (and their flaws) revealed in this book is right on the money. One thing I like about Bourdain and this book is that he tells the truth even when it's ugly. He explains why, for instance, not to order meat well done or why not to even think about ordering fish on Monday. (He's right on both accounts.) He doesn't dodge his own past when others would fail to mention diversionary activities such as a heroin addiction, and even though he comes across as cantankerous, he is a guy you can take at his word. Some of this book is pure gold, not just for cooks and would be chefs, but for everyone. His writing ("Rules to Live By," page 64, and "A Commencement Address," page 293 in particular) is excellent and applies to any profession. He also shares many inside secrets of Les Halles (and other restaurants he has worked at), of winning "mise-en-place" (or just "meez;" people who really want to cook professionally should take this to heart), and technical opinions (why and how to use an offset serrated knife.) This book is coarse and not for the faint of heart, but if you really want to know about cooking or cooks, it is the best (and funniest) single volume ever written. I highly recommend this book

Kitchen Confidential is Anthony Bourdain’s break-out book and memoir of his twenty-five years working in the restaurant business, mostly in New York City. Published before his second career as a TV personality and world traveler (most notably on the Travel Channel’s No Reservations) it is a candid depiction of one man’s life following his passion, and his desires. It is a gritty, grubby, way-honest, depiction of life as a restaurant worker that tells of sex, drugs, and cooking, at a level of which many of us would not dream. At least, most of us wouldn’t imagine that the life in restaurant kitchens is really the way this book describes it. It is evident, though, that what the book depicts is restaurant life as Mr. Bourdain experienced it. He makes no bones about his own biases and proclivities for walking on the wild side that color his story. Such honesty and introspection make this far more than a book about cooking. Kitchen Confidential is well written and it maintained my interest even though I’m not into cooking. Anyone who is will certainly get much from it, but I was drawn mostly from having watched Mr. Bourdain on TV and connecting with his love of travel and of good food. Because his book is more about the larger issues of life than cooking, it touched me on an existential level much as a movie about baseball would that is about more than baseball (e.g., Field of Dreams). Mr. Bourdain begins his story by recounting his encounters with good food as a child. Tasting vichyssoise and a raw oyster for the first time, struck him as experiences beyond just eating. They were examples of highs that could be reached by an ardent thrill-seeker. They also laid the groundwork that made his landing a job as restaurant dishwasher an inciting incident that he pursued to eventually become a line cook and later a chef. I was really struck with the level of testosterone-driven, debauchery and near-criminality he describes in the restaurant kitchen. It’s more like what I would expect on a construction site. Actually, there may be similarities. Several of the book’s chapters are devoted to characters Mr. Bourdain encountered in his restaurant career. These tended to be drug addicts, thieves, hedonists, and criminals, though many had a passion, or just the sheer aptitude, for either cooking or working in a professional kitchen. As contradictory as that sounds, it seems as if such environments are persistently common in the restaurant world. At least that’s what Mr. Bourdain avers and I take him as an authority. This kitchen “underbelly” was attractive to Mr. Bourdain, and he describes it as one he understood and in which he thrived. It led him to some bad decisions and some bad addictions. He is very candid about the loose lifestyle that left him with a heroin addiction. Even so, it is clear that his love of the culinary arts kept him going, and that it drives many of those workers who might skip out on rent payments but are able to produce the most divine of, say, baked breads. Indeed, in describing his life when he had reached the level of chef and kitchen commander, Mr. Bourdain gives us a compelling and intense vision of what that life is like. In fact, he almost goes too far in describing a typical day for him. Basically, he worked from before-sunup to after midnight to keep his kitchen running. He describes mind-numbing activity, dealing with the problems and personnel threatening his mission to get good food to customers, juggling a thousand variables. His description carries long (”A Day in the Life”), but being the good author he was, his description served to highlight points he makes later. Seeing things, even his own life, from a higher perspective, he was able to appreciate and admire someone who did things differently from him and still achieve success (”The Life of Bryan”). Also, towards the end of the book, he further nails his love of sensation and travel—experiencing the exotic— that led to his second, televised, career (”Mission to Tokyo”). Anthony Bourdain’s literary and video work is not for everyone, but for many, including me, he remains an inspiration. In Kitchen Confidential we see, not only his love for culinary art, but his love for creativity (he often said that he considered himself a storyteller). Despite all the debauchery, bad attitudes, bad decisions, and chasing highs, he was a lover of life and squeezed every sensational drop from it. An excellent writer, he was able to step back from his own life and observe it, pulling lessons from its episodes. Kitchen Confidential was the watershed of Mr. Bourdain’s life, marking the end of his chef career and the beginning of his traveler-personality career. At the book’s close, though, he didn’t seem to anticipating that second act. It is to our good fortune and inspiration that there was one.

If this were only a tell all of the restaurant trade, it would have worn thin after a chapter or two of disgusting practices (I'm still cringing from the description of seafood on Mondays, well done anything, certain sauces that smack of "preservation" of foul meat or fish)in the world's kitchens. But, much like his personality,he jumps between biography (both auto and of interesting people he's worked with) expose, how-to, rants, etc.... That's what makes it interesting. I don't know how people could say he's conceited. I've never read any writer which such a good grasp of who he is. Bourdain is brutally honest about his fancy upbringing (and contrasts it sharply with that of the mostly South and Central American men who are the staple of the entire food industry), his desolate years, his drug habits, his puerile forays into better kitchens than his current level -- he will keep you in stitches while at the same time giving a no-holds barred view of what it's like to be a chef. It's definitely not for most normal people, and he explains why truly there are very few fine chefs. He'll make you appreciate the line cook who really does all the prep work and major cooking -- you want that person to be boring and regular, not an innovator at all! You'll learn why. After reading "a day in the life," you'll realize just what a sinecure your 100 hour a week investment bank job is -- you'd never believe the skills and organizational ability necessary to run a busy kitchen. This turned out to be one of my favorite reads of the year. I stayed up until almost 2am to finish it. It may have been irregular (the writing) in places, but that's fine in the context of this book which jumps around a lot. He's a fine writer and a great storyteller. His chapter on how people like us should cook is eye-opening to say the least. Anytime your friends tell you than they have to have a fancy set of Henkels knives, refer them to this chapter. Definitely worthwhile reading and a good break from heavier fiction.

Some years ago I had an interest in a restaurant along with two other partners. I also had a French family background with a deep appreciation of fine cuisine. I also have dined at Les Halles, his famous restaurant in New York. My partnership was to be "silent", that is, just kick in your share of the money and go away. In the first week of operation I was tapped to do dishes because the washer didn't show, wait tables for a similar reason etc. etc. For weeks we struggled to bring order and routine to the restaurant. So, the trap was well set. Fortunately, I was eventually able to sell back my share and jump clear of the unfolding disaster, but I wish I had read Anthony Bourdain's book first. All the best kept secrets of the restaurant business are revealed in this terrific book. Everything he says about the business is spot-on and, once you read his book, which is written in the coarse language of a professional kitchen which adds color and authenticity, you will never look at a menu or see a restaurant the same way again. I liked the muscular way he writes about food and I fully share his view that prissy concoctions of food with way too many ingredients that only stroke a chef's vanity have nothing to do with first class cooking. As he rightly points out, great cooking, as always, involves only the finest and freshest ingredients presented to their greatest advantage where less is more. As any artist will tell you, if you mix up all the colors of the pallet, the result will always be a muddy black. The very best chapter, however, is about his going to Japan for the first time and seeing the famous Tokyo fish market which I remember seeing in the 1970's and feeling exactly the same way about. I also remember my first visit to Japan as the same hallucinatory experience which delighted every sense especially the quirky drinking habits of "salary men" or office workers after the day's work is done. I suggest that you read the book and then visit his great restaurants...or the other way around. Both are a worthwhile experience.

The author warns, "There will be horror stories. Heavy drinking, drugs, screwing in the dry-goods area, unappetizing industry-wide practices. Talking about why you probably shouldn't order fish on a Monday, why those who favor well-done get the scrapings from the bottom of the barrel, and why seafood frittata is not a wise brunch selection.... But I'm simply not going to deceive anybody about the life as I've seen it." Anthony Bourdain has lead quite a life, and retells some of his adventures in frank, vivid detail. This book is full of fact, gossip and inside views of a sub-culture most of us will never experience, yet sit just on the outskirts of, on the other side of those swinging kitchen doors. It touches us, but we cannot touch back. This is a rare treat. From defiantly slurping down his first raw oyster as a child, through CIA education, to working in New York's hot spots, cooking for celebrities, Anthony Bourdain candidly exposes some of the seedier elements of the restaurant business. He speaks of sex in the storage rooms, backseat negotiations over bread delivery with shady businessmen (presumably mafia), ego-induced insanity and down-and-out genius. He gives us some food for thought, lets us in on the odd sense of humor shared in most of the kitchens he has worked in, and occasionally shocks us with things we may not have wanted to know, but we read on, swallowing every juicy tidbit hungrily. It reminds one of watching a car wreck victim be loaded onto a stretcher, we try not to, but we continue to stare transfixed, wincing all the while. He describes most restaurant staff as "wacked-out moral degenerates, dope fiends, refugees, a thuggish assortment of drunks, sneak thieves, ... , and psychopaths," with a cast like that, how can any story fail to entertain? At one restaurant the crew spent slow hours coming up with practical jokes to play on the unsuspecting front room staff and management, such as molding life-like severed fingers from various food products and leaving them around in freezers and on cutting boards. It is not all lurid amusement, however. He does manage to sneak in some wonderful recipes, along with very good advice (what knives are really worth owning, for example) for casual cooks, would-be professional chefs and potential restaurant owners. If you don't have a weak stomach, enjoy cooking, eating, laughing and/or general debauchery, this book is bound to have you hooked from page one. Also, if you enjoy listening rather than (or as well as) reading, look for the audio book, read by the author. His delivery adds something rich and spicy to the already wonderfully satisfying feast of words. It had me looking forward to my commute, just so I could hear how Chef Bourdain would garnish the next course with his own inflection and undeniably charming "gruff New Yorker" attitude.

Title: Kitchen Confidential Author: Anthony Bourdain ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ This book was so intriguing. As soon as I started it, I wanted to buy it for my culinary inclined spouse and his best cooking buddy. Bourdain explains the restaurant world like an overly excited new friend at a bar. It felt both factual and embellished enough to keep you wanting more. It was unpolished in language/tone and perfectly polished in format and composition. It was delightful. I didn't realize this was written before his shows started, and that was a pro and a con. While he always left me wanting more, his POV was purely chef focused. He was relatable. He was so so incredibly interesting. He was done far too soon. I highly recommend this to anyone with interest in the cooking world. Kitchen Confidential is ready to grab your hand and thrust you into the thick of it. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

"Kitchen Confidential" reminds me of Hollywood's favorite backhanded compliment to screenwriters when passing on their material: "Loved the writing, but wasn't for us." The fallacy at the heart of the critique is that "the writing" is just the way someone puts words together on a page by page basis -- the turns of phrase, the imagery, the set pieces, maybe even the characters. Then whether or not the story actually works as a whole -- whether it builds steadily, coheres intelligibly, and resolves satisfyingly enough to be worth buying -- is something else entirely. This is a wrong-headed, borderline irrational conception of writing. Unsexy fundamentals like structure and theme are just as crucial to a story's success, if not far more so, than individually memorable moments. Yet "Kitchen Confidential" is a textbook example of why some evaluators feel justified in applying the "loved the writing, BUT..." judgment. Bourdain does a great job of pulling back the curtain to reveal the often seedy, frequently manic, surprisingly enlightening realities of the restaurant world. His anecdotes are entertaining. The characters he encounters and his renderings of them are novelistic. On the surface then, he's an ideal guide for this journey. The problem is that the journey itself often feels meandering and, at times, uncomfortably close to aimless. After a strong start, the story left me confused again and again about where in Bourdain's chronology I was -- whether he was skipping me back and forth through time, moving me in a straight line, or some combination of the two. Worse, whatever the answer was, I often couldn't figure out WHY it was being chosen. A large part of this problem stems from Bourdain's disappointing unwillingness to connect the plot points strongly to his own mental and emotional state in the moment. The book is littered with surface references to his substance abuse problems, the strain in his personal relationships (especially with his wife), and his near financial ruin -- yet these elements are rarely used to meaningfully ground the narrative. The chapters thus tend to feel episodic in the worst way: a series of "A to B to C" events that Bourdain witnesses, but which seem to have only a tangential connection to him personally. Soon enough he starts to feel like less like the story's protagonist than a disembodied narrator. The fade-out of human connection leads to the book's becoming increasingly less compelling as it progresses. One restaurant stint blurs with the next and the next, until the last chapter finally attempts to pull the narrative out of its rut with Bourdain's first eye-opening culinary trip abroad as a chef. Unfortunately, by that point, it's too little, too late. Overall, if you're looking for an entertaining and eye-opening glimpse into the secrets of professional cooking, I would highly recommend picking up "Kitchen Confidential." But if you're looking for either a satisfying, well-constructed memoir or just an introspective accounting of Bourdain's life, sadly, I'd advise you to lower your expectations.

A really good read. Worth it.

A classic grimy account of the NY culinary scene from the late 80s to 90s.

Read it

I had to slow myself down in the last chapter as I realised the book is coming to an end. I finished and wanted more but resigned to the fact it won't be. As a former line cook, much of the book resonated well, had me laughing, gasping, wondering how the heck does this world operate so gritty, when the plates that come out look so pretty. Great read.

Mr Bourdain comes across as something of a tortured soul totally at odds with most aspects of being a regular functioning human being, this in itself is why I love this book soo much. He has a gift for story telling and self effacing behavior that I find very appealing in a writer and for that matter a person. Very true to himself. The book fires along at great pace through his life starting from a brief look at his childhood and some of his formulative inspirations, interspersed with foodie bits, all the way through his early cooking years in Provincetown and what became a very chequered career filled with full on substance fuelled misadventures. Dealing with life on the fringes he stumbles from one mad job\situation to the next as he struggles with his inner demons and various addictions. Carving up a reputation as a force to be reckoned with he crashes his way through the new york culinary scene leaving a trail of destruction in his wake think Fear And Loathing and your on the right tracks. What I find most appealing about this book is how he comes across as having a lot of depth of personality and is able throughout to be reflective, understanding on a deeper level his potential, regularly defacing his own bad behaviour showing growth and understanding of his flaws despite being hopelessly bound by them as many of us are, (speaking personally). He is great at describing time and place making this reader feel and sense the energy of the life. He meets some fascinating, darkly charming characters with lots of funny, wicked moments and tales. Even though I have no doubht he made a lot of mistakes and upset a few people on route. I didnt have him down as a bad or malicious person at any stage, he did what was necessary to survive in a difficult business and survive he did with gusto! This versatility is perhaps one of his greatest strengths, his ability to adapt and keep rolling on. I found him also to show a deeper understanding of the human condition, what makes us all tick or motivations and drives, out of this awareness comes a kindness and sense of humility that I found appealing in his character. All in all a very entertaining book!

I wanted to keep this book for a later holiday read but that’s not going to happen ! I can’t put it down.