anthony bourdain book kitchen confidential

Bourdain spared no one’s appetite as he revealed what happens behind the kitchen door. 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.Kitchen Confidential was Anthony Bourdain’s first non-fiction book, an eye-opening account of life in restaurant kitchens that spared no one, least of all Bourdain himself.Īlmost two decades ago, the New Yorker published a now infamous article, “Don’t Eat before You Read This,” by then little-known chef Anthony Bourdain. 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. 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. 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. 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. Bourdain is no presentable TV version of a chef he talks tough and dirty. 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. The latter was born on a family trip to France when young Bourdain tasted his first oyster, and his love has only grown since.

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. 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.

Anthony bourdain book kitchen confidential