Author: Anthony Bourdain
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 5 / 5
Medium: Paperback
Genre: Memoir, Non-Fiction
Synopsis
New York Chef Tony Bourdain gives away secrets of the trade in his wickedly funny, inspiring memoir/expose. Kitchen Confidential reveals what Bourdain calls “twenty-five years of sex, drugs, bad behavior and haute cuisine.”
One summer, The New Yorker published then little-known Chef Bourdain’s shocking, “Don’t Eat Before Reading This.” Bourdain spared no one’s appetite when he told all about what happens behind the kitchen door. Bourdain uses the same “take-no-prisoners” attitude in his deliciously funny and shockingly delectable book, sure to delight gourmands and philistines alike. From Bourdain’s first oyster in the Gironde, to his lowly position as dishwasher in a honky-tonk fish restaurant in Provincetown; from the kitchen of the Rainbow Room atop Rockefeller Center, to drug dealers in the east village, from Tokyo to Paris and back to New York again, Bourdain’s tales of the kitchen are as passionate as they are unpredictable. Kitchen Confidential will make your mouth water while your belly aches with laughter. You’ll beg the chef for more, please.
My Thoughts
I first read this book almost 10 years ago, when I got it off a used books sale in my college for 50 cents. And it very quickly became one of my favorite books of all time. I shared it with friends, re-read my favorite chapters every now and then, and read other things by Anthony Bourdain (Medium Raw is another favorite of mine) and overall just became a huge fan of his. 10 years later, at another used bookstore in Brooklyn, I got an annotated version of the book, with some extra handwritten annotations by Bourdain about a decade after the book was originally published. And of course decided to reread the whole book.
Turns out nothing’s changed. I loved the book from end to end. Every chapter reminded me why I love Bourdain and his work. The way he can talk about food and about his life being a chef is so mesmerizing. He makes you want to be there, experiencing it with him. It is no shock the direction his career took after the publication of this book.
Each chapter brought a fresh story, something new to learn, and hilarious moments from his years as a chef. But here are a few of my particularly favorite chapters
- Food Is Pain: His first experience in a busy kitchen, full of big burly men full of high levels of testosterone and bravado. And he shows up in a fancy blue suit, thinking he’d be able to handle it all with ease. And got what was coming to him
- Who Cooks?: This chapter talks about the different roles inside a kitchen, and what, in his experience, people filling those roles are like. A nice insight into what really goes on behind the scenes and who is involved. It helps put faces to the mysterious figures you get glimpses of when you go out to eat
- How to Cook Like the Pros: This one goes over some little tips and tricks we can take in our home cooking that can get us closer. It’s probably the reason that I still have those thick-bottomed stainless steel pans and my Global chef’s knife
- Bigfoot: This one talks about his old boss, Bigfoot, who ran his kitchen like a machine. While some of his practice can be considered as workplace toxicity these days, there are lessons in this chapter about reliability and management that are timeless.
- A Day in the Life: After multiple chapters about his wilderness years and struggles with substance abuse, a refreshing day in his life in a real, good-quality kitchen where he ran things as the chef and served good, hearty food.
- Adam Real-Last-Name-Unknown: This is a random one about his dysfunctional but talented baker. This is just more memorable for me because whenever I’m baking bread, I think of Adam and his baking prowess, despite his obnoxious and unreliable nature
- Mission To Tokyo: If you resonate with any of his shows and how he talks about food, you’ll love this chapter. This is what he became in the coming years. This is what he was so good at. And coincidentally, according to his annotations, this chapter, as an email, was what got the attention of an editor and led to the book deal
All in all, this is an amazing book. The world lost an unparalleled culinary ambassador the day he died
Kavi Reads 
Leave a comment