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Kitchen Confidential : Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly (158234082X)
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| Most diners believe that their sublime sliver of seared foie gras, topped with an ethereal buckwheat blini and a drizzle of piquant huckleberry sauce, was created by a culinary artist of the highest order, a sensitive, highly refined executive chef. The truth is more brutal. More likely, writes Anthony Bourdain in Kitchen Confidential, that elegant three-star concoction is the collaborative effort of a team of "wacked-out moral degenerates, dope fiends, refugees, a thuggish assortment of drunks, sneak thieves, sluts, and psychopaths," in all likelihood pierced or tattooed and incapable of uttering a sentence without an expletive or a foreign phrase. Such is the muscular view of the culinary trenches from one who's been groveling in them, with obvious sadomasochistic pleasure, for more than 20 years. CIA-trained Bourdain, currently the executive chef of the celebrated Les Halles, wrote two culinary mysteries before his first (and infamous) New Yorker essay launched this frank confessional about the lusty and larcenous real lives of cooks and restaurateurs. He is obscenely eloquent, unapologetically opinionated, and a damn fine storyteller--a Jack Kerouac of the kitchen. Those without the stomach for this kind of joyride should note his opening caveat: "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." --Sumi Hahn Editorial Descriptions are usually submitted by the manufacturers, publishers and authors. Contact us if you are one of them, and wish to change the above description. |
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Author: Guest
It was a great read-- as a vet in the restaurant biz, all the sour grape reviews you read-- are people jealous they didn't write the book themself. Its accurate and to those who freak-- get over it. Did you really expect staff to put up with long hours, and your whining etc etc? Did you die? I only cook for family and friends now, and they freak when I cut or burn myself. But its a perspective, you work with knives, you work with ovens, you get cut and burned. I have worked in a lot of industries, and above all, the restaurant biz is not for whiners. I have never seen the show, but the book is great fun.
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Author: Guest
I picked up a copy Kitchen Confidential after reading several rave reviews from both the press and fellow readers. I was fortunate enough to have been raised in the restaurant business--my family owns a very successful steakhouse (average of about 600 meals on a Saturday night) in the midwest. I was somewhat familiar with Bourdain from FoodTV and was very excited to read about his stories as being a chef in NYC. Business is obviously a lot different between New York and rural America and I had often wondered what working in a restaurant with top notch famous chefs would be like. I'm also somewhat smitten with Rocco DiSpirito so I was excited to read about the "rockstar" life Bourdain cited in a press release about his book.
The first few chapters described his childhood and early years of working in the food industry. I'll admit they were rather entertaining. Irritation and boredom kicked in soon after. Bourdain's biggest problem is his lack of writing talent. The poor grammar, lack of flow, lack of focus, and incredibly over use of cliches were rather endearing for the first 30 or 40 pages. Knowing that he is a chef by profession, not a writer, his lack of honed writing skill was different. Upon getting deepr in the text, however, it became boring, redundant, irritating, and just down right annoying. What bothered me most was the lack of focus. For several chapters he bounced around a lot when describing different periods of his life and the jobs he was working. It was incredibly confusing to keep track of his age, where he worked, what he did. What Bourdain really needs a good editor to help him get his thoughts together.
The actual content was lacking as well. I didn't find anything he wrote about scandalous, let alone make me never want to set foot in a restaurant again. The life he tried to describe mentions that he used drugs, but he didn't really give the reader any type of understanding as to how it affected him, or who he met, what he did, or any other crazy stories that makes him stand out from any other person in the 80s or 90s hooked on heroine or coke. Nothing he presented made me think of anything close to the life of a crazy rockstar. I'd imagine he did experience those things, he just doesn't actually tell you about them. There are very few comments referring to things that would make you think twice about eatting at a restaurant, and all of these are common sense when you actually think about them.
I'd have a hard time recommending that people should waste their time by reading this book. The only exception I can think of are people who are aspiring to be a professional chef. Bourdain does do a good job of how physically, mentally, personally, and emotionally draining it is to be a chef.
In summary, stay away from this book if you are looking for entertainment, tips on what to eat a restaurant, or any type of dirty fun. It's not here. But, if you are considering to be a chef in a major city make sure you pick this up to make sure this is what you want to do.
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Author: Guest
if you have ever worked in the "industry" this is a must read but the tv show is kinda lame
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Author: Guest
Kitchen Confidential reveals all of the "hidden secrets" of restaurant kitchens. However, Bourdain seems to make much better food than he does books. Each chapter of the book is structured in much the same way and is so full of inane witticisms and irony, that it quickly becomes tiresome. You find yourself skipping pages to try to find actual literary substance. Not recommended.
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Author: Guest
Mr. Bourdain has strung together, hidden in the form of a memoir, every story anyone who has ever worked in food service has told in some form or another, and done it well. The antics, the secrets, the drama and melodrama of the kitchen/pantry/freezer, the love/hate relationship between diners and restaurant staff--all of these things are anecdotally exposed in a straightforward and honest mode.
The writing is crisp, although not clean, and extremely easy to read. You'll find yourself going from chapter to chapter with a promise to turn the light off after the next, and then read on instead. Entertaining, engrossing, Mr. Bourdain's life and recollections, however accurate or exaggerated, are worth reading for the entertainment value, the nostaglia it instills (in those of us who have worked in some capacity in a restaurant), and the appreciation it might help you have the next time you sit down to a nice meal.
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