Kitchen Confidential/ Anthony Bourdain

Kitchen Confidential by Anthony Bourdain. cooking, biography, restaurants, humor, 312 pages.

Anthony Bourdain, the chain-smoking, take-no-prisoners, bastard of a chef that has taken both the book and television mediums by storm, is a hero of mine. I started cooking about a year and a half ago and have since picked up a few culinary idols, but Bourdain will always sit near the top of that list. His record of his journey through the culinary underbelly and his no-bullshit account of the restaurant business in "Kitchen Confidential" certainly doesn't hurt my opinion of him in the slightest.

Bourdain spends a majority of the chapters reminiscing on his early years as a dishwasher, bus boy, and line cook in Provincetown, where he learned his trade from the pirate crew of mercenary seafood chefs that summered there. Similarly, we learn of his many restaurant ventures in New York including a brief stint in a mafia run restaurant that led to some entertaining anecdotes. Bourdain also spends his time describing a few of the fully functional degenerates he has met during his career in the business which are some of the most entertaining portions of the book.

I must warn you, however, that this is not for the faint of stomach. Bourdain explains early on that the filth and moral depravity that he witnessed while working in a seafood shack in Provincetown was just as present in the three-star joints where he cooked in NYC. Drug use, violence, sex, alcoholism, language that will make you never want to open your mouth again-- all are present in Bourdain's stories and if that ain't your cup of tea, then you should definitely pass this one up.

Besides providing a number of clever anecdotes, Bourdain provides advice to budding chefs, would-be restaurateurs, and casual diners alike. Some of this advice is useful only to those who are familiar with a kitchen, while some advice is universal (my personal favorite: "don't EVER EVER EVER EVER EVER order fish on a Monday"). Bourdain presents himself as someone who has succeeded in this dangerous business through a lot of hard work, a lot of dedication, a little bit of skill, and a whole lot of luck. He manages to be both confident and humble and is an extremely interesting narrator. Occasionally he expects a little more background knowledge from the reader concerning gourmet food than I would've expected, but it's his book and he can write it however he wants.

I'd recommend this one to anyone who enjoys reading about food but who isn't too grossed out to find out what goes on between the people who make yours at a restaurant. I plan on reading another of Bourdain's books as soon as I get a chance. Bravo, chef!