Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly

I'd never read anything of Bourdain's before and really didn't know that much about him until after his death, and I decided to start with his first book, which in retrospect was maybe a mistake for me personally? I can see why this was so popular and influential but it didn't do a lot for me personally. Like, I never got into Bourdain's career because I'm not super into like celebrity chef stuff, and then after he died I realized “oh he was more of like a travel guy than a chef guy really!” but this book was like Peak Chef Guy.

It's also interesting to think about how kind of the culture has changed–how Bourdain became so beloved partly for being non-shitty about other cultures and feminism and stuff, and you can kind of see it here where he talks about valuing the labor of undocumented immigrants but it's also still like....pretty toxic masculinity bro-y (despite his occasional applause for the tiny percentage of women who are ~tough enough~ to hack it in the kitchen).

Also he wasn't the best audiobook reader tbh–and I know this was his first one and he probably got more comfortable as a public speaker (or whatever) as he went on but this has a weirdly flat affect to it overall. (Some fun accents though.)

Anyway I might try again later with one of his more travel-oriented books or something. I am open to recs.

PS I'm NOT just saying all this because I'm a vegetarian but his disdain for my kind is NOTED lol

It is the book that arguably started it all. Gordon Ramsey is a caricature of the ideas proffered here. It is chef as rock star written in a gonzo style and a punk aesthetic. It is the reason I use a Global chef's knife.

Really great book. I recommend the audiobook version which was narrated by the author.

The stories were amusing and it was good for shock value. I wouldn't read it twice.

You gotta love Bourdain, for his honesty and literary prose throughout the book. Sort of a culinary gonzo.

Reading this was like watching No Reservations, a show I’ve watched through over & over & over again. In my head, Anthony’s voice read to me. It felt so good to hear his voice again, even if it was just to me.

I think the most interesting part of this book was just how many people gave Bourdain a helping hand. Countless people, good, bad, & ugly, helped this wiry junkie navigate the restaurant world. And for what? They must have seen *something* in him to help him while he was still a shithead.

The biggest thing I’ll take away from this book is: Passion. In order to be good at something, you have to have passion. I’ve always known this (being a very, very, passionate person), but to have it written so graphically, so true, was very validating.

i listened to the audiobook which is read by anthony bourdain so i think that added to my overall enjoyment of it but there's also a lot of aspects of it that i take issue with, also understanding that this was released in 2007

i don't know if his opinions on this changed over the course of his life but i was a little shocked at how proudly he seemed feel about running a kitchen on stress & shit talking & chaos, but that may be a product of the environment of professional kitchens. it also sat weird with me how he approached women in the kitchen, overall looking down on any genuine emotion & praising women that can “hang with the guys” aka put on a front of being okay with or comfortable with the sexual harassment that can occur, which again, product of the environment, but still feels very weird

as a home chef, i don't have the time, energy, freezer space, or budget to do things like make & freeze my own stock & only use fresh herbs. again, maybe his opinions changed later on but at this point he was not immune to the asshole bro chef ideology

i did really enjoy listening to his experiences though, he clearly knew his way around a kitchen & if you're interested in cooking, this may be worth the read/listen, but if you're not, you could go without

If you've been inside a kitchen, then you'll find Bourdain's anecdotes as a bit of a throwback. Highly entertaining regardless of whether you have experience, but as someone who grew up around a kitchen, I would've loved to trade stories with him.

That being said, I was not a huge fan of a lack of chronological order throughout the book as it felt Bourdain was getting a stream of consciousness out of him.

Bourdain's personality flies off the page, but for all the stories and secrets I enjoyed, there are just as many that I'll soon forget for being so similar to each other and even to the ones I liked.

Kitchen Confidential condenses the energy, vitality, humor, integrity, and shock appeal that endeared Bourdain to millions of fans. It's impossible to read Kitchen Confidential and not feel some urge to abandon whatever else one may be doing with their life and go become a line cook (or at least take a little more pride while expressing one's self in the kitchen).

The morals of the kitchen through Anthony Bourdain's inside look of the life of chefs - was not only educational but at times a great lesson of morals and knives. As a relative and honest non-foodie, I learned beyond what could apply to slicing onions and buying the right knife.

“Skills can be taught. Character you either have or you don't have.”

This was a tough one to read. Not because of the way it was written or the contents of the book. There was a constant sense of foreboding with every new chapter that I got through. A book like this is an insight into someone's soul.

The fact that a life like this eventually led to what now everyone knows about Anthony Bourdain was heartbreaking. There is one specific chapter in the book that is too eerie in its foreshadowing of the things that happened later. But in the spirit that it is written it doesn't feel that way at all.

While he often says that this book would appeal more to chefs and others from that world, it's an equally fascinating read for regular folks as well. He never shies away from laying the dark secrets of the industry bare and does it in the most entertaining way possible.

Learning about the man way after his death, it would be fair that I am smitten with him. The way he describes food and people and how the two are interlinked with each other is something to learn from. Read this and intersperse it with the Parts Unknown TV show and you will go back and forth for about 60 years of this Bourdain's life and career. And knowing what you know now, you can't help but feel sad at certain passages that look like premonitions, even though they were absolutely not meant to be and ideally, shouldn't be read as such. The world became a bit more dark after he decided to take his own life but I hope the work he has left behind and the people that he has touched would be able to show the light to others.

This is more a note about the man rather than a review of the book and I am absolutely fine with it.
Things get broken. Things get lost.

I can't believe I haven't read this classic before! My ex is a sous-chef and I learned a lot about restaurant business and professional cooking from her. Therefore the realities of hard kitchen work and hard afterwork revealed in this book are not surprising at all. It was sad to read about the bits concerning mental wellbeing, suicides and surviving, knowing what happened to Bourdain several years after this book was written. I can recommend this to anyone who wants to work in a restaurant. It might change your mind. For someone who knows the difference between MACs and Globals, it's still a good read and will give you many “yup, I know that stuff” moments.

[Read the ebook while simultaneously listening to Bourdain narrating]

Really enjoyed the first quarter of the book. The chapter on the day in the life of a chef had me out of breath by the end. The rest, where he gets into culinary specifics (which for a cooking-hater, non-chef like me, range from mildly interesting to very disturbing), I would have skipped/skimmed had it not been for the FOMO of missing out on his snarky comments - some gems in there. The last couple of lines of the book were saddening, in the light of the fact that he killed himself.

I imagine this wasn't meant to be a memoir but it's amazing how much you learn about Bourdain; considering 70% of the book is him talking about other people. His writing style seems to match his personality(to the extent one can gauge from a single book). He has the kind of brazen unapologetic attitude that you absolutely loathe or have a crush on. So I guess I'm crushing on him now.

Now I'm gonna go and binge watch all his TV shows

Anthony Bourdain was such a rare and beautiful creature.

This book helps me want to cook.

So glad I finally got round to reading this. Bourdain describes the kitchen and chef's life with a great amount of insight and verve in language - so riveting you realise how amazing real life can be.

anthony bourdain was a great narrator

I really enjoyed this. Coming from a few restaurant jobs from when I was younger made it all the more relatable.

It was a little saddening to hear the self-deprecation in this, along with all of his amazing stories. I get that self-deprecation was a shield against arrogance, but I think he went even to the other side, and his references to suicide were made awfully prescient in hindsight.

I was already familiar with Anthony Bourdain from his Food Network show, A Cook's Tour, before I picked up Kitchen Confidential. I knew that he was a bit of a wild-card, bad boy kinda guy. And, seeing the praise that had been heaped on the book, I was excited to read about some of his tales from the kitchen. However, I was not prepared for the fantastic prose and storytelling that awaited me in this book. Bourdain is now one of my favorite writers in any genre and cannot be beat when it comes to the art of food writing. This is a fantastic book that deserves to be read by all.

Anthony Bourdain is someone I could watch do anything. He was so entertaining and captivating that it was hard to turn away. Kitchen Confidential is no different, even if the subject is the dark underbelly of being a chef.

Anthony Bourdain is someone I could watch do anything. He was so entertaining and captivating that it was hard to turn away. Kitchen Confidential is no different, even if the subject is the dark underbelly of being a chef.

Another book I've read (and another memoir) where the audiobook–read by Bourdain himself–is absolutely, positively essential.

What can I say about this? I went in a little bias on this book. I started watching Anthony Bourdain's show, Parts Unknown, shortly before he died. I fell in love with his character, the way of telling stories, how he jumps in to things that would make others cringe, and his unapologetic ways of recounting his checker past. I loved how he has not tolerance for bullshit, and knowingly embraces his asshole side. It's extremely refreshing in a world of celebrity chefs who live their fake lives and make everything seem like daisies. But I digress. This book though, is an embodiment of those qualities. He tells the story of his career as a stupid, rich punk who thinks he has it in the bag, and how he got to the success he was. Scars and all. He holds nothing back, and I loved it. For anyone who loves food memoirs, this book needs to be at the top of your list.