Medium Raw: A Bloody Valentine to the World of Food and the People Who Cook

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Medium Raw: A Bloody Valentine to the World of Food and the People Who Cook

3.69 of 5 stars 3.69 · rating details · 12,583 ratings · 1,494 reviews

In the ten years since his classic Kitchen Confidential first alerted us to the idiosyncrasies and lurking perils of eating out, from Monday fish to the breadbasket conspiracy, much has changed for the subculture of chefs and cooks, for the restaurant businessand for Anthony Bourdain.

Medium Raw explores these changes, moving back and forth from the author's bad old days

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Hardcover, 281 pages

Published June 8th 2010 by Ecco

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The Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan

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Jun 14, 2013 Carolynz rated it 2 of 5 stars

This is one of the most self absorbed hypocritical books I had the ridiculousness to finish (ever?).

I've watched many seasons of his television shows, I've enjoyed his other books, but the high school name dropping review of the culinary world (your in, your out) kind of did me in with a sour aftertaste. The bizarre chapter where he describes in great detail his life with his daughter on the NYC Upper East side (I demand that you take that Ramones shirt off right now!) , constant need to procla...more

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Oct 05, 2010 The Holy Terror rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: food-writing, audiobooks, non-fiction, memoirs, 2010

Book: ★ ★ ½
Narration: ★ ★ ★ ½

I love watching Bourdain's TV shows. I especially love it when he's a judge on Top Chef. I also love to read when he blogs about the show too. For some reason though, his books end up being sort of mediocre. I only got through half of Kitchen Confidential before I gave up and moved onto something else. I keep telling myself I'll come back to it someday, but I'm really not sure I will. I ended up listening to this book on audio, and I think that might be the way to go...more

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Jan 18, 2011 Juliet Doubledee rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: foodie, biography

Chalk one up to Anthony Bourdain once again, as he presents a witty and insightful view of the culinary world. In Medium Raw Bourdain discusses the changes that have taken place in the subculture of chefs and cooks, the restaurant business, and in his own life during the ten years since her banged out his mega best selling book, Kitchen Confidential .

Bourdain admits no longer can he call himself "chef", especially after filming an episode of "No Reservations" in which he went back to his old st...more Chalk one up to Anthony Bourdain once again, as he presents a witty and insightful view of the culinary world. In Medium Raw Bourdain discusses the changes that have taken place in the subculture of chefs and cooks, the restaurant business, and in his own life during the ten years since her banged out his mega best selling book, Kitchen Confidential .

Bourdain admits no longer can he call himself "chef", especially after filming an episode of "No Reservations" in which he went back to his old stomping grounds at Brasserie Les Halles, and once again worked his station for a day. This episode it is a definite reminder, "ya never can go back", as he finds his knees and joints no longer willing to accept the abuse of constant bending to get into the low-boy refrigerator, and his aging eyes unable to read the requests sent to his station because of fogged glasses or grease streaked lenses.

Medium Raw discusses the transformation he has gone through, from angry journeyman cook to globe-traveling professional eater/drinker and how it has brought him in contact with some of the top creative minds in the food world (Eric Ripert, Thomas Keller, Ferran Adrià, Fergus Henderson, Marco Pierre White, and Mario Batali) praising them for their love of ingredients and cutting edge development of new dishes. He apologizes for remarks about Emeril Lagasse and Bobby Flay, explaining that he now has a better understanding of what they have gone through to reach the level they are at as TV celebrity chefs. Also, he explains why he has serious disdain for food demigods like Alan Richman, Alice Waters, and Alain Ducasse.

Unlike previous books he has written which were very direct with liberal use of profanity and sexual references, the reader gets a feeling that Bourdain has accepted his new role and is embracing a "kinder, gentler Tony". Could this be the result of fatherhood? In fact, my favorite chapters in the book deal with the relationship he has with his 3-year-old daughter and how it has changed his outlook on the world. No longer is he the rebel who does as he pleases, trading his leather jacket for a more "fatherly" look, making sure his behavior doesn't land him on any celebrity websites, and not being embarassed to be seen dancing with her and her little friends. But again Bourdain is Bourdain, as he points out how he is teaching his child to see American fast-food culture as he does... as the enemy. Telling her that Ronald McDonald "has cooties and stinks like...poo".

If you are a "foodie", enjoy seeing and hearing his opinion as a judge on "Top Chef", would like to find out about the man behind Kitchen Confidential , or just want to see why everyone is talking about him, you will definitely enjoy this book.

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May 08, 2010 Greg rated it 4 of 5 stars

I'll admit it--I'm not much of a foodie, and I've never been a close follower of Anthony Bourdain. I've seen a few great episodes of "No Reservations," but I've never gotten around to reading Kitchen Confidential. There's no doubt, however, that the man can write. Fans will undoubtedly salivate over Medium Raw, a book that is less a linear narrative and more a series of essays, some of them personal (about his new family life, for instance) but most of them taking aim at the modern food world: t...more

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Aug 22, 2010 Bookmarks Magazine rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: sept-oct-2010

No one really expected Bourdain to top his wildly popular Kitchen Confidential, even Bourdain himself: several critics wrote that he seems alternately awed and appalled by his own celebrity. Those parts of Medium Raw--more of a collection of essays than a streamlined narrative--that seemed to grow out of that celebrity, such as Bourdain's feuds with food critics and celebrity chefs, impressed reviewers the least. But they still found much to savor, particularly Bourdain's biting personality, his...more

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Apr 24, 2013 Jordan Batchelor rated it 4 of 5 stars

It's been a little while since I read this one, so it will be difficult to accurately review it. However, I do remember, at least after reading Kitchen Confidential, that I enjoyed Medium Raw, in a whole, more. It's my favorite of his non-fiction. It should be noted, however, that I am a Bourdain-nerd. I love No Reservations, tune in every Sunday twenty minutes before Parts Unknown comes on, have read all his non-fiction, and have his three novels on the shelf that I will soon read. That being s...more

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Apr 09, 2013 Roger rated it 3 of 5 stars

A little while ago I read and immensly enjoyed Kitchen confidential. Since then I've seen a few episodes of Bourdain's No Reservations TV show, which was enjoyable enough to watch if I stumbled on to it while surfing, but not enjoyable enough to actively hunt out. Bourdain has developed his schtick of noir / gonzo food expert into a successful career, and good on him. Medium raw continues in that vein.

Whereas Kitchen confidential was a kind of autobiography with other bits thrown in, Medium raw...more A little while ago I read and immensly enjoyed Kitchen confidential. Since then I've seen a few episodes of Bourdain's No Reservations TV show, which was enjoyable enough to watch if I stumbled on to it while surfing, but not enjoyable enough to actively hunt out. Bourdain has developed his schtick of noir / gonzo food expert into a successful career, and good on him. Medium raw continues in that vein.

Whereas Kitchen confidential was a kind of autobiography with other bits thrown in, Medium raw is more of the other bits, which occasionally reflect Bourdain's life, especially his life post confidential (which became a huge bestseller). The opening section introduces this new life, where he's invited along with New York's food glitterati to eat a forbidden fruit (Ortalan). This, along with a hilarious chapter that includes a Caribbean island, a psychotic girlfriend and the Gaddafi family, are the high gonzo parts of this book.

A fair portion of the book discusses the food scene in the US, from chef whizkids to the Food Channel. While I don't know any of the names Bourdain is dropping, his rants about good versus bad food, militant veganism, and the inanities of food porn on the TV are all entertaining. Bourdain is at his best when he's pointing out the BS that is spouted about food - he has a fine chapter on organic/local/"good" food, noting that a lot of people in the US can't actually afford to go down that path when looking at the dollars available vs. the cost of food equation.

He also is justifiably horrified at the state of the US food industry - his chapter on hamburgers is part horror story of feedlot meat treated with ammonia before sale, and part disgust at wagyu beef being placed in a bun. His skilled "knifework" on Alan Richman, food critic of the New York Times, is a delight, and one thinks are the opening shots in a long-running war.

The final section of the book takes us back to Kitchen confidential, with a "where are they now" flavour. Bourdain returns in this final section to a recurring theme that pops up throughout the book, which is how he hit the jackpot quite unexpectedly, how he thought his life as a chef would keep trucking along until (a probably early) death, but for the (to Bourdain) inexplicable success of his (not actually) first book.

Not quite as good as Kitchen confidential, Medium raw is still a good way to pass a weekend - you'll laugh out loud in places.
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Mar 26, 2013 Marthe Bijman rated it 3 of 5 stars

A lyrical approach to food and cooking

Ever since I first saw Anthony Bourdain on TV, skidding to a halt in his pointy-toed boots in the intro to “No Reservations”, I’ve been meaning to read his books. Much has been said about them - particularly about his 2000 début "Kitchen Confidential", described as shocking, wild, anarchic etc. Since those days Bourdain has changed from L'enfant Terrible of the food industry into its Elder (but not entirely decorous) Statesman. "Medium Raw" is everything "Ki...more A lyrical approach to food and cooking

Ever since I first saw Anthony Bourdain on TV, skidding to a halt in his pointy-toed boots in the intro to “No Reservations”, I’ve been meaning to read his books. Much has been said about them - particularly about his 2000 début "Kitchen Confidential", described as shocking, wild, anarchic etc. Since those days Bourdain has changed from L'enfant Terrible of the food industry into its Elder (but not entirely decorous) Statesman. "Medium Raw" is everything "Kitchen Confidential" is not. His writing style has segued into a poetic, stream of consciousness food-rap, with the raves and rants downplayed. But like the title suggests, it’s still raw, occasionally rude stuff, and reads like it’s straight from his mind to the printed page, with no stops for editing in between.

Bourdain’s writing sounds exactly like his voice-over in his TV series – typically a flow of words, lyricism interspersed with intermittent crude asides “… a perfect bowl of Hanoi Pho is a balanced meeting of savory, sweet, sour, spicy, salty, and even umami – a gentle commingling of textures as well: soft and giving, wet and slippery, slightly chewy, momentarily resistant but ultimately near-diaphanous, light and heavy, leafy and limp, crunchy and tender. There – and nearly not there at all. Were this already not enough to jerk a rusty steak knife across your grandma’s throat, empty her bank account, and head off to Hanoi, consider the colours...”

If you have to pick, read chapter 19, "The Fish-on-Monday Thing". Apart from some advice which is too terrible not to be true, the opening lines give the clue of why "Medium Raw" is different and better than "Kitchen Confidential": he describes his first memoir as a hurried, enraged, disgorging of sentences. Bourdain has matured, so has his writing style – he’s not so angry any more. But he still has definite issues with the industry, he is still painfully direct and he still does not tolerate poseurs. As far as I’m concerned: Vive L'enfant Terrible!

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Feb 13, 2013 Barbikat60 rated it 5 of 5 stars

While not as riveting as Kitchen Confidential, it is much better than A Cook's Tour and I really liked A Cook's Tour. I'm going to read at least one of his fiction books just to see if his literary talents expands beyond memoir. I'll say this about Bourdain, he truly is worthy of the title "Gonzo Journalist". It takes a lot for me to say that because I absolutely rever Dr. Hunter S. Thompson.
The only thing that grates me about Medium Raw is that he's so apologetic throughout the book. Yeah, we g...more

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Nov 22, 2012 Will Mclaughlin rated it 3 of 5 stars

An image of Tony Bourdain has been carefully cultivated by publishers, producers and Bourdain himself; this punk rock loving, hard drinking, two pack a day sacred cow killing rebel who suffers no fools and and takes no bullshit. Look no further than the cover of this book which features Bourdain staring out imperiously while handling the pointiest end of a knife. And to a certain extent the image is earned. But Medium Raw shatters that image in many ways.

The standard Bourdain tropes are here: A...more An image of Tony Bourdain has been carefully cultivated by publishers, producers and Bourdain himself; this punk rock loving, hard drinking, two pack a day sacred cow killing rebel who suffers no fools and and takes no bullshit. Look no further than the cover of this book which features Bourdain staring out imperiously while handling the pointiest end of a knife. And to a certain extent the image is earned. But Medium Raw shatters that image in many ways.

The standard Bourdain tropes are here: Alice Waters is a villain, James Beard society is bullshit, Alan Richman is a cunt. He continues to eviscerate carpetbagging parasites who continue to profit off of the food that he holds holy. But a much different Bourdain emerges in this book. Too much focus is always given to his "bad boy" image without balancing it out with the sound logic and empathetic reasons he has for giving the people/institutions shit. Just as an example, yes he calls Alice Waters a villain, but not just to slaughter an eminence grise. She has the hubris to suggest Obama appoint her to a special committee to address America's eating habits when she hasn't voted since the seventies. And she dreams of an America where everyone is a farmer of some sort. But he's also incredibly complimentary of her skill, intellect and social graces. A really different Anthony Bourdain comes out here.

He's a very sentimental, loving husband and father. A good and loyal friend to those who share his passions. He's very frank about his limitations as a chef and very humble about the company he's been thrown in with. He fully admits that he's out of his league when he gets put on panels with guys like Ripert and Boloud. He dances with his daughter in day care. And he's very frank and apologetic about the collateral damage he may have done in Kitchen Confidential. This is a stand up guy who deserves to be read and treated as more than the cardboard tough guy punch out the media has made him out to be.

The only disappointing thing about the book is the very fact that it follows Kitchen Confidential. It's like Weezer following their first album with Pinkerton; it was a fine album, but it was all about the travails of being a successful rock star. KC was so great (at least to people like me who used to work the line) because it transported you to the reality of that world. Most of what people see of kitchens and chefs is what they see on Top Chef or Chopped. You don't see the egos, the tensions and the overall seductive, sybaritic lifestyle that comes with working in the restaurant industry. There's not a ton of that here. Unless you're already a well known chef who is invited to be a judge on guest panels or you do a lot of international fringe traveling, there's not a ton to identify with here. Also there's a seeming hypocrisy afoot. The second chapter of the book, Bourdain talks at great length about how he refuses to license his name for his own line of cookware or refuses to let someone just slap his name on a restaurant for the marquee value. Yet I received this book as part of a cooking class called Anthony Bourdain's Mastering The Basics at the Sur La Table chain of kitchen stores. There's a chapter where he mentions a couple of things that we cooked in the class very briefly. But no real recipes. The recipes we made seemed pretty sanitized with an occasional "ass" or "shit" thrown in to make it sound like his voice. So I don't know if this was something done without his knowledge or if he gave up a valued principle.

I met Chef Bourdain briefly back in NYC at Siberia Bar. A nice, genuine but reserved guy. We didn't get to talk a bunch or become best friends. But reading this book feels like sitting down and having a great conversation with a guy who's lived an amazing life.(less)

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Oct 12, 2012 Jonathan Cate rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: read-in-2012

Medium Raw: A Bloody Valentine to the World of Food and the People Who Cook by Anthony Bourdain is a follow up book to his hit book, Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly, that he had written nine years earlier. Just like in KC, the book just oozes Bourdain's personality. The prose is often gritty and his language can get a bit blue, but hey that's just Tony.

Bourdain uses this book to dish out some dirt on the food industry, expose percieved fakes and injustice, and takes...more

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Sep 30, 2012 Carol rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2012-read

Medium Raw, Bourdain's follow-up to Kitchen Confidential, after a ten-year hiatus, really isn't bad. But it certainly isn't as good as KC. I enjoyed KC, mostly because I had worked in the service industry for many years and wanted to compare it to my own experiences. I enjoy his television show No Reservations and thought I would give Medium Raw a try.

There were good parts and not-so-good parts. The good parts include stories from the cook line, descriptions of amazing meals he's had, and how he...more

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Sep 26, 2012 Shana rated it 3 of 5 stars

Despite his cockiness and at times overwhelming sarcasm (or perhaps because of it), I greatly enjoy Bourdain’s work. I’ve loved No Reservations since the first time I saw it, even though Bourdain hates on vegetarians. So of course, when I found out he had written another book, I rushed to the library to get it.

The book is a mish mosh of various essays on topics from heroes and villains in the cooking world, some of his favorite travels and foods, and his past. I knew drugs played a part in his p...more

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Aug 06, 2012 Michael Meeuwis rated it 4 of 5 stars

Ugh...I wanted to like this book less than I actually did, which to be fair is a bad reason for reading it. Like everyone on earth, I loved "Kitchen Confidential," which is in every way a better book. This is just a collection of Bourdain's post-fame essays taken from various sources; these include a long description of a bad relationship in the Carribean, which, frankly, is not the sort of thing that makes you feel more sympathetic towards anyone.
On the other hand, even that essay was insightfu...more

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Jun 28, 2012 Tommy Carlson rated it 3 of 5 stars

I like Anthony Bourdain. And I like him because he's an asshole, not in spite of the fact. But I'm not overly familiar with his work. I've watched No Reservations more than a few times and I've read his scathing blog post about the Food Network, with which I heartily agree. But I haven't read any of his books.

So I downloaded Medium Raw: A Bloody Valentine to the World of Food and the People Who Cook to my nook and gave it a go.

In general, it's a fun read. But it's not a great read. (I've been sa...more I like Anthony Bourdain. And I like him because he's an asshole, not in spite of the fact. But I'm not overly familiar with his work. I've watched No Reservations more than a few times and I've read his scathing blog post about the Food Network, with which I heartily agree. But I haven't read any of his books.

So I downloaded Medium Raw: A Bloody Valentine to the World of Food and the People Who Cook to my nook and gave it a go.

In general, it's a fun read. But it's not a great read. (I've been saying that about books a lot recently.) He's wonderfully assholish at times. But, at other times, he's whining about getting soft and almost apologizing for the very trait that has made him famous.

The book itself is a series of unconnected chapters. Nothing flows. There doesn't seem to be much of an over-arching idea, other than he's getting older and more mellow. Yeah, don't really care.

The better chapters are those where he describes dishes in all their glory and those where he takes aim at those well deserving his scorn.

The best chapter by far is a short one about his daughter and Ronald McDonald. It reads like edgier Calvin Trillin. I'd love to see more of this from him.

There's another chapter about fatherhood which is your standard how my life has changed now that I have a kid sentimental drivel that every writer excretes once they reproduce. Yes, it's all true, I'm sure. But it's also so painfully obvious.

The final chapter is a disaster. It's basically a Where are they now? look at characters from Kitchen Confidential. I'm sure it's a nice chapter for those who have read the earlier book. But, for me, it's a disaster because it's such a missed opportunity. Look, I'm going to be thinking one of two things here: 1) I didn't read the earlier book so I don't fucking care. 2) I didn't read the earlier book and now I really fucking want to!

Suppose he lucks out and my thought is the second one. So I head off to online B&N to get a copy. Guess what? It's not available as an eBook!

So that final chapter either leaves me bored or frustrated. It's a lose/lose proposition. Maybe a better idea would have been to release Kitchen Confidential as an eBook with that chapter added as additional bonus content?(less)

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Apr 18, 2012 Rebecca rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: tv

I am not a fan of Anthony Bourdain by any means. The only shows I have ever watched with him are when he travels somewhere I am interested and even those bore me. I don't get it. I saw this book on another website and decided to pick it up, because, hey it's free. (I need to re-request NO RESERVATIONS.) This book was okay. Maybe because I don't care it was slightly better then I thought it would be? It was also good for my ADD as every chapter could stand alone and I always enjoy that. Nothing w...more

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Apr 03, 2012 Tyler Hill rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: read-in-2012

I've watched dozens of episodes of Bourdain's show, "No Reservations," but have never bothered to pick up any of his books until now. I think that, possibly, it is because that -in general- I'm more interested in Bourdain as a traveler and as a food enthusiast than I am about Bourdain as a "bad boy." And, my impression of his most well-know work, Kitchen Confidential, is that it relies heavily on the later.

That said, as someone drifting later and later into my 30's, and as a father of two, I do...more

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Mar 04, 2012 Deen Sakurai rated it 5 of 5 stars

Most food celebs of Bourdain's stature would be content to rest on their laurels and take the easy road to nirvanaville - but Bourdain being Bourdain decides to crank up the volume, exceeding even the screeching levels of his incendiary 'Kitchen Confidential' in this no-holds barred diatribe of things that Bourdain finds right and (mostly) wrong in today's food scene.

Reading through this book is like sitting with Bourdain and his closest chums in an after-hours watering hole while he unleashes h...more

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Feb 10, 2012 jenn rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2012, fiftyfiftyme

Man, I have the worst role models. Whatever. I love this guy.

I listened to this as an audiobook, which was fun - though I'm so used to Tony's voice right now, I don't think I missed much by reading Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly on my Kindle. Narration aside, I think Medium Raw: A Bloody Valentine to the World of Food and the People Who Cook is a better book. Tony names names this time around, and most of his subjects are well-known nationally or internationally, as...more

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Feb 08, 2012 Judy rated it 4 of 5 stars

My sister-in-law, who is a chef, recommended that I read Kitchen Confidential years ago--parimarily because she kept laughing out loud while she was reading and I wanted in on the fun. Read it. Loved it. It's now ten years after the publication of Kitchen Confidential and Anthony Bourdain admits that lots of changes have come to the food industry in America. Medium Raw is a look at these changes delivered in Boudain's own ranting, confrontational, and confessional manner. In doing so, he deals w...more

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Feb 01, 2012 Kater Cheek rated it 3 of 5 stars

This is a review of the audiobook, so bear that in mind when I say that you can summarize this easily: Anthony Bourdain rants about the food industry for 9 hours. Not that that's a bad thing. Since it was Bourdain himself ranting, and not some overblown voice actor, every joke came off exactly as intended. I know that in the past I've read memoirs by people, and often (especially if the author is a comedian) the book falls flat because the intonation carries the bulk of the meaning.
Anthony Bourd...more This is a review of the audiobook, so bear that in mind when I say that you can summarize this easily: Anthony Bourdain rants about the food industry for 9 hours. Not that that's a bad thing. Since it was Bourdain himself ranting, and not some overblown voice actor, every joke came off exactly as intended. I know that in the past I've read memoirs by people, and often (especially if the author is a comedian) the book falls flat because the intonation carries the bulk of the meaning.
Anthony Bourdain wrote a book a few years ago called KITCHEN CONFIDENTIAL abou his years as a cook. I am 90% positive that I picked up that book a year or so ago and tried to read it, only to remember that I had already read it. Now I'm not sure I even read it. So I either read it 1.5 x and don't remember it, or I haven't read it. Either way, rest assured you do not have to have read KITCHEN CONFIDENTIAL for this book to have merit or make sense. He mentions the first book frequently, and has a wrap up of "whatever happened to so-and-so" in the last chapter, but otherwise it's about his life since that book.
Bourdain may not be a heavy-drinking, drug-using, hardcore cook anymore, but he's still an angry man. I think that for people who are in any way involved with the fine dining industry, this book will be juicy gossip, as amusing for its titillation as for the inevitable drama to follow.
Alas, the only connection I have to the food industry is that I adore watching TopChef, reading memoirs of culinary people, and I subscribe to Cooks Illustrated. I have never eaten at, and probably will never eat at, Per Se, The French Laundry, or other even less-well-known fine dining restaurants. Some of the people I know about, and was interested to hear about. Others are complete strangers to me. Bourdain doesn't really help either. In one chapter, entitled "Heroes and Villians" he lauds and damns various chefs and critics, but he presumes you already know who these people are. I didn't, and had to google the names I could remember later on. A little backstory could have really helped.
This is more of a collection of essays than a true memoir. He does have memoir-like passages, such as the tale of meeting a psycho rich girl in the Caribbean. I liked reading about St. Bart's, a place I will also probably never go, and I loved his vicarious thrill of the 50Euro burned chicken piece at the restaurant that the dumb rich still shelled out for. Who doesn't like a good travel story?
Bourdain can write well, and he can especially write well about food. He has an entire chapter which is basically just food porn, lush descriptions of exotic food that us ordinary mortals will likely never consume. For some of the dishes, it's just as well we ordinary eaters will never consume such fare. For example, the opening scene (a description of a once-in-a-lifetime meal of endangered French finch) was described with orgiastic detail, like a man describing kinky sex with an underage girl: fascinating in its perversity, but doesn't make me want to have kinky sex with underage girls. It just clarified all the ways in which I find that disgusting.
I enjoyed the mini-biography chapters the most. I liked hearing about the genius fish-filleter from the Dominican Republic. I liked hearing about the tormented genius David Chang, and about Bourdain's friend, who lost on Top Chef. (I also was relieved to hear that my favorite reality show is played straight.) I also enjoyed some of his soap-box moments, like when he said why every person should learn to cook (though some of the 'basics' he proposes are things that even I would have to research--and I am a widely-read and self-taught home cook who cooked every day for over 10 years.) His rant against first-world vegans proseltizing made me nod approvingly. I get the feeling that he's the kind of guy who spouts off what he's most angry about at the time, even knowing that he's likely to not care that much about it later--a trait I share.
My main complaint about this book is that it was not written for me, or people like me. In fact, I felt a little looked-down on, especially when he talked about how his jaded palette gets bored with tasting menus, or how poor Thomas Keller can't go anywhere without being served bad knock-offs of his own dishes. For a guy who claims he's never had health-insurance, Bourdain doesn't seem to understand the middle class. My unsolicited advice for Bourdain is that he should eat nothing but his own cooking for a few years, with ingredients purchased at the local supermarket, punctuated perhaps every two weeks with very inexpensive takeout (the kind where you order your food by picture and number). After he's lived like a normal American for a while, he might once again have a fine appreciation for dining out. He might grow to see eating in restaurants, especially classy restaurants, for what it is--a luxury.
I recommend this for foodies, chefs, and people who like reading about such.
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Jan 04, 2012 Sharon Pywell added it

Anthony Bourdain can draw a person for reasons that make her uncomfortable. He's offensive. He has a leaky superego--every little thread or bolt of rage just pushes right through to the page. This is endearing when it isn't repellent. It's honorable when it isn't petty. He attacks people he despises and he names names. He pursues what he loves full of rage and fear. He makes me laugh. He writes, as they say, like his hair's on fire.

i also find it interesting, though it isn't directly related to...more

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Jan 01, 2012 Lucy Black rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: foodies

Anthony Bourdain, besides being a t.v. personality and a chef, writes about travel, food, and the cooking industry. But that sentence barely scratches the surface of what he really does. His unique voice pulls you in to experience food and travel vicariously through his vivid sensory imagery. I may never have the chance to travel around the world. I may never be able to eat noodles at a food stand in Vietnam or eat twenty course meals at restaurants like The French Laundry. But through Tony's wr...more

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Nov 26, 2011 Joe rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2011

This is the sort of book I buy when I become overloaded with literary novels, and then, a few chapters in, become so impatient with the writing and style that I angrily speed read clumps of pages, unable to let any book go, no matter how silly it becomes. Fortunately, the best of Bourdain can justify this passive-aggressive self-flagellation; his stories remain first rate, and he has an ability to describe, not food, but the pleasure of eating food, with unbeatable allure.

The two chapters that...more This is the sort of book I buy when I become overloaded with literary novels, and then, a few chapters in, become so impatient with the writing and style that I angrily speed read clumps of pages, unable to let any book go, no matter how silly it becomes. Fortunately, the best of Bourdain can justify this passive-aggressive self-flagellation; his stories remain first rate, and he has an ability to describe, not food, but the pleasure of eating food, with unbeatable allure.

The two chapters that stand out are "The Rich Eat Differently from You and Me", in which Bourdain chronicles his torrid affair with an insane and insanely wealthy woman in the Caribbean after his first marriage breaks down, with a few culinary adventures along the way, and "Lust", a catalog of ten insanely indulgent eating experiences around the world. They're what Bourdain does best: in the first case, the rollercoaster, too-crazy-not-to-be-real memoirs of Kitchen Confidential, and in the second case, a populist paean to local food that mirrors his addictive television show. A chapter on David Chang shows hope for a new direction for Bourdain, describing the world's more outrageous chefs with the same flair he has for outlandish food.

But the filler in-between these standout chapters makes for a strong argument that in the age of Kindle, some books should be shorter and less expensive. Bourdain did not have enough A-list material for a hardback, but obviously his agent insisted. The least offensive material grates like a friend obsessed with telling you over and over about how annoying his job is. But at his worst, Bourdain transposes his insecurities onto his readers. He may start seeing four star meals in terms of what type of shit he will take at their end, but there's no reason to slather that twisted view onto a captive audience when it so obviously stems from his own exhaustion and boredom rather than real insight. An unhinged rant about vegetarians fittingly closes the book; at that point in the night, you'd tell your friend he's had enough, and escort him to his cab whether he's ready to go or not.(less)

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Nov 15, 2011 Jennifer rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: essays, memoir, non-fiction

Book Description

Focusing primarily on food and restaurant related topics—ranging from tasting menus to chef David Chang to Bourdain’s list of culinary heroes and villains—Medium Raw is a collection of essays that meanders far and wide. Although primarily focused on the restaurant/chef business, Bourdain also includes personal essays dealing with the break-up of his first marriage, a psychotic weekend with a crazed heiress, and fatherhood.

My Thoughts

I very much enjoyed listening to this book. Bou...more Book Description

Focusing primarily on food and restaurant related topics—ranging from tasting menus to chef David Chang to Bourdain’s list of culinary heroes and villains—Medium Raw is a collection of essays that meanders far and wide. Although primarily focused on the restaurant/chef business, Bourdain also includes personal essays dealing with the break-up of his first marriage, a psychotic weekend with a crazed heiress, and fatherhood.

My Thoughts

I very much enjoyed listening to this book. Bourdain lives up to his reputation as a no-nonsense straight-talker. Most importantly, his criticism of others is balanced by self-depreciation. I actually found him to be relatively reasonable and likable. Despite mellowing since Kitchen Confidential (by his own admission), Bourdain still isn’t afraid to call out people for being pretentious, fake or unskilled. He owns his opinions (the essay dealing with his dislike of vegans bristles with anger and passion) and has an eloquent way of cursing that is amusing and almost artistic.

My favorite essay dealt with his efforts to keep his young daughter from liking McDonalds—with Bourdain waging a war of misinformation and outright lies (“I heard Ronald has cooties!”). This essay was very humanizing; there is nothing quite like parenthood to soften even the most debauched and self-centered person. (And, by his own accounts, Bourdain was this kind of person for years.)

Despite his feuds with various celebrity chefs and disdain for the Food Network, Bourdain genuinely loves and enjoys food. This passion is apparent throughout the book. Whether describing an illegal dinner or various meals he’s eaten in almost pornographic terms, Bourdain made me think differently about food and cooking. One essay outlined the cooking skills that Bourdain believes should be required for all citizens—including simple knife skills and knowing such basics as making an omelet, roasting a chicken, cooking vegetables, selecting produce, steaming a lobster or crab, preparing potatoes, and cooking. After listening to this essay, I was inspired to roast a chicken—a process that turned out to be rather easy!

I plan on reading/listening to more of Bourdain’s books. Although I’m not a foodie, Bourdain’s writing held my attention and inspired me to care more about what I put into my mouth and how I prepare it.

About the Narration: Bourdain narrated his own book, which is very fitting for a collection of personal essays. He has a pleasant voice and knows his way around a curse word. The book was a fun and easy listen, and the short essay format made it perfect for listening to in short bursts.

Recommended for: Bourdain fans, foodies, and readers who enjoy essays with a strong point of view(less)

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Jul 28, 2011 Brianne rated it 4 of 5 stars

The joke's on me with this one. Bourdain's book is a little slapdash, and consists mostly of ranting, a la some kind of blogwar, however I can't say the last time I spent all night and some of the morning finishing up a book. Or thus is the danger of reading a food book after the night shift. I commend his section on Alice Waters, who's vigilantly defended by David Chang as a "nice lady who did too much acid in the '60's." Bourdain's not above questioning whether Waters was ever a chef or not, r...more

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Jul 18, 2011 L Greyfort rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: food, humor, biography

Dontcha just kvell all over when the kids grow up?

Loved the bad-boy Anthony, with the dive bars and the street-food-after-binging binges, and the "I gotta have this adventure - holy crap, this is bowel-emptying scary!" episodes....

A lot of that had to do with his self-awareness, and his very frank indictments of himself. I hold no brief for cocaine-addiction -- and neither does Anthony, and he's better qualified to do so because he's been one.

And now I find, I'm loving the semi-grown up Anthony,...more

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Jul 16, 2011 Sheila DeChantal rated it 3 of 5 stars

Anthony Bourdain, the star of the series No reservations on the Travel Channel, and the author of Kitchen Confidential now releases his sharp tongue, never apologizing ways in this new collection about the chefs in the industry, the economy, the best places to find a good burger... it reads like we are sitting and talking about cooking and food.... Anthony Bourdain flies from topic to topic, while occasionally hard to follow - it almost always is interesting.

If you have seen his show, you pretty...more Anthony Bourdain, the star of the series No reservations on the Travel Channel, and the author of Kitchen Confidential now releases his sharp tongue, never apologizing ways in this new collection about the chefs in the industry, the economy, the best places to find a good burger... it reads like we are sitting and talking about cooking and food.... Anthony Bourdain flies from topic to topic, while occasionally hard to follow - it almost always is interesting.

If you have seen his show, you pretty much know what you are in for. At least... I thought I did.

I admit it. I like the tone of Anthony's voice. He is level and matter of fact. he has a quick wit, a knack for sarcasm - and he tells it like it is. Even, when I necessarily do not need to know to that extent of "what it is".

What do I mean by that? Well, while I do enjoy Anthony Bourdain's show, No Reservations... I have come to realize that they clean his words up quite a bit. In this audio, there is none of this and you can plan on being encased in everything that is on Anthony's mind and without any sensors, all of this will come right out of his mouth. You will hear the "F" word... frequently. You will hear pretty much every other word as well.

So why, a person that usually avoids such books and audio, why would I put myself through this?

Honestly... I like to hear about the food behind Anthony's language. If you can filter (and you will need a heavy-duty one at that) through that, the audio is quite interesting.

I enjoyed hearing how the economy changed the look and feel of some of New Yorks higher class restaurants forever - and even possibly for the better. Anthony shares that while some restaurants may no longer be able to afford to serve the salmon they once did, they have found ways to serve delicious lesser priced fish just as well. In some cases - they are thrilled to do so as chefs have known that some of the fish that normally would not grace their menu, is actually very good - and the economy has given them the opportunity to show this.

I also learned - that the economy has made the classy restaurants friendlier. There was a time you would be snubbed for walking up to a high-class eatery without a reservation. If you called to get a reservation without weeks and weeks notice, you would practically be hung up on. These days are gone. People are now encouraged to come in anytime. The phone service has greatly improved and the wait staff is considerably friendlier. Well - yay for all of that. :razz:

I also enjoyed hearing about other big named chefs. Bourdain is not easy on any of them. He takes no prisoners. Some he admires. More, he does not, and he is not shy to tell you why. Names are tossed on the chopping block. He even goes into detail about his time as a judge on Top Chef. Bourdain will share, occasionally at great lengths about the importance of the great chefs actually being at their restaurants - actually cooking meals instead of relying on their name alone to get people in the door.

The chapter talking of the great detail that chefs go to prepare the fish for our meals - astounded me. I had never thought about what the big name restaurant may pay for a pound of fish and that would be including - head, innards, scales etc... much of which they paid for is thrown away in the cleaning process and they pay a very talented chef with a knife to do just that long before we ever see it on our plate.

At times I applauded Anthony Bourdains' boldness. At other times I cringed at his references, language and crudeness. I am well aware that some of what make me cringe... are part of what has made him the success he is today.

The over all thing I have to admit here is that despite his great flaws.... I like him. (less)

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Jun 09, 2011 K2 ----- rated it 3 of 5 stars

If I could give this two and a half stars I could. I felt the book was well-written although in some ways a bit too "inside baseball" for me writing about specific chefs he admits vastly influenced by his circle of friends.

The content seemed to me to be leftovers as if he was gasping for subject matter. I found his harping on women at every whistle stop on his book tour to be a bit unpleasant as I found his rants about Alice Waters who has done great things for the Bay Area community teaching s...more

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Jun 08, 2011 David rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: read-cooking

Like most teachers, I have been completely warped by the profession. As a result, I divide all experience, including but not limited to games, books, music, movies, TV shows, magazine and newspaper articles, websites, blogs, wikis, friendships, social interactions, parties, athletic contests, weddings and funerals, trips to the hospital emergency room, embarrassing childhood memories, and horrific disasters that threaten to unravel the very fabric of life on earth, into two categories:

1) Potenti...more Like most teachers, I have been completely warped by the profession. As a result, I divide all experience, including but not limited to games, books, music, movies, TV shows, magazine and newspaper articles, websites, blogs, wikis, friendships, social interactions, parties, athletic contests, weddings and funerals, trips to the hospital emergency room, embarrassing childhood memories, and horrific disasters that threaten to unravel the very fabric of life on earth, into two categories:

1) Potentially useful during an English lesson

b) Not potentially useful during an English lesson

Chef/author/professional traveller Anthony Bourdain, whether seen on TV, read, or (as I did here) listened to on audiobook, normally falls with a great thud into category (b), not only because his persistent and creative use of obscenity but also because of his enthusiastic accounts of recreational drug use and other unwise behavior. I'd like to report a rare near-occurrence of category (1) in Bourdain's oeuvre, as a service to my fellow teachers.

This near-occurrence is, in its entirety, Chapter 6 (“Virtue”) of the written version of this book, which confusingly is Chapter 7 of the Audible download.

I say “near-occurrence” because, since this is Bourdain writing, the chapter is still R-rated. (Compared to his normal output, however, this reads like Highlights magazine.) Unless you work with an exceptionally open-minded audience and institution, you teachers may wish to “adapt” this chapter by modifying some or all of the following: “meth lab”; “crack babies”; a slang word for homosexuals; references to sex, adult entertainment involving donkeys, gruesome murder, and certain post bowel-movement activity; and finally, inevitably, the f-bomb. All this occurs in a chapter that takes Bourdain only seven minutes and 33 seconds to read, but don't stop reading this review in disgust – I swear that this could be useful in the classroom (explained below), and that all of the above can be removed or changed without altering the point of the chapter.

In just retribution for being a completely evil human being, I am condemned to wander the earth, attempting to teach the classic five-paragraph “essay of persuasion” to a reluctant humanity. The difficulty in teaching this skill is not only that, once you have ceased to take certain gate-keeping tests like the TOEFL, you never deploy this skill in quite this form again. A more significant difficulty, for me, has been the lack of genuine examples of the form for students to read, ponder, and even, possibly, enjoy. The examples from textbooks often appear to have been written by native speakers expressly for textbooks, and lack a certain passion and sense of mission.

Bourdain has a sense of passion and mission (often causing, here and elsewhere, the above-mentioned cussing and unwise activity). In this case, he advocates a national program dedicated to improving the cooking skills of America's youth, analogous to the President's Council on Physical Fitness. It really doesn't matter whether Bourdain's point is reasonable or not. What matters is that he believes in something passionately, wants you to believe in it, and sweated successfully over the words necessary to make you agree with him. This essay won't teach students everything they need to know about the essay of persuasion, but they are more likely to remember it the next day than most of the examples that they see in textbooks. (less)

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About Anthony Bourdain

Anthony Bourdain is the author of the novels Bone in the Throat and Gone Bamboo, in addition to the megabestsellers Kitchen Confidential and A Cook’s Tour.
His work has appeared in the New York Times and the New Yorker, and he is a contributing authority for Food Arts magazine. He is the host of the popular television show No Reservations.

More about Anthony Bourdain...

Books by Anthony Bourdain

Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly

A Cook's Tour: Global Adventures in Extreme Cuisines

The Nasty Bits: Collected Varietal Cuts, Usable Trim, Scraps, and Bones

Anthony Bourdain's Les Halles Cookbook: Stategies, Recipes, and Techniques of Classic Bistro Cooking

No Reservations: Around the World on an Empty Stomach

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“We know, for instance, that there is a direct, inverse relationship between frequency of family meals and social problems. Bluntly stated, members of families who eat together regularly are statistically less likely to stick up liquor stores, blow up meth labs, give birth to crack babies, commit suicide, or make donkey porn. If Little Timmy had just had more meatloaf, he might not have grown up to fill chest freezers with Cub Scout parts.” — 60 people liked it

“PETA doesn't want stressed animals to be cruelly crowded into sheds, ankle-deep in their own crap, because they don't want any animals to die-ever-and basically think chickens should, in time, gain the right to vote. I don't want animals stressed or crowded or treated cruelly or inhumanely because that makes them probably less delicious.” — 50 people liked it

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