In the ten years since his classic Kitchen Confidential first alerted us to the idiosyncrasies and lurking perils of eating out, from Monday...
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Jul 15, 2011
The Holy Terror
rated it: 
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 migh More...
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 migh More...
Mar 16, 2011
Juliet
rated it: 
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 wh More...
Bourdain admits no longer can he call himself "chef", especially after filming an episode of "No Reservations" in wh More...
May 12, 2010
Greg
rated it:
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 foo
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Aug 22, 2010
Bookmarks Magazine
rated it:
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
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Feb 10, 2012
jenn
rated it:
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 internatio More...
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 internatio More...
Feb 08, 2012
Judy
rated it:
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 de
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Feb 01, 2012
Kater
rated it:
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 More...
Anthony More...
Jan 04, 2012
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' More...
i also find it interesting, though it isn' More...
Jan 01, 2012
Tammy
rated it: 
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
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Nov 26, 2011
Joe
rated it:
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 More...
The two More...
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Nov 15, 2011
Jennifer
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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 enjoy More...
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 enjoy More...
Jul 28, 2011
Brianne Schiebler
rated it:
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
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Jul 18, 2011
L Greyfort
rated it:
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 no More...
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 no More...
Jul 16, 2011
Sheila
rated it:
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, More...
If you have seen his show, More...
Jun 09, 2011
K2
rated it:
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 More...
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 More...
Jun 08, 2011
David
rated it:
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:
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Jun 07, 2011
I have followed Anthony Bourdain since he wrote "Kitchen Confidential." My son and I have both watched most of the programs in the Cooks Tour series on the Travel Network. I gave him "Medium Raw" for Christmas and recently he shared it back with me. Bourdain still writes well and forcefully.However, these 19 essays are a little uneven in quality. Sometimes the trash talk and machismo get tedious. The best piece is called "My Aim is True", a celebratory laud to the m
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May 23, 2011
Tbloxham
rated it: 
A good book desperately in search of some focus. While Anthony's ramblings from topic to topic begin as interesting and exciting, and always continue to form an intriguing chapter to read this never really becomes a book and instead more of a series of furious magazine articles about things he cares about. I feel that some more structure would have strengthened it a thousandfold. Even if each chapter had been similar, perhaps focusing more on an individual chef and their place in cookery and wha
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Apr 04, 2011
sleeps9hours
rated it:
My first of Bourdain's books. If you've seen him on TV you can just hear him saying it all. I liked it, though some chapters were more interesting than others.
From a chapter on parenthood--
I’m dancing.
The twist, actually—or something very much like it. And though I am mortified by the very thought of dancing in front of witnesses, I am not alone in this room. Around me, nine or ten Filipina nannies and their charges are also swiveling their hips and moving t More...
From a chapter on parenthood--
I’m dancing.
The twist, actually—or something very much like it. And though I am mortified by the very thought of dancing in front of witnesses, I am not alone in this room. Around me, nine or ten Filipina nannies and their charges are also swiveling their hips and moving t More...
Apr 03, 2011
Yuan
rated it:
Like his wildly popular semi-autobiography Kitchen Confidential published exactly 10 years ago, Anthony Bourdain's new book is refreshingly real, filled with appropriately-placed curse words with just the right amount of acid. Reading it, I can literally smell New York City.
But unlike Kitchen Confidential, Bourdain is writing this one from his Upper East Side apartment as a loving father, devoted husband and therefore: quite a boring person. He is miles away from that angry, barely More...
But unlike Kitchen Confidential, Bourdain is writing this one from his Upper East Side apartment as a loving father, devoted husband and therefore: quite a boring person. He is miles away from that angry, barely More...
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Mar 06, 2011
Elizabeth
rated it:
Medium Raw by Anthony Bourdain (pp. 281)
Tony Bourdain is not the jerk you think he is. He’s amazingly balanced and thoughtful while being laugh out loud funny. Like or hate the man, he’s got a way with words.
You don’t need to be a foodie to enjoy this book though it definitely helps. Bourdain shows a mature side to balance the full-on ripping he gave the food world in ‘Kitchen Confidential’. He discusses the unique position of a food critic, food personality and chef including w More...
Tony Bourdain is not the jerk you think he is. He’s amazingly balanced and thoughtful while being laugh out loud funny. Like or hate the man, he’s got a way with words.
You don’t need to be a foodie to enjoy this book though it definitely helps. Bourdain shows a mature side to balance the full-on ripping he gave the food world in ‘Kitchen Confidential’. He discusses the unique position of a food critic, food personality and chef including w More...
Feb 26, 2011
Clare
rated it:
I both love and hate Anthony Bourdain. "Poor little rich boy" keeps running through my head as I read his words. And talk about food snobbery? God forbid you aren't interested in eating some endangered species little bird - head, feet and everything else - chomping down in ecstasy on little birdie bones! Bourdain veers back in forth in his admiration/hate for other chefs. Sometimes he hates the person but admires their ability so much that he tries hard to give them their due.
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Jan 19, 2011
Scot
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Medium Raw is celebrity chef Anthony Bourdain's follow-up to Kitchen Confidential. It is subtitled "A Bloody Valentine to the World of Food and the People Who Cook" and that wise-ass, self-referential subtitle sums up the tone of the book. In it, Bourdain alternately celebrates and skewers the driving forces behind foodie-ism, food TV, and the world of super high end dining, all while giving us way too much detail about himself and his own life, loves, hates, wants and wishes.
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Jan 08, 2011
Raquel
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This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers.
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Jan 06, 2011
Erin
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I read this book for my January book club meeting at work. A couple years ago, I had read Kitchen Confidential (also for a book club gathering) and didn't particularly care for Bourdain or his style. I found him obnoxious, pretentious, and a bit larger-than-life for my liking. To be fair, though, I had never seen his show or had heard of him before I read the book.
Now that I have a better understanding of who Bourdain is, and what he's about, I think I entered into Medium Raw with More...
Now that I have a better understanding of who Bourdain is, and what he's about, I think I entered into Medium Raw with More...
Jan 03, 2011
Lara
rated it:
Anthony Bourdain is anything if entertaining. One of my favorite people to watch and to read. In this long awaited follow up to the mega hit "Kitchen Confidential" the TV star and admittedly retired chef, gives additional perspective on himself when the book launched his career and personage into the spotlight. It was inspiring and heartening to learn that he was a musty 44 year old when the book hit. Nice to know that when you think your dreams are dead and you are over the hill, mir
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Jan 02, 2011
Kerrilyn
rated it:
Using Bourdain’s thought process for judging a meal, I asked myself how I felt when I finished reading Medium Raw. The answer is, pretty good. It doesn’t make me want to run out and tell everyone to read it, but it was quite enjoyable. Overall, it is a collection of essays covering a huge spectrum of thoughts about the food world - current opinions and trends, newly important chefs and restaurants, Bourdain’s personal life, the reality of working in the business. It made me feel relieved (for my
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Dec 31, 2010
Amy
rated it:
If you are already a fan of Anthony Bourdain, then you will most like enjoy this book. If you are not already a fan of his, this book will be no help to you. Much of the book seems to be written for people who follow Bourdain's career and various exploits; like he mentions several times that he ran into some trouble in Beirut, but as he's written about that elsewhere, he doesn't feel the need to talk about it again. Not exactly helpful if you didn't already know that. Similarly, he's got a long
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Dec 29, 2010
Kristin
rated it:
Warning: This book is not for the faint of heart or stomach. Contents contain raunchy language, diatribes against perceived and actual sins committed, admissions of the darkest kind, confessions enough to make a chef blush, and talk about lots and lots of food - some of it even illegal.
The book is laid out in an essay format, each chapter receiving it's own particular topic. Each topic flows in a somewhat linear fashion, but not infrequently is the reader bounced back to the past, More...
The book is laid out in an essay format, each chapter receiving it's own particular topic. Each topic flows in a somewhat linear fashion, but not infrequently is the reader bounced back to the past, More...
Dec 17, 2010
Margie
rated it:
Unlike a large number of Americans, I've never read Kitchen Confidential, and have avoided watching Bourdain on TV. The glimpses I've had of him on commercials and so forth have made him seem rather mean and sarcastic, which does little to endear me to a person.
This collection of essays is interesting, if one doesn't mind a lot of name-dropping, or thinly veiled references to chefs one may have never heard of. It's a bit of a distraction, though the writing is generally good and the More...
This collection of essays is interesting, if one doesn't mind a lot of name-dropping, or thinly veiled references to chefs one may have never heard of. It's a bit of a distraction, though the writing is generally good and the More...
