Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly in Around the World in 80 Books

Feb 18, 2019 marianne rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: audio

An interesting read about chef Anthony Bourdain’s first 30 years working kitchens and restaurants, mainly in New York. I enjoyed listening to Bourdain narrate on audiobook; his New York accent makes the whole thing even more over the top in places! It’s colorful, hectic, loud, brash, funny, sobering, unapologetic, delicious and at times gruesome and depressing. Everything seems to be a combination or clash of food and egos, and it’s a world he paints as anything but boring. Though at times he co An interesting read about chef Anthony Bourdain’s first 30 years working kitchens and restaurants, mainly in New York. I enjoyed listening to Bourdain narrate on audiobook; his New York accent makes the whole thing even more over the top in places! It’s colorful, hectic, loud, brash, funny, sobering, unapologetic, delicious and at times gruesome and depressing. Everything seems to be a combination or clash of food and egos, and it’s a world he paints as anything but boring. Though at times he comes across as being a little gloaty, Bourdain is also honest and introspective about his own shortcomings and failures, making him a reliable narrator all in all. For example, he may brag about being high on coke and yelling obscenities at purveyors for a missed tomato delivery, but he is the first to tell you that he just doesn’t have what it takes to make it to the level of the chefs he admires and respects the most.

Not knowing much about him, I was surprised to find out that as a real-life person he had quite the “bad boy” thing going on. He was very rebellious by nature, and I quickly gathered that he was always destined to operate in a high-energy fringe culture. It’s interesting and fun to hear about… but equally tiresome in parts. Despite his constant declarations of non-conformity, he ironically adheres rather strictly to his chosen world’s tribalistic behavior, for example mastering its very specific language/slang, perpetuating its myths and stories, and adopting its well-defined social code and hierarchy. I came to realize that the restaurant kitchen world is a very rich microcosm of our own world. Maybe on the surface things seem different from the outside world, but this microcosm has rules. Lots of rules. And he explains them in great detail. They’re just different and challenge the outside world. But it’s still a system. In retrospect, I really liked studying this juxtaposition in Bourdain because it made me look at countercultures in a new light, including the ones I got to know intimately when I worked in far-flung environments.

The parts I particularly enjoyed were the day in the life, in which he walks you through every moment of an average work day, and the inner workings of that mad world. I learned how weather and sports events dictate customer flow, why mussels aren’t a great choice at restaurants and what chefs really think about brunch (they hate it). The last section when he is sent to Japan for a short job is wonderfully vibrant and you can just feel the buzz of raw excitement that this foreign land has stirred up in Bourdain. It ends the book on a high note and as the perfect foreshadowing of his future career hosting his iconic travel-food series. ...more

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Oct 19, 2011 Meghan rated it it was amazing

A witty, cutting, educational, and overall soapy ride through New York's top and worst kitchens. The kind of book that keeps you hungry for more (see what I did there? ;), turning pages, mouth watering, and almost leaves you with a contact hangover. ...more

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