IT is tragic that we have lost the eclectic personality known as " Tony " to his friends. His acerbic wit will be missed. Having worked in kitchens in the same era as Tony made this book a MUST READ- I enjoyed it immensely and laughed throughout the entire book. I could not put it down. Pretty amazing since the book is 18 years old. It is relevant today and will be for years to come. Great read- and RIP Tony. (:
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: New
Bourdain starts out by introducing you to food, how he got to know it and why it’s something more than “a substance one stuffs in one’s face when hungry — like filling up at a gas station.” He goes through his early relationship with food and why he made the jump from a kid who was surprised by a cold soup like Vichyssoise to a food-obsessed student at the Culinary Institute of America. The text skips over entire years in Bourdain’s life with ease, but you don’t notice. He focuses on the food, the good food as he puts it — everything else falls into place around it.
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: Pre-owned
Put off reading this for years and finally got around to it. Wonderful book!! Am very pleased! 2
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: Pre-owned
This book is an extremely interesting rendition of life behind the scenes in the average New York city restaurant. It is informative (when and when NOT to order the fish plate) and educational (which knives are best and where to put your money in cooking tools). But WARNING if you are easily offended by the most foul of language then by all means turn your virgin eyes away. Without the colorful words you would never really comprehend the brotherhood of a chef's world. The author gives us a bit too much knowledge of his private life but you forgive him everything as you see the compassionate, caring person behind the scenes. It is what it is....probably the most difficult of all the service professions. An interesting autobiography unravels seamlessly while you realize that this man is a genius when is comes to the oral gratification we civilized folks call dining.Read full review
Anthony Bourdain serves up a tough, candid, humorous banquet of entertainment and information in Kitchen Confidential. From his earliest culinary experiences as a child in France- his palate for exotic food was captured while slurping a fresh oyster at age 9- Bourdain acts as a no reservations tour-guide into restaurant kitchens from New York City to Tokyo, divulging secrets that may cause the reader to consider whether going out to eat is EVER a good idea. Bourdain handles his computer keyboard like a chef's knife, slicing and dicing a deliciously funny, delectably shocking, devilishly appealing buffet of words that lay out his 25 years of sex, drugs, and haute cuisine. Honesty and passion drip from every syllable as he shows, in memoir style, how his aggressive, addictive personality led him to become the galley master he is, instead of the assassin he might have been. Some readers may find his swaggering style and language revolting, but true connoisseurs of food and words will find the ingestion of Kitchen Confidential to be quite nourishing.Read full review
Current slide {CURRENT_SLIDE} of {TOTAL_SLIDES}- Best Selling in Books
Current slide {CURRENT_SLIDE} of {TOTAL_SLIDES}- Save on Books