Customer Reviews

Kitchen Con: Writing on the Restaurant Racket

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(7)

 

 

This book was a rambling, non-sensical waste of time and money. Furthermore, it's proof that people with the right connections can get published, no matter what they write.
Although the premise of the book seems interesting, the author quickly starts delving on other ramblings that really don't add anything to the discussion. The whole thing about Anthony Bourdain is ridiculous and obviously a way to get associated with him for publicity reasons. For God's sake, the guy interviewed him and from the jacket you'd assumed they spent a month together cooking and discussing the food world. Not that Bourdain is a great writer anyways...
I could go on and on but I've already wasted enough time on Kitchen Con - I can't believe I read the whole thing hoping it was going to get better.

This book is simply awful. Like that bad made for TV movie you convince yourself will suddenly become interesting, the book fails to deliver. Page after page of nothing worthwhile, nothing that actually seems to be insightful about what it is like to be a food critic. Nothing more than the author prattling on about himself with the occasional reference to restaurants. Perhaps it is somehow lost in translation crossing the Atlantic but this book offers little if any reason to read it. It was such a waste of time and money that I had to write this if only to save someone else the pain. Sadly I could not undo the one star selection, it deserves zero.

This author seems proud that he is a food critic, and knows virtually nothing about cooking.

He can also be proud that he's written this book and seems to know virtually nothing about writing.

Mean spirited anecdotes. Cynical but not interesting and not funny.

Not recommended...

do not waste your money -very poorly written w/ no continuity, obvious direction &/or point- the only con involved is the $25 price tag & bourdain's endorsement

This book has got to be one of the worst written books I've ever read. I do enjoy reading about the restaurant/food industry so I thought that this book seemed interesting. Wow, this book was completely boring and uninteresting. I ended up skimming through the rest of the book after the first few chapters hoping and hoping that it would get better. The worst part of the book was the word for word interview with Tony Bourdain which added absolutely nothing to the book so it seems it was only included for publicity's sake. At least Tony Bourdain is funny and entertaining. This book was neither. I should have stopped reading after the first few chapters because the book was a complete waste of my time and money. So disappointing.

It may not be fair for me to review this book, as I couldn't tolerate more than 20 pages. "Life's too short" to read a book like this. Mr. White has a major chip on his shoulders, while lacking the sense of humor to make his whining entertaining. This is a self-indulgent book by a self-indulgent author. A complete waste of time. I'll never get those 15 minutes back............

I didn't hate this book. I hated that I paid full price for it but I can't honestly say I hated it. I do agree that the title was misleading and the author instead chose to ramble around his essays, not always hitting the mark. It's nowhere near Bourdain's "Kitchen Confidential" and I must admit that the "interview" with Bourdain was extraordinarly cringe-worthy; I could almost picture him wanting to flick butts on White in a failed attempt to get rid of him.

This being said, I thought it was a decent enough read, a quick read, no real epiphanies (and none expected), with a few interesting behind-the-scenes moments. Would I recommend it? No, not really. Do I regret reading it? Defintely not, as I have read much, much worse. Basically, if you can find a cheap enough copy and want to read a little about how food guides are put together and how Michelin stars are awarded then this won't kill you. Just read it with a very large grain of salt.

Any interested in the trials and tribulations of kitchen personnel and who enjoy their restaurant insights served with a healthy dose of humor will find KITCHEN CON both revealing and fun. Trevor White is himself a food critic and here writes an expose of the world of diving out, providing an insider's view of how restaurants rip off customers, how to best book a reservation in an overly popular restaurant typically booked months in advance, and how to understand the industry and restaurant critiques as a whole. Encounters with professionals pepper insights on restaurant operations in a perfect choice for any general interest lending library strong in humor and culinary exposes.

I am sorry but I dont want to waste alot of space on this waste of time. What I thought was going to be a good book turned out to be an empty pile of rubbish from the now publisher of dubliner magazine who runs fake stories with fake picture of tiger woods beautiful wife. Dont waste your time with this and dont waste your time on the Dubliner.