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Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly Paperback – May 8, 2001

by Anthony Bourdain (Author)

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When Chef Anthony Bourdain wrote "Don't Eat Before You Read This" in The New Yorker, he spared no one's appetite, revealing what goes on behind the kitchen door. In Kitchen Confidential, he expanded that appetizer into a deliciously funny, delectable shocking banquet that lays out his 25 years of sex, drugs, and haute cuisine.

From his first oyster in the Gironde to the kitchen of the Rainbow Room atop Rockefeller Center, from the restaurants of Tokyo to the drug dealers of the East Village, from the mobsters to the rats, Bourdain's brilliantly written, wild-but-true tales make the belly ache with laughter.

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Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Most diners believe that their sublime sliver of seared foie gras, topped with an ethereal buckwheat blini and a drizzle of piquant huckleberry sauce, was created by a culinary artist of the highest order, a sensitive, highly refined executive chef. The truth is more brutal. More likely, writes Anthony Bourdain in Kitchen Confidential, that elegant three-star concoction is the collaborative effort of a team of "wacked-out moral degenerates, dope fiends, refugees, a thuggish assortment of drunks, sneak thieves, sluts, and psychopaths," in all likelihood pierced or tattooed and incapable of uttering a sentence without an expletive or a foreign phrase. Such is the muscular view of the culinary trenches from one who's been groveling in them, with obvious sadomasochistic pleasure, for more than 20 years. CIA-trained Bourdain, currently the executive chef of the celebrated Les Halles, wrote two culinary mysteries before his first (and infamous) New Yorker essay launched this frank confessional about the lusty and larcenous real lives of cooks and restaurateurs. He is obscenely eloquent, unapologetically opinionated, and a damn fine storyteller--a Jack Kerouac of the kitchen. Those without the stomach for this kind of joyride should note his opening caveat: "There will be horror stories. Heavy drinking, drugs, screwing in the dry-goods area, unappetizing industry-wide practices. Talking about why you probably shouldn't order fish on a Monday, why those who favor well-done get the scrapings from the bottom of the barrel, and why seafood frittata is not a wise brunch selection.... But I'm simply not going to deceive anybody about the life as I've seen it." --Sumi Hahn

Review

"...the kind of book you read in one sitting, then rush about annoying your coworkers by declaiming whole passages." -- USA Today

"Utterly riveting, swaggering with stylish machismo and precise ear for kitchen patois." -- New York Magazine

"You'll laugh, you'll cry...you're gonna love it." -- Denver Post

A gonzo memoir of whats really going on behind those swinging doors.... Kitchen Confidential by Anthony Bourdain is unique. -- Newsweek

Hysterical.... Bourdain gleefully rips through the scenery to reveal private backstage horrors. -- New York Times Book Review

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Product details

Paperback: 320 pages
Publisher: Harper Perennial; 1st Ecco Ed edition (May 1, 2001)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0060934913
ISBN-13: 978-0060934910
Product Dimensions: 5.3 x 0.7 x 8 inches
Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
Average Customer Review: 2,487 customer reviews
Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,008,584 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #481 in Books > Biographies & Memoirs > Regional U.S. > Mid Atlantic
- #1313 in Books > Cookbooks, Food & Wine > Cooking Education & Reference > Essays
- #1409 in Books > Biographies & Memoirs > Professionals & Academics > Culinary

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Brendan McMahon

In it to win it. But you better stay in...

December 10, 2016

Verified Purchase

GREAT book! I couldn't put it down. Having been in food service most of my life, I'm only 26yrs old and feel like I've already been exposed to it all. After reading this...not even close. Anthony never goes far beyond the truth of spending his time in a kitchen. Explaining each and every detail about his experiences from culinary school all the way to executive chef running his own restaurant. There's definitely some evil out there, but also many rewards. He tells it how it is. There's plenty of spoilers in this book including talk about what kinds of knives to use, kitchen equipment and about how to improve upon your own skills as a chef, restaurant employee or even an owner. However, this is really a story--not business for dummies. He's done a great job here.

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mrthinkndrink

Thanks for the insight, Tony

September 21, 2017

Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

Had I read this when it was first released I likely would have given it five stars. But now is now and nine years after publication those of us who care know so much more about the back-of-the-house restaurant reality, both in terms of process and personalities, that Kitchen Confidential doesn't pack quite the wallop it once did. That said, this is pure Bourdain being Bourdain: fun, outrageous, edgy, daring and honest. Good stuff. Anyone who is interested in the food service business but hasn't yet read this classic should pick it up. It's a quick and easy read, but one with a lot of meat on the bones. I found Bourdain's heartfelt admission that he is not and never will be (and the why behind it) a great chef to be soul-baring of the first order. Would that we could all confront our own failures and inadequacies with the openness and honesty that Bourdain does. That, more than anything else in this book, took balls. And for that alone the author deserves our respect.

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Peter J. Dawes

The beans have now been spilled

May 28, 2016

Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

Some years ago I had an interest in a restaurant along with two other partners. I also had a French family background with a deep appreciation of fine cuisine. I also have dined at Les Halles, his famous restaurant in New York. My partnership was to be "silent", that is, just kick in your share of the money and go away. In the first week of operation I was tapped to do dishes because the washer didn't show, wait tables for a similar reason etc. etc. For weeks we struggled to bring order and routine to the restaurant. So, the trap was well set. Fortunately, I was eventually able to sell back my share and jump clear of the unfolding disaster, but I wish I had read Anthony Bourdain's book first. All the best kept secrets of the restaurant business are revealed in this terrific book.

Everything he says about the business is spot-on and, once you read his book, which is written in the coarse language of a professional kitchen which adds color and authenticity, you will never look at a menu or see a restaurant the same way again.

I liked the muscular way he writes about food and I fully share his view that prissy concoctions of food with way too many ingredients that only stroke a chef's vanity have nothing to do with first class cooking. As he rightly points out, great cooking, as always, involves only the finest and freshest ingredients presented to their greatest advantage where less is more. As any artist will tell you, if you mix up all the colors of the pallet, the result will always be a muddy black.

The very best chapter, however, is about his going to Japan for the first time and seeing the famous Tokyo fish market which I remember seeing in the 1970's and feeling exactly the same way about. I also remember my first visit to Japan as the same hallucinatory experience which delighted every sense especially the quirky drinking habits of "salary men" or office workers after the day's work is done.

I suggest that you read the book and then visit his great restaurants...or the other way around. Both are a worthwhile experience.

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S. Griffith

I love watching any and all things Anthony Bourdain and finally ...

February 3, 2017

Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

I love watching any and all things Anthony Bourdain and finally gave his first book a read to learn more about the origins of the man. It may be because I have watched so many of his shows, but I can picture him telling the story as if he's in the room with me as I read. He has an amusing and blunt writing voice that makes you laugh out loud at his crazy young antics and previous restaurant shenanigans.The layout of the book is very unique and intriguing as well, as he bounces around from childhood, to the necessities for any kitchen, to a day in the life at Les Halles. No stone is left un-turned in the "real" restaurant world by the time you finish reading. It was a book I couldn't stand to put down and yet couldn't bare to finish since I wanted more.

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Bing C. Dionida

Eating Out? Things you should know

September 8, 2015

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

there was so much controversy regarding this book. i had to know what it was all about.

sure enough. while i loved it. i also realized that cooks and chefs don't really care about your food like they do in the movies or television shows. they want to make money and they don't want to waste a single bit of it. they do not want anything to go bad, therefore unsold.

it freaks me out when people say. would you like to hear the house specials? NO THANK YOU! LOL!

he gives all of the little tricks of the trade that you need to know when you go OUT TO EAT. NO JOKE!!!

If you found this review helpful. Please click Yes at the bottom of this review. Thank You.

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Robert Grenier

Confidential? Many stories masterfully intertwined!

January 11, 2018

Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

There were chapters I liked more than others - childhood in France, what to have in your kitchen, what to eat and avoid in restaurants, Steven, and Tokyo.

There were lots of terms I did not know which had no definition in the Kindle dictionary. And then there were the names of different foods and dishes that were completely foreign.

If you have an aversion to vulgarity,cursing,and swearing, you will not like much of the book.

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Here for you

insightful funny best read

December 1, 2015

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

Wickedly funny. Anthony is a great chef that doesn't give a F! His insightful view of the real life in a kitchen is hilarious.
If you're a chef or work in a kitchen or have ever wondered what it's like to be I'm a kitchen this is the book for you. From his ups and downs and drug use to stardom this is a great read. Now a world known celebrity Anthony still tries to be less of a star but more of a chef or describe food from a chef point of view not what people want to hear

Comment 3 people found this helpful. Was this review helpful to you?

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Most recent customer reviews

Kindle Customer

Good, bad, ugly.

Really enjoyed this book. Well written, fast moving and full of insights into the back house. More of an autobiography, covers AB youth, career without great personal anecdotes.Read more

Published 8 hours ago

Damone Richardson

Awesome

I highly recommend this book. He really knows how to tell a great story. His words are vivid and clea.

Published 3 days ago

Jennifer Kay Peoples

Five Stars

Funny, fun, adventurous.

Published 10 days ago

Kate E. Robinson

loved it

this book couldn’t be any better the raw honesty made it better then anything i’ve read before and as someone who is deciding whether cooking is what i want to do i couldn’t ask...Read more

Published 11 days ago

Philckjpwegner

One Star

it sucks

Published 16 days ago

Amazon Customer

Great read.

The GOAT. Great read.

Published 17 days ago

Wm.

I loved this book

I loved this book. I've since passed it on for others to read it. Good quality paper back. Minor blemishes on the binding and covers are the reason for my 4 star review.Read more

Published 22 days ago

Amazon Customer

Five Stars

good read and a interesting look at the inside of kitchen life.

Published 23 days ago

Bob Gill

Worth every moment of reading

Riveting, engrossing, hard to put down. Though decades old now, a vital view of the Cook’s life, relevant today just as much as then

Published 23 days ago

T. Eswaran

Brilliant

Loved this book! Bourdain is a masterful storyteller with an admirable vocabulary and literary skill set. This book is as rich as Bourdain’s taste in food. Brilliant!

Published 25 days ago

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