by Anthony Bourdain
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Product Description
A deliciously funny, delectably shocking banquet of wild-but-true tales of life in the culinary trade from Chef Anthony Bourdain, laying out his more than a quarter-century of drugs, sex, and haute cuisine—now with all-new, never-before-published material
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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
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Average Customer Review:
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
 Good Book Now Even Better, 2008-06-14
For anyone who's ever done any kind of commercial cooking this book, and it's earlier version, is a MUST read. I'm a retired line cook and I can assure all potential readers that Tony knows of what he speaks. For 'civilians', the avid home cook or the addicted restaurant patron, this clever work gives an engrossing, entertaining and sometimes scary peek behind the restaurant kitchen door. Chefs and cooks are, well, just people, but there is something special about people who want to please hundreds of anonymous diners; stay true to their own standards and achieve the respect of thier peers. As Tony says, it is one of the hardest, yet most rewarding, and crazy jobs in the 'every-day' world.
Anthony Bourdain is one of my 'cooking gods' because he specialises in classic, time-proven dishes; he knows that all the world's great food is, basically, 'peasant' food, not the titivated, sculpted, value-added 'art works' on a large white plates -- and he's a good writer. I too write -- was once a food writer and journalist -- and I know how hard it is to combine the two jobs. This work is honest, controversial yet extremely fair in its assessments of the high-pressure world of the New York and American restaurant scene, then and now. I strongly recommend that you buy this book and then graduate to Bourdain's absolutely fantastic "Les Halles" cookbook. I use it, refer to it or just fawn over it at least three times every week. With over 25 years experience under my (large) belt, his Les Halles book 're-taught' me and gave me new inspiration to take up semi-professional cooking again, just for the pure joy of producing really special, simple, dishes. Please buy all his books; Bourdain is an honest, decent and admirable cook (I hate the term 'chef').
(No I'm not Tony Bourdain!) Just a genuine fan who appreciates his sharing of a once 'hidden' and unsung profession.
William Kenneth Halliwell
Hobart, Tasmania, Australia
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful:
Good book, 2008-06-13
This guy rocks, and his books are as good as his tv show (No Reservations).;)
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful:
Kitchen Confidential, 2008-06-11
This is a great book, a MUST have for any chef!!! Bourdain is one of a kind.
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful:
A Great Read!, 2008-06-08
I am giving this book a 5/5 because throughout the whole book, you are entertained, and want to keep reading. You find out how he makes his way through the cooking career, how he makes his way to the top. This book describes to you what goes on behind the scenes in the kitches and how crazy it can be. I recommend this book to everyone!
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful:
one of the best books ive ever read. and ive read some good books!, 2008-05-30
this is such an awesome book. he's one cocky guy but man is this a good well written book introducing you to the underground cooking culture and what really happens. i dont cook and i still was entertained. i read the entire thing in two sittings thats how into it i was.
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