Written with the wit and charm of a natural storyteller, Kitchen Confidential is a delectable memoir about Anthony Bourdain’s time in the culinary industry. This is a man who was as capable a writer as he was a chef.
A NEW YORK TIMES-BESTSELLING PHENOMENON
The bestselling breakout chef-tells-all from Anthony Bourdain, the globally beloved Emmy award-winning host of Parts Unknown and No Reservations.
In the now classic memoir that launched Anthony Bourdain's long career, the globally beloved chef took us through the swinging kitchen doors and turned the culinary trade on its head. The result was a deliciously funny, shocking banquet of wild tales that drew from "twenty-five years of sex, drugs, bad behavior and haute cuisine.”
Sure to delight gourmands and philistines alike, Bourdain recounts everything from his first oyster in the Gironde to his lowly position as dishwasher in a honky-tonk fish restaurant in Provincetown (where he became hooked on chef work for life); from the stovetops of the Rainbow Room atop Rockefeller Center to drug dealers in the east village, from Tokyo to Paris and back to New York again.
Bourdain's tales of the kitchen are as passionate as they are unpredictable, and Kitchen Confidential will make your mouth water and your belly ache with laughter and leave you wanting more.
Anthony Bourdain is the author of Bone in the Throat. This is his first work of non-fiction. He is the executive chef at Brasserie Les Halles in New York City.
Hometown:
New York, New York
Date of Birth:
June 25, 1956
Date of Death:
June 8, 2018
Place of Birth:
New York, New York
Place of Death:
Kaysersberg-Vignoble, Haut-Rhin, France
Education:
High school diploma, Dwight Englewood School, 1973; A.O.S. degree, The Culinary Institute of America, 1978
"In that unforgettably sweet moment of my youth, that one moment still more alive for me than so many of the other 'firsts' that followed, I attained glory. Monsieur Saint Jour beckoned me over to the gunwale where he leaned over, reached down until his head nearly disappeared underwater, and emerged, holding a single silt-encrusted oyster. It was huge and irregularly shaped in his rough fist. With a snubby, rusted oyster knife, he popped the thing open and handed it to me, everyone watching now, my little brother shrinking away from this glistening, dripping, vaguely sexual-looking object. I took it in my hand, tilted the shell back into my mouth as instructed by Monsieur Saint Jour and, with one bite and a slurp, wolfed it down. It tasted of seawater, of brine and flesh, and somehow . . . of the future." —from Kitchen Confidential
"Hysterical…Bourdain gleefully rips through the scenery to reveal private backstage horrors." -- New York Times Book Review
Summary From appetizer to main course to dessert, bestselling author and world renowned chef Anthony Bourdain takes you behind the swinging doors and into the bustling core of the nation's restaurants, exposing as never before the shocking, hilarious, untold world of cooks and chefs. Bourdain's honest and entertaining account of the many successes and failures he has experienced throughout his career is as engrossing as it is eye-opening. His beautiful "elegy" to his body -- the many scars, aches, and pains, the abused hands he longed for -- in the closing chapter is a true testament to a life well spent in the trenches of cooking. Topics for Discussion
What was your first instinct after finishing Kitchen Confidential? Did you want to run out and eat at Les Halles, never eat at another restaurant again, throw out all of your knives?
Throughout Bourdain's memoir, he attempts to impart to the reader his adventurous spirit when it comes to trying different types of food. Did he inspire you to try something new? What is the most daring food you have ever eaten?
How do you think Bourdain defines a "foodie"? Do you agree?
How have American attitudes toward food changed in the past decade? How are these changes chronicled throughout Kitchen Confidential?
Bourdain introduces the reader to many of the more elaborate and extreme characters of the cooking world -- Tyrone, the broilerman; "Bigfoot"; Nando, the Rainbow Room's famous pastry chef.... Which are yourfavorites? Who do you hope never touched your food?
Despite his machismo and unstoppable four-letter language, Bourdain becomes an endearing character himself throughout the course of his memoir. How did you feel as you witnessed his growth throughout Kitchen Confidential? In the end, he claims he is an "asshole." What do you think?
Bourdain talks about when he first realized "that food was something other than a substance one stuffed in one's face when hungry." What role has food played in your life -- while growing up and today -- beyond simple sustenance? Why are food and psychology so inextricably linked in our lives?
Despite the celebrity chefs that abound today, do you think that Bourdain typifies the lifestyle of the normal chef?
Are you -- or have you ever been -- in the food industry? If so, how apt are Bourdain's descriptions of the life?
What was Bourdain's most helpful piece of advice for you as a home cook? About the Author: Anthony Bourdain is the author of the novels Bone in the Throat and Gone Bamboo. He is currently the executive chef at Brasserie Les Halles in New York and can be seen on the Food Network.
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