A Review of Kitchen Confidential by Anthony Bourdain

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Two words come to mind when it comes to Kitchen Confidential by the famous Anthony Bourdain – amazing read. This New York chef certainly knows how to make his writing as equally delicious as his cooking. It doesn’t matter if you are a fan of Chef Bourdain or not, you will definitely enjoy his book.

The book offers a glimpse at the “crazy” life of this famous chef. In one section of the book, he relates how he and his sous chefs, strung out on dope and amphetamines, would re-enact the opening of the movie Apocalypse after a day of hard work. For a finale, they would empty a half a pint of brandy to ignite the range. Oh, crazy, happy days!

He actually wrote a litany of his failures. In truth, this is actually one of the many things that distinguish him from other celebrity chefs. For most of his career, he was just some guy who was good with knives. You would not think that of him these days. After all, he is an established figure in the culinary world. Who would have thought that he used to work odd jobs, tumbled from one kitchen to another and slaved away inside doomed restaurants? Perhaps, this was just as one could expect from someone addicted to heroin as he was.

Chef Bourdain understands that food is all about what pleases the mouth and what satiates the stomach. Cooking has become incredibly cerebral and this is not how he views culinary arts. He learned to appreciate the sensuousness of food at aged nine when his family visited France – and he never truly got over his experience.

As a result, he is obsessed with prime ingredients. He also seems to express a certain disdain or lack of reverence for things that are revered by many chefs. Accordingly, Kitchen Confidential offers pages and pages of warnings. The book offers mind-boggling accounts of practices in some of the most reputable New York restaurants where steaks are cooked ahead of time, heated up and slapped with generous serving of sauce later on. Yes, this book is definitely an eye opener! It’ll hook you and you will find yourself wanting to know more about how literally “dirty” it can be in the culinary world.

Oh, the book has its “ho-hum” moments. He included materials that are not really necessary or even interesting. Overall, however, there are a lot of extraordinary insights, written with surprising clarity. His account of an ordinary life of a kitchen chef would make you think there is nothing at all ordinary about this life! Often, chefs would scoff at books written by other chefs – except of course if it’s a book written by one of the greats – but this book, it’s for you. It’s something that you would definitely enjoy reading especially if you are a fan of Chef Bourdain.

Needless to say, Kitchen Confidential is a must read.

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