Kitchen Confidential

Title: Kitchen Confidential
Subtitle: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly
Author: Anthony Bourdain
Pages: 302

(NON-SPOILER INFO)
Kitchen Confidential tells the story of Anthony Bourdain’s journey from dishwasher to executive chef.

(SPOLIER INFO)
Welcome to the kitchen. The real kitchen. At the age of 10, young Anthony Bourdain’s life is changed when a meal of cold soup is served aboard the Queen Mary. With that one meal the whole world of food begins to open for him. But it wasn’t until he turned 18 and took his first job as a dishwasher that he knew he wanted to be a chef. So he begins his journey traveling from restaurant to restaurant and even earning a degree from the Culinary Institute of America. Along the way he reveals the secrets of his trade including telling us who is doing the actual cooking in that fancy French restaurant. And why he never orders fish on a Monday and what’s really in those brunch menus. Want to cook like a pro? Anthony will tell you how. Telling you everything you want to know from the chef’s knife, to pans, to butter, garlic, shallots, parsley, stock, demi-glace, chervil, basil tops, chive sticks and mint tops. How a simple squeeze bottle, metal ring, or pastry bag can transform a dish into the plate of a professional. But restaurants are not only about the chef, as we come to learn when Anthony focuses on the strange and terrible affliction of being an owner. Once we know the ins and outs of cooking and the restaurant world, Anthony takes us on his personal journey. Starting with his time with Bigfoot, his experience at the Rainbow Room, the happiness of Work Progress, being the chef of the future, the apocalypse of Gino’s, the wilderness years, knowledge of meat, a Tuscan interlude, a day in his life, the importance of the sous-chef, the discourse in a kitchen, runners, porters, bartenders, bakers like Adam, trying to live up to the famous Scott Bryan, his mission to Tokyo, and how he wouldn’t change any of it for the world.

(VERDICT)
3 out of 5 stars. I really liked it but would probably only recommend it to my foodie friends. You know the chefs, the wannabe chefs, the wannabe restaurateurs, and quite simply the lovers of food. If you watch the food network constantly or shows like Top Chef, No Reservations, or Hell’s Kitchen, then this is the book for you!