Anthony Bourdain: Kitchen Confidential

My boyfriend is a big fan of Food Television Shows. By default, I watch a lot of The Food Network as well. Andrew Zimmern, bald head shining in the sun chokes down some rotting intestines from an Icelandic sea mammal, looking into the camera, munching away and declares, ‘it’s very gamey’, then, clearly trying to disguise the gag reflex he –(and his viewers are experiencing)—likens it to a fine Pinot by stating that the finish is big and full bodied. He clearly lied to me. I cannot trust him.

Guy Fieri, Bay Area Boy that he is, with his spiked blonde surfer coiffe, and casual lingo punctuated with Dude and Bra and dishing out high fives to all who create something wonderful and pleasing to his palette, I like. Then I notice that from Deep Fried Sushi Tacos from a Korean food truck in LA to Vegan Cow Tongue Sandwiches in the Midwest; all described with the same “MMmmmMmmmm…” gusto that made him a household name in the first place. And for this, I can’t trust his taste buds and by extension, I can’t trust him.

My first experience with Anthony Bourdain, was short and sweet. It went like this. Camera watches as he puts something into his mouth and promptly spits it out with a look of disdain etched across his face, “Oh Man, that was sh—(beep)”. This is a man I can trust. I am hooked. I am a fan.All this is to say that I recently read Anthony’s Kitchen Confidential, Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly. Yes, it’s nearly 20 years old and easily available in many a used bookstore….which is all the more reason to grab a copy today. This is a very fun, funny and riotous romp through the industry we call Dining.

In a nutshell, Bordain, executive chef at New York’s Brasserie Les Halles, takes us on a wild ride down the spit soaked alley ways that are lined with sordid characters of questionable repute, to show us what it is really like to run a commercial kitchen in these greater United States. The book is a well-written account of the drugs, sex, alcohol and general debauchery that punctuates the best and the worst of the industry. He singles everyone out, especially his own self, which re-instills that original trust factor all over again.

There’s not a lot I can say about the book, that hasn’t been said before. But, if you’re like me, and discovered Tony on TV, and found something irreverently honest and witty about him there, you are going to LOVE what he does here in the pages of Kitchen Confidential.

#books