Customer Reviews:
 Witty, Sarcastic, and Honest December 13, 2008
He had me at "preface".
I haven't actually finished reading it so this review may be premature. Immediately after I started the book, I began to read passages outloud to my boyfriend who gifted this book. If this tells you anything, I buy books from Amazon all the time but this is the first review I've ever written.
Anthony Bourdain is someone I picture myself hanging out with my friends over a long nice meal. Just as I had imagined from watching his show, No Reservations, the author is witty, sarcastic, and offensively-yet-refreshingly blunt. I'm loving it!
I really recommend this book for you and for your friends who pride in themselves as cooks, chefs, servers, and of course, the foodies. Enjoy!
Deliciously Grotesque! December 9, 2008
First off I have to say...I love this man! Bourdain's book is arrogant, crude, bullying, and egotistical and I loved every word, every line, every put-down, and every cuss word! Though this book was filled with technical terms and names of chefs that I have never heard of, Bourdain mentions in the preface that the book was originally intended for other chefs...not for the general layperson. I read it anyway.
I was introduced to Anthony Bourdain by a friend via his television show "No Reservations." I immediately fell in love with his holier-than-thou, better-than-most attitude. Maybe it is the thrill and fascination of the "bad boy" but I could not stop watching the show. Discovering that he had written a book was the icing on the cake.
The book is not a summary or recollection of his travels through different countries, cultures, and foods with his show. I believe that is contained in another book. Instead this book was more of a memoir; Bourdain's journey through the culinary trenches and godforsaken kitchens. Bourdain reminisces over his childhood and the cold soup that awakened his taste buds, the oyster that aroused his ensuing passion for food.
Bourdain may be a condescending a**hole but he seems humbled by some of his experiences and the people he has admired over the years. I enjoyed the fact that he wrote an afterword that made certain apologies to some individuals he had criticized throughout his book and his time as a chef. However, a friend of mine hated the fact that he made apologies. She feels that if he is going to be a supercilious bastard he should make no apologies for such behavior.
This book detailed many disgusting habits of the kitchens he worked in. Bourdain provides the reader with thorough descriptions of foods he has cooked and foods he enjoyed eating...and if you know Anthony Bourdain you know he enjoys some un-American fare. Eating the gelatinous goo from behind the eyeball of the fishhead he was enjoying has remained in my head.
The reader who picks up this book is in for an intense ride. A love of food, cooking, or Bourdain himself is recommended before delving into this six-course book. I definitely have no complaints about this book. But hey...who am I? Just a lowly reviewer with an unsettling attraction to Anthony Bourdain that's who.
Appealing And Appalling ...The Perfect Mix For Your Mental Palette December 6, 2008
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
The bad-boy of the culinary world has spoken. And he's given us insights that we probably didn't want to know about. Still, Anthony Bordain is a talented writer/speaker, and watching his show No Reservations on the tele can help one relate to his New York Times bestseller, Kitchen Confidential.
Being a foodie, I was intrigued and appalled at some of the kitchen practices Mr. Bourdain talks about. The no-fish-on-Mondays rule was well-known to me prior to reading this excellent take on "the Culinary Underbelly." But with the questionable hygiene of many of my fellow restauranteurs, I was surprised to learn about the little basket of bread that oft times makes it from one table to the next, even if the previous guest had, say, a horrible cough -- avian flu?
The no-holds-barred attitude of Kitchen Confidential might put some readers off; let's make that clear from the get-go. The cursing. The rough lifestyle. The illegal drug use. The illegal immigrants. The failure rate of the average restaurant and why they so often tank. These are things that are tough to read about but are the gritty truth of the matter, giving this tasty book an invective aftertaste that lingers long after the reader puts it down.
What's equally impressive about it is that Bourdain doesn't even sugarcoat his own views. He's willing to show us the norm in terms of food and how it arrives on your table, but then is willing to admit that everything he just told you might be BS; someone always breaks the mold.
There's not a single bad thing I can say about Kitchen Confidential. It appeals and appalls ...often in the same sentence. It shows us what we don't want to see but must. It gives us a glimpse of what happens to our food, from the slaughterhouse to your plate. And it cleanses your mental palette while, at the same time, soiling what you thought you once knew. In other words, a great read.
A Must Read November 24, 2008
Kitchen Confidential is a must read for anyone who has ever set foot in the backrooms of a restaurant. Bourdain captures the environment with all its stresses, off-colored language and cooking pride. Kitchen Confidential reads similar to a feature on VH1's Behind the Music as Bourdain battles with his own demons and finds success after many years of debauchery. I have been a fan of Bourdain's No Reservation on the Travel Channel for quite awhile and now as an author. The book lead me to another Bourdain project called the Les Halles Cookbook which has inspired me to spend more time in the favorite room of my house, the kitchen. Thank you, Tony!
Awesome! November 23, 2008
I had such a fun time reading this book! I think the afterword was lame...make no apologies Bourdain!
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