Search - Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly

A real page-turner about the restaurant business from a New York chef. If you are at all interested in food or cooking then you will find this book very hard to put down. I read it in a weekend, I only put it down to sleep and do a little cooking of my own.

Memoir of celebrity chef Anthony Bourdain, who admits his arrogance and missteps with no apologies. Insider's look into the "underbelly" of professional restaurant chefs and their world. Has a hard edge, but is ultimately a very rewarding read.

If you've wondered about kitchen culture, this is the book. As the mother of a chef, a line cook, and a restaurant owner I learned a lot about the alien (but lovable) world of the professional kitchen. And what not to order for Sunday brunch.

If you're a fan of anything Bourdain's done - you'll want to read this. If you're NOT a fan, you'll WANT to read this to find out all the backstories behind the restaurants you visit. The gory details are sure to keep you planning your visits out in a whole different light. (big hint: AVOID the Sunday Buffets!)

I have found this book to be dead on perfect as to how a restaurant works, I have worked the Food Industry for over 20 years, and he is dead on!!! He kept me laughing about all of the tings that happen. He always makes me smile and laugh through out his books.

I love this book and am not sure I can let it go. It is, all at once, informative, fascinating, addictive. His ability to explain, in explicit detail, some of the more grotesque practices of even the BEST restaurants or their staff, while not removing your desire to frequent these establishments, is quite uncanny. It is also a concise but invaluable resource for restaurant workers and home cooks alike. One thing is for sure, you will not come away from this book thinking that someday it might be fun to open a small restaurant as a lark!

While illuminating about what goes in restaurant kitchens, I can't help but question as to how representative Mr. Bourdain's experiences are outside of New York city. I don't think we even have Ecuadorians in Michigan, let alone this level of drug use, etc. Nevertheless I did learn quite a bit and even found parts entertaining. (Cut the chapter about the Japan visit; too much gushing and not informative.)

I enjoyed this book, the writing style was fluid and smooth and the incidents Bourdain describes were usually funny. A note to readers: this book is written as a collection of short essays, so don't except any continuity. I was very confused until I figured this out. It's not a straight A to B linear memoir, but very interesting nonetheless.

Oh my,talk about underbellies! You would think the author is describing mugging pirates along the Barbary Coast, instead of the staff in modern high end restaurant kitchens. About 3 chapters from the end he does describe a well-run kitchen, other than that you will wonder how any of us survive the luxuries of expensive restaurant meals.
Enlightening and frightening...fun to read.

Larger than life chef, Anthony Bourdain, dishes up a great book that is both comic and horrifying. Super!

Anthony Bourdain has become the celebrated bad boy of the restaurant business, and in the process has become a star of the Food Network, some of whose famous chefs he ridicules in this book, written before said stardom. That however does not take away from the enjoyment I took from this strangely beguiling memoir. I say strangely because Bourdain is clearly an Alpha Male, who has lead a wild and crazy life, crawling up the restaurant food chain to become the Head chef at Les Halles, a celebrated NYC establishment. This book is outrageously profane and full of sex, drugs and rock and roll. Having worked in the business myself for over 20 years, I can attest to the truth of many of his stories about life in the kitchen. The story telling is gritty but also extremely funny, and inside all the machismo I think there beats the heart of a nice guy, although I'm sure he would have you believe otherwise. The downside is you'll never eat in a restaurant without thinking about what's going on in the back of the house, and wondering what exactly went into the meal you are eating.

funny

An irreverent insider's view of the restaurant business.

Couldn't get into this one

It a fun brisk read.

Irreverent look at chefs and restaurants.

A great account of the insanity of the restaurant industry.

great book!

"funny, irreverent, scandalous" says the New York Daily News. I don't really know, as I did not read this book. I received it as a door prize at a staff meeting announcing a new culinary institute. Looks like an interesting insider's view of the restaurant business.

Very entertaining-not as shocking as I thought it would be.