Reviews with content warning for Homophobia - Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly (Insider's Edition)

I should preface this review with the admission that until about a year ago, I knew basically nothing about Anthony Bourdain. I had heard his name before and knew that he was big in the culinary world. But as I have never had much interest in reality TV, that was the extent of my knowledge. It was only after viewing this incredible video essay by Lola Sebastian (which you should definitely watch if you have the time) that I found myself wanting to learn more about the man. And his most well-known memoir seemed the best place to start.

Kitchen Confidential is a difficult book to review, since Bourdain himself would go on to regret most of what he wrote here. This is particularly obvious in this edition, which includes handwritten annotations Bourdain wrote 12 years after the original publication date. It creates a stark contrast between the more inexperienced—I'm hesitant to say 'immature,' considering Bourdain was in his 40s when the book was released—narrator of the main text and the Bourdain that the world would come to know. As he states in the book's introduction, "I never knew shit about shit."

Read the full review at My Cluttered Bookshelf.

Content Warnings