Reviews with content warning for Addiction - Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly

Ah, Anthony Bourdain... let's get it out of the way - we all miss him.

But going back to the start, I wanted to ask if after all the subsequent books and different TV shows - does the foundational text still hold up? Yes, mostly.

If someone is curious about Bourdain and they want to get a sense of the full man, then an off-episode of Parts Unknown might not be the best part. This is a true memoir: a highly personal and expansive look at the world Bourdain loved and dedicated his life to just before he became a star. I listened to it on audiobook, which he narrates, and I almost recommend that over a physical copy because the text oozes such delicious sarcasm but also the tenderest affection. It's clear that Bourdain was no cynic and clearly adored the world of restaurants and food as much as he loved to high out all its dirty laundry for the world to see. The description of going to town on the after-midnight sushi bar is outrageous but somehow inspiring with Bourdain's pen, and it made me hungry even as I started getting a headache imagining all that liquor flooding into my gut. I should mention this book is frequently gut-bustingly funny.

The book's best feature though is the love. Bourdain goes on many a rant over the variety of schmucks who start restaurants, tourists who don't appreciate the food, upstart line-cooks, lazy suppliers, and - controversially - vegetarians. It may seem petty, but it's never off-putting (even if you're a vegetarian) because all of it is borne from love not disgust. One of the quotes I'll always carry with me is "our bodies are not temples; our bodies are amusement parks." Frankly, that sounds a lot more fun and honest.

All of that being said, this book was written in the late 1990s and parts of it show. And although Bourdain was already sliding into middle age at the time, he had yet to experience some of the growth that would create his later persona as a kind of "food diplomat." Even looking past the occasional off-color jokes, a lot of Bourdain's takes have since become outdated (a friend who worked at a restaurant in New York assured me that you can dine out on the weekends now - Bourdain spilling the beans helped curb that practice). Some of his advice is also different in a new age as the restaurant industry changes. But most of all, a lot of his attitudes on treatment of staff changed over the course of his life. There's rarely a chapter that doesn't affectionately describe a common practice in the restaurant industry that people are now starting to recognize as exploitation.

In particular, Bourdain's descriptions of women left me ambivalent and cold. He professes to admiring women cooks especially, citing their toughness and grit and how they can take any stress coming their way, from the demands of the service to the harassment by their co-workers. Yet any woman will recognize what Bourdain isn't noticing - needing to build a shell around yourself to withstand constant barrage of demeaning and hostile behavior. I wish Bourdain had stopped before he praised a cook for being tough, and instead asked why she needed to grow that tough? Was that moment where she pinned a guy on the cutting board and held her knife a "cool moment" or gasping for air after yet another guy pinched her ass at work? For the record, Bourdain would later change his perspective and talk about his regrets in some parts of this book. He also became an advocate against sexual assault in the restaurant industry in the final years of his life.

While I'm knocking off some marks for everything I just mentioned, this was a terrific read. Reading such a smart, funny, and insightful man is always blessing. It may not make you want to become a chef, but I now savor of every bite of food in the amusement park of life. Unless it's overcooked meat.

Content Warnings