Scan barcode
A review by kimveach
Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly by Anthony Bourdain
adventurous
dark
funny
informative
reflective
tense
medium-paced
2.5
My son, a bartender, wanted me to read this. I was not an Anthony Bourdain fan, having never read any of his books, nor watched his shows. This book didn't make me a fan, either.
I think I would have liked it if I'd read it in the early 2000s when it was first published. As a forty-something person, I would have enjoyed this book's rough, vulgar, stream-of-consciousness. But reading it in 2023 was a different experience. I found the repeated descriptions of substance abuse, criminal activity, and swearing tiring and boring.
The book's best parts were the detailed descriptions of what it takes to manage and run a restaurant and the incredible skill and timing of the people working on the line.
I think I would have liked it if I'd read it in the early 2000s when it was first published. As a forty-something person, I would have enjoyed this book's rough, vulgar, stream-of-consciousness. But reading it in 2023 was a different experience. I found the repeated descriptions of substance abuse, criminal activity, and swearing tiring and boring.
The book's best parts were the detailed descriptions of what it takes to manage and run a restaurant and the incredible skill and timing of the people working on the line.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Bullying, Cursing, Drug abuse, Drug use, Misogyny, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Medical content, Medical trauma, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail