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Kitchen Confidential Paperback – 3 Feb. 2001

by Anthony Bourdain (Author)

4.6 21,844 ratings

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Kitchen Confidential: Insider's Edition
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After twenty-five years of 'sex, drugs, bad behaviour and haute cuisine', chef and novelist Anthony Bourdain has decided to tell all. From his first oyster in the Gironde to his lowly position as a dishwasher in a honky-tonk fish restaurant in Provincetown; from the kitchen of the Rainbow Room atop the Rockefeller Center to drug dealers in the East Village, from Tokyo to Paris and back to New York again, Bourdain's tales of the kitchen are as passionate as they are unpredictable, as shocking as they are funny.

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'A compelling book with its intriguing mix of clever writing and kitchen patois ... more horrifically gripping than a Stephen King novel' Sunday Times 'Fantastic: as lip-smackingly seductive as a bowl of fat chips and pungent aioli' Daily Telegraph 'Elizabeth David written by Quentin Tarantino' A.A. Gill 'Extraordinary ... written with a clarity and a clear-eyed wit to put the professional food-writing fraternity to shame' Observer

About the Author

Anthony Bourdain is the executive chef at Brasserie Les Halles in New York City. He is also the author of two novels GONE BAMBOO and BONE IN THE THROAT to be published by Cannongate in March 2000. His expose of New York restaurants 'Don't Eat Before Reading This' was published in the NEW YORKER in 1999 attracting huge attention in America and the U.K. KITCHEN CONFIDENTIAL is his first book of non-fiction.

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Bloomsbury Publishing PLC; New edition (3 Feb. 2001)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 320 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0747553556
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0747553557
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 12.85 x 2.01 x 19.74 cm

Best Sellers Rank: 164,141 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- 1,146 in Food & Travel Writing
- 1,523 in Gastronomy (Books)
- 21,896 in Biographies & Memoirs (Books)

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4.6 21,844 ratings

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Anthony Bourdain

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Chef, author, and raconteur Anthony Bourdain is best known for traveling the globe on his TV show Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown. Somewhat notoriously, he has established himself as a professional gadfly, bête noir, advocate, social critic, and pork enthusiast, recognized for his caustic sense of humor worldwide. He is as unsparing of those things he hates, as he is evangelical about his passions.

Bourdain is the author of the New York Times bestselling Kitchen Confidential and Medium Raw; A Cook’s Tour; the collection The Nasty Bits; the novels Bone in the Throat and Gone Bamboo; the biography Typhoid Mary: An Urban Historical; two graphic novels, Get Jiro! and Get Jiro!: Blood and Sushi and his latest New York Times bestselling cookbook Appetites. He has written for The New Yorker, The New York Times, The Times of London, Bon Appetit, Gourmet, Vanity Fair, Lucky Peach and many other publications. In 2013, Bourdain launched his own publishing line with Ecco, Anthony Bourdain Books, an imprint of HarperCollins. He is the host of the Emmy and Peabody Award-winning docuseries Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown on CNN, and before that hosted Emmy award-winning No Reservations and The Layover on Travel Channel, and The Taste on ABC.

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Vi Cuth

Thrilling read

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 22 November 2023

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Loved the book. Easy read with outrageous and thrilling stories. Bourdain writes in a very relaxed manner as if he’s talking to you and leaves you eager to hear more.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 22 July 2020

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Mr Bourdain comes across as something of a tortured soul totally at odds with most aspects of being a regular functioning human being, this in itself is why I love this book soo much. He has a gift for story telling and self effacing behavior that I find very appealing in a writer and for that matter a person. Very true to himself.

The book fires along at great pace through his life starting from a brief look at his childhood and some of his formulative inspirations, interspersed with foodie bits, all the way through his early cooking years in Provincetown and what became a very chequered career filled with full on substance fuelled misadventures. Dealing with life on the fringes he stumbles from one mad job\situation to the next as he struggles with his inner demons and various addictions. Carving up a reputation as a force to be reckoned with he crashes his way through the new york culinary scene leaving a trail of destruction in his wake think Fear And Loathing and your on the right tracks.

What I find most appealing about this book is how he comes across as having a lot of depth of personality and is able throughout to be reflective, understanding on a deeper level his potential, regularly defacing his own bad behaviour showing growth and understanding of his flaws despite being hopelessly bound by them as many of us are, (speaking personally). He is great at describing time and place making this reader feel and sense the energy of the life. He meets some fascinating, darkly charming characters with lots of funny, wicked moments and tales. Even though I have no doubht he made a lot of mistakes and upset a few people on route. I didnt have him down as a bad or malicious person at any stage, he did what was necessary to survive in a difficult business and survive he did with gusto! This versatility is perhaps one of his greatest strengths, his ability to adapt and keep rolling on. I found him also to show a deeper understanding of the human condition, what makes us all tick or motivations and drives, out of this awareness comes a kindness and sense of humility that I found appealing in his character. All in all a very entertaining book!

11 people found this helpful

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Kblackwood

Kitchen Confidential is the undisputed king of the tell-all culinary autobiography.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 8 March 2021

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Written by Anthony Bourdain in 2000, Kitchen Confidential was the catalyst that set Bourdain on his way to food journalism royalty.

Set out in menu terms, we are taken on a journey from starter to desserts and coffee through the life of a child who discovers a love for food to a seasoned chef in the heart of New York City. There is nothing too indecent to be described by Bourdain, whether it’s why not to eat a Monday fish special in a restaurant, to the drug-addled life of a mercenary chef. This is a large part of the appeal. We are not seeing the dreamy make-believe world of TV cooking here, we are being shown a glimpse behind the curtain of what it really means to earn your stripes in a professional kitchen.

The only real fault I could find is that there is a fair bit of jumping around on the ‘menu’. What starts as a fairly easy to follow chronological tale of becoming a chef suddenly and without warning starts to take detours. Now I’m not saying the detours are unwelcome but they certainly feel out of place. Things like a day in the life of a chef and the equipment that is worth buying for a home cook are spotted in the middle of otherwise fairly anecdotal parts of the book, but I can’t help but feel may have been more cleverly grouped together or served more as a palate cleanser between menu items.

This is essential reading for those who love an episode of Kitchen Nightmares or who work in the profession, even just for those who love a good tale of debauchery told through neo-gonzo journalism. If you want a true, honest account of what it’s like to work in the world of professional cuisine, you really need look no further than Kitchen Confidential.

14 people found this helpful

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coolbro

very good

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 28 October 2023

good book

Kitchen Confidential: Insider's Edition

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 30 September 2023

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Absolutely loved this book.will miss this man as a chef and writer.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 21 August 2023

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A very enjoyable read, first read this book 20 years ago, a pleasure to revisit.

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J. Mcmillan

Bourdain's Bone-In Memoir

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 26 August 2021

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Chef Anthony Bourdain's second career as an author and broadcaster endeared him to millions of viewers, including myself. Over the years he developed and refined a style of commentary by turns reflective, appreciative and punchy, but always engaged. This, his debut, is a meaty, frothy remembrance of the knockabout tutelage he received in kitchens of Provincetown, and the crooked path he followed below various pole stars (of his indulgences and addictions) before his eventual commitment to his calling. It's a page-tuner in every sense - between moreish, imagist passages of food-writing, character-sketches, industrial anthropology and evocations of place, there's a certain amount of bad-boy yadda yadda, but Bourdain has talent, flair and a leading narrative style that held me to the page for over three-hundred pages.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 1 October 2022

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I read the original version when it was first published, purely and simply because I found it on a bookshelf in a hotel, and my dad worked in the industry all his life. That year, I started watching his travel/food shows and loved everything the late Mr Bourdain did for the next 18 years. Yes it was a crush on an intelligent, brave, damaged, and impressive personality who resonated with me. This edition has brought much joy, with his notations, musings, depreciations and admissions. Great read. Thank you.

4 people found this helpful

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Allison Palmer

Awesome book

Reviewed in the United States on 26 January 2024

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Awesome chef and story. Looking forward to reading more of his work

Markus Aurelius

Can't believe he reread his own book and filled it full of notes and comments

Reviewed in Canada on 24 January 2024

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Absolutely wicked good book. Do NOT get the original print. You want the paper back that Anthony scribbled all over when he reread it 12 years later hahaha

seawitch

Excellent

Reviewed in Mexico on 21 October 2023

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Good quality dfast delivery

IN

Je recommande

Reviewed in France on 3 February 2024

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Grande fan d'anthony bourdain, j'ai adoré ce livre
Version avec les commentaires de l'auteur
Très drôle, interessant et divertissant

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Rain

Impossible to put down. Great Book.

Reviewed in Belgium on 22 September 2023

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I wanted to keep this book for a later holiday read but that’s not going to happen ! I can’t put it down.

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Kitchen Confidential Paperback – 3 Feb. 2001

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Anthony Bourdain

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Kitchen Confidential Paperback – 3 Feb. 2001

There is a newer edition of this item:

What do customers buy after viewing this item?

Product description

Review

About the Author

Product details

About the author

Anthony Bourdain

Customer reviews

Reviews with images

Top reviews from United Kingdom

There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later.

Top reviews from other countries