• Kitchen Confidential

  • Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly
  • By: Anthony Bourdain
  • Narrated by: Anthony Bourdain
  • Length: 8 hrs and 19 mins
  • 4.8 out of 5 stars (36,025 ratings)

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Kitchen Confidential

By: Anthony Bourdain
Narrated by: Anthony Bourdain
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Editorial review


By Seth Hartman, Audible Editor

WITH KITCHEN CONFIDENTIAL, ANTHONY BOURDAIN SPILLED HIS GUTS AND MADE HISTORY

Drawing from his experience and pedigree as a seasoned chef in New York City, Anthony Bourdain brings an honest, impassioned, and aggressively pretense-free perspective to this seemingly glamorous life. As a lifelong eater and obsessive patron of all types of cooking shows, Kitchen Confidential left a special impact on me.

Rather than providing a "view from the mountaintop," Bourdain meets the listener at eye level, narrating a brutally honest and relentlessly detailed account of life in the kitchen in his own voice. While I am sure he would hate to be described as such, Anthony Bourdain arguably created the punk rock, alternative bad boy aesthetic that has become a popular trope among celebrity chefs. Through this book, he spares no details recounting the long hours, strained relationships, drug abuse, and insomnia that colored his experiences working at some of the finest dining institutions in New York and beyond. While stories like this are more commonly told in today’s media landscape, Bourdain really kicked the doors open for public discourse about restaurant life.

While I love to be in the kitchen and think of myself as a decent cook, I still consider what goes on behind closed doors in a restaurant to be magical. After falling in love with Bourdain as a television personality, I thought I would try to deepen my connection with my burgeoning passion in the kitchen by listening to his memoir. I always loved Anthony Bourdain for his ability to "take off the gloves" when speaking about some of the industry’s best kept secrets. I honestly don’t think I would have the courage to push myself in the kitchen if it wasn’t for his sarcastic yet encouraging voice pushing me along. With his signature dry sense of humor and absolute refusal to muzzle himself, Kitchen Confidential is full of Bourdain’s almost dogmatic "dos and don’ts." For example, he absolutely refuses to eat fish on Mondays in New York City based on of what he knows about fish suppliers and when restaurants tend to buy stock. One of my favorite parts about this book is that it makes you not only a better home chef but a better restaurant-goer as well.

After his tragic demise in 2018, I felt something that I rarely feel from a celebrity death. Anthony Bourdain was a one-of-a-kind soul, an unparalleled talent, and a man who truly brought a never-before-seen look into his craft to the general public. This book encapsulates everything I love and admire about the man. While some people are put off by his blunt, profane, and occasionally jaded point of view, I think these qualities made him the greatest foodie there ever was.

While this memoir is certainly ideal for those wishing to understand more about the inner workings of the restaurant business, it has a very wide appeal. No matter if you are an industry professional, long time hobbyist (like me), or couldn't care less about haute cuisine, Bourdain's wisdom will reach you somehow. His musings on life, passion, addiction, and love are feelings we can all relate to one way or another. If you are looking to make a change in your life or are searching for some kind of creative inspiration, there is a lot of gold to be found here.

Continue reading Seth's review >

Publisher's summary

Recently, The New Yorker published chef Anthony Bourdain's shocking, "Don't Eat Before Reading This." Bourdain spared no one's appetite in this tell-all about what happens behind the kitchen door.

Now, the author uses the same "take-no-prisoners" attitude in his deliciously funny and shockingly delectable audiobook, sure to delight gourmands and philistines alike. 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 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.

Kitchen Confidential will make your mouth water while your belly aches with laughter. You'll beg the chef for more, please.

Anthony Bourdain is the author of the novels Bone in the Throat and Gone Bamboo. This is his first work of nonfiction. He is the executive chef at Brasserie Les Halles in New York City.

Hear an exclusive interview with Bourdain.

©51
2000 Anthony Bourdain
(P)2000 Random House, Inc.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars

I recommend it, just like the majority of others!

This audiobook is read by the author, which always makes books more enjoyable. I was a waitress through high school and college, and I believe 100% of the stories told. As far as the crude and vulgar language used in the book -- well, that's reality too. I heard worse language in real kitchens than I did in the Marines; the tone of this book is the tone of commercial kitchens. A good, entertaining, enjoyable book that is easy to listen to and amusing.

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13 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars

too much attitude

Read The New Yorker article that was the basis for this book--it gets the point across more succinctly, and without all the snarling. I found the faux tough-guy tone tiresome. Are we supposed to be impressed, intimidated, frightened? My, aren't you tough and cool! I washed dishes in various restaurants, mostly overseas, for several months and never noticed that the crews were more drug-addled, dangerous or crazy than in any number of other occupations. As to his chapter on Japan, I lived there for a couple of years and ate in plenty of tiny restaurants, including at Tsukiji market. Most evenings I ate my dinner at "Shomben Yoko-cho" (Piss Alley) after work. These are quaint and colorful experiences that are not well served by Bourdain's jacked-up, confrontational, "bring it on!" style. To me, testosterone and food don't mix.

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12 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Violent, Dirty, Chef

If you like gossip and seamy stories of wild, violent, dirty, sexual, drug infused behavior with respectful references to wise-guys and some cooking professionals you may be quite entertained by this book. If you are an aspiring chef, don’t waste your time, unless you aspire to make good money as the boss of a huge, good (yet run-of-the-mill) two star NYC restaurant. If you love eating in restaurants (especially swordfish, mussels, bread, or just about anything else) and you are the least bit squeamish or impressionable don’t read this book. Many reviewers seem to find the references to violence, the mob, drugs, crime, and dick jokes colorful. I found it mostly tedious. At one point the author stabs a guy for patting his butt. The whole thing had a weird vibe of intense insecurity, fierce mediocrity, and homophobia.

There are a few nice bits. These were: The story of Bourdain’s first oyster (sweet); the very brief comments on equipment for the serious home cook (see instead a free trial of Cooks Illustrated dot com); the short bit of does and don’ts of eating out; and the section on Scott Bryan (a successful and truly creative chef that does everything exactly the opposite of Bourdain).

I love restaurants and chefs as well as home cooking. Give me Scott Bryan, or Jacques Pépin or Julia Childs any day. Bourdain is (I presume deliberately so as to make money) provocative in his writing, which I think is counter-productive. He suggests not eating swordfish, mussels, and some other stuff. Arg. Swordfish is good. Mussels are good. Ten minutes of research would have resolved his issues with swordfish; a nose & sending it back will protect you from bad mussels.

The writing style is quite approachable and conversational and (at times) passionate but is loaded with clichés and other unpolished bits that drove me nuts. My favorite cliché was “needless to say”. OK if it is needless then don’t waste my time saying it. The writer has a Henry V style youth, but seems never to make the transition to maturity. Instead he changes just barely enough to find a nitch of survival with some achievement but seems not quite happy and does not quite excel. Bourdain (since this writing) seems to have become exactly what, he says in this book, he hates.

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9 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Simply wonderful

I do enjoy Anthony Bourdain's television show "No Reservations", but it was the recommendation of someone I spoke with that convinced me to "read" this book. As someone who enjoys watching cooking shows and learning about food, if not good at cooking myself, I was immediately sucked into this audiobook.

Bourdain himself is a fantastic narrator. He presents his fluid and witty style clearly and with great pacing. You can tell how much effort he put into this book, and the listener is rewarded with a great variety of information. I enjoyed hearing the insider secrets about what to order when, what kinds of utensils and cookware are actually worth having, etc., but far more interesting were the stories of Anthony working behind the scenes at many restaurants in many cities.

One word of advice: this book is gritty in the sense that he pulls no punches in his description of the restaurant industry and those who make it up. If lengthy references to or all-out discussions about drugs use and sex offend you, you'll not be wanting this audiobook. On the other hand, this is the most gratifying "cooking show" experience I have*ever* had.

I have recommended this book to at least ten people since finishing it. Off to listen to the next offering from AB.

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8 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars

Why is this book so long?

I was bored to tears for most of this extremely long book, waiting for Mr. Bourdin to finish telling us about the machismo trip that sets the tone of all his kitchens and start telling us about food and cooking. The author labors under the common delusion that being opinionated and frank makes you interesting. He took multiple chapters to rehash how profanity, crudity, and a thick skin are essential for being a real cook in a real kitchen, when one or two at MOST would have sufficed. Imagine someone taking an entire book to tell you what cadets at boot camp REALLY act like. I desperately wanted more chapters like the ones at the end of the book, describing his trips to the beautifully orchestrated kitchen of a friend (no shock value needed) and a trip to Japan: stories about loving food and the subtlties of cooking, managment, and culture.

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8 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars

Will you care about Mr. Bourdain?

The author made it from priviledged childhood, to life of hard work in kitchen craft before plummeting into a drug-directed, sex-driven existence. It's fairly interesting (I'll never go to another all-you-can-eat buffet at the club), though I'm not sure if I would call it a comedy--more of an adventure. The trouble is, unlike other autobiographers, this attempt feels a bit too self-referential, self-congratulatory, and, frankly, flat. The plodding narration does nothing to lift it from the two-dimensional, and suffers from overwrought descriptions that does not add to one's understanding.

Overall, I would recommend the book with reservations; it may be better to skip through some chapters to get through it. In the end, I really didn't come to have any affection for the author which was the biggest disappointment.

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6 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Foodie delight!

I loved this book. After reading it, I felt I really learned what it REALLY is like to be a chef. Anthony Bourdain's reading is fantastic. He is at times crude and vulgar, while at other times down right hilarious. What I loved about this book: Honest. If you love the food network and would truly love to get down and dirty with the "real" cooking, read this book. He does not sugar coat a thing. I loved it!

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6 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars

Yup. I was right. He’s an a**hole

Returned after I just couldn’t stand to have his voice in my ear a second longer. I don’t care about “bad” language, gory details, sexual exploits, and the rest. I knew I was getting that. I just didn’t know I’d have to put up with a jerk who picks on people with food allergies, don’t love eating animal flesh of all kinds...But the last straw for me was his bashing on Baltimore. I live here and believe me we got our issues but the ones he seemed to dwell on are not it. I mean they guy actually said he didn’t know where to score drugs in Baltimore! If that’s the case he wasn’t trying very hard. Seriously, I don’t know why his rant against Bmore bugged me so much but it really did. I’ve always been skeptical of the adoration heaped on this guy. But I thought I’d give it a try. I like food and eating out, I like memoirs. Maybe I wasn’t giving him a chance. Nope, I was right the first time.

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5 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars

I dissent.

Everybody else loves this book -- I didn't. I've never been a fan of books in which the author -- or protagonist -- revels in his drug use, drinking, addictions and generally antisocial conduct, and that's what this is, a pride-filled account, not of Bourdain's obviously huge talent, but of his lamentable character. I'm libertarian enough to emphasize that I don't object to Bourdain's doing it -- it's just that I don't find such juvenile conduct interesting. I can't understand the mentality that takes pride in such self-destructive behavior.

For the record, I am a foodie, at least of sorts. Twice in my life I've supported myself and my kids by catering. I can cook -- not 1% of what Bourdain does, obviously. But I'm perfectly at home in the kitchen, yours or mine. All that said, it will be a long time before I'm ready to go into any restaurant again and order food, for the simple reason that while I didn't like what Bourdain was saying, I have no trouble at all believing it.

And that's the reason I gave a book that I basically didn't like four stars -- it rings true. Unfortunately, from my standpoint, Bourdain made me see what was going on there, behind the swinging doors. The book is well-written -- so much so that not only will I stay out of restaurants, but once again, I have promised myself never to darken the borders of Japan. Eating live animals is just not something I want to hear about, let alone do. I find myself hoping there is some kind of eternal punishment for those who would cause animals such suffering -- its beyond me, how anyone can enjoy such a thing.

Bourdain narrates his own book -- which is normally a good thing. Author-read books are usually among the best. In this one, however, Bourdain races through it, reading so fast, and -- in parts -- with so little inflection, it's easy to get left behind. Now that I've finished the book, it has occurred to me that maybe that's not such a bad thing.

I won't listen to this one again -- when the need for a "life with food" book strikes me, I will head for "Appetite for Life" featuring Julia Child, or "My Life in France" or any of a half-dozen other "Julia" books that I've read or listened to many times over. There's nobody shooting up in those books, nobody bleeding or barfing all over the food. Much better, as far as I'm concerned.

If you like eating out, skip this one. Or listen at your peril.

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5 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Five star book with two star production

This is a wonderful book which it is made even better by the author’s reading of it. However the entire production is riddled with print-through (audible echo “ghost sounds” of the author’s voice) and in several instances the audio cuts off abruptly. Not sure if entire content sections are missing or if only the end of a word is clipped. I really enjoyed getting lost in Bourdain’s poetic imagery, and really didn’t enjoy being pulled out of the story by poor production value.

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4 people found this helpful