''Kitchen Confidential'' is an American television

sitcom A sitcom, a portmanteau of situation comedy, or situational comedy, is a genre of comedy centered on a fixed set of characters who mostly carry over from episode to episode. Sitcoms can be contrasted with sketch comedy, where a troupe may use ...

that debuted on September 19, 2005, on the Fox network, based on Anthony Bourdain's ''New York Times'' bestselling book, '' Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly''.

Bradley Cooper Bradley Charles Cooper (born January 5, 1975) is an American actor and filmmaker. He is the recipient of various accolades, including a British Academy Film Award and two Grammy Awards, in addition to nominations for nine Academy Awards, si ...

played the lead character, Jack Bourdain, inspired by Anthony Bourdain. After the show's first three episodes aired on Fox, the show was put on hiatus due to Fox's coverage of the

Major League Baseball playoffs The Major League Baseball postseason is an elimination tournament held after the conclusion of the Major League Baseball (MLB) regular season. Starting in 2022, the playoffs for each league—American and National—consist of two best-of-three ...

. In November 2005, Fox announced the show would not air during sweeps and that only 13 episodes would be produced because it was only averaging 4 million viewers. The show returned on December 5, 2005, with its fourth episode, but only received 3.38 million viewers. Four days later, Fox announced the cancellation of the series.

Cast

Main

as Jack Bourdain – executive chef. Once addicted to alcohol and drugs, he is given the opportunity to run Nolita and make a career comeback. *

Nicholas Brendon Nicholas Brendon Schultz (born April 12, 1971), known professionally as Nicholas Brendon, is an American actor and writer. He is best known for playing Xander Harris in the television series ''Buffy the Vampire Slayer'' (1997–2003) and Kevin L ...

as Seth Richman –

pastry chef A pastry chef or pâtissier (; the French female version of the word is pâtissière ), is a station chef in a professional kitchen, skilled in the making of pastries, desserts, breads and other baked goods. They are employed in large hotels, bi ...

. An old friend of Jack who has feelings for Tanya, the hostess. He also has a jealousy issue. * John Francis Daley as Jim – commis chef. Begs Jack to stay at Nolita so he doesn't have to go back to Utah. Later, he develops feelings for Tanya. * Jaime King as Tanya – hostess. The clueless and trusting hostess at Nolita. *

Bonnie Somerville Bonnie Somerville (born February 24, 1974) is an American actress and singer. She has had roles in a number of movies and television series, most notably as Mona in ''Friends'', ''NYPD Blue'', ''Grosse Pointe'', '' The O.C.'', ''Cashmere Mafia ...

as Mimi – head

waitress Waiting staff (British English), waitstaff (North American English), waiters (male) / waitresses (female), or servers (North American English), are those who work at a restaurant, a diner, or a bar and sometimes in private homes, attending ...

. The daughter of Pino, who hates the staff and tries to fit in. She later becomes the owner of Nolita. Mimi attended the

Cornell University School of Hotel Administration The Nolan School of Hotel Administration (SHA, more commonly known as the Hotel School) at Cornell University is a specialized business school in the SC Johnson College of Business at Cornell University, a private university, private Ivy League un ...

. *

Owain Yeoman Owain Sebastian Yeoman is a Welsh actor. His credits include '' The Nine'', '' Kitchen Confidential'', AMC's '' Turn'' (as Benedict Arnold) and the HBO series '' Generation Kill''. Additionally, he portrayed CBI Agent Wayne Rigsby in ''The Men ...

as Steven Daedalus –

sous chef A sous-chef is a chef A chef is a trained professional cook and tradesman who is proficient in all aspects of food preparation, often focusing on a particular cuisine. The word "chef" is derived from the term ''chef de cuisine'' (), the ...

. Jack's best friend, but also a thief and womanizer.

Recurring

John Cho John Cho (born Cho Yo-Han; June 16, 1972) is an American actor known for his roles as Harold Lee in the '' Harold & Kumar'' films, and Hikaru Sulu in the ''Star Trek'' rebooted film series. Early in his career, Cho also starred in the Asian A ...

as Teddy Wong – seafood chef *

Frank Langella Frank A. Langella Jr. (; born January 1, 1938) is an American stage and film actor. He has won four Tony Awards: two for Best Leading Actor in a Play for his performance as Richard Nixon in Peter Morgan's '' Frost/Nixon'' and as André in Flor ...

as Pino – Nolita's owner *

Sam Pancake Sam Pancake (born May 10, 1964) is an American actor, improviser, writer, and comedian. He began his career with small roles in TV and film, such as ''Wings'' in 1990 and '' Pizza Man'' in 1991. Early life Sam Pancake was raised in Romney, Wes ...

as Cameron – waiter *

Tessie Santiago Tessie Marie Santiago (born August 10, 1975 in Miami, Florida) is an American actress of Cuban and Spanish descent. Biography Family and education Tessie Santiago is a first generation American. Her parents and grandparents fled from Cuba afte ...

as Donna – waitress *

Erinn Hayes Erinn Hayes (née Carter; born May 25, 1976) is an American actress and comedian. She is known for her role as Dr. Lola Spratt on the sitcom ''Childrens Hospital (TV Series), Childrens Hospital'' (2008–2016), which she later reprised in its s ...

as Becky Sharp – chef * Frank Alvarez as Ramon – dishwasher

Episodes

DVD release

On May 22, 2007,

20th Century Fox 20th Century Studios, Inc. (previously known as 20th Century Fox) is an American film production company headquartered at the Fox Studio Lot in the Century City area of Los Angeles. As of 2019, it serves as a film production arm of Walt Dis ...

released ''Kitchen Confidential: The Complete Series'' on DVD in Region 1. The 2-disc set contains all 13 episodes of the series as well as audio commentaries on the series premiere by Darren Star, David Hemingson and Bradley Cooper, on the series finale by Karine Rosenthal, David Hemingson, Bradley Cooper and Dean Lopata and two featurettes – "A Tour of the Nolita Restaurant" and "A Recipe for Comedy".

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kitchen Confidential 2005 American television series debuts 2005 American television series endings 2000s American single-camera sitcoms 2000s American cooking television series 2000s American workplace comedy television series English-language television shows Fox Broadcasting Company original programming Television shows based on non-fiction books Television series by 20th Century Fox Television Television series by Warner Bros. Television Studios Television shows set in New York City Television series by New Line Television Television series set in restaurants