''Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly'' is a
''New York Times'' bestselling nonfiction book written by American chef
Anthony Bourdain, first published in 2000. In 2018, following Bourdain's death, it topped the New York Times non-fiction paperback and non-fiction combined e-book and print lists.
In 1999, Bourdain's essay "Don't Eat Before Reading This" was published in ''
The New Yorker
''The New Yorker'' is an American weekly magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. Founded as a weekly in 1925, the magazine is published 47 times annually, with five of these issues ...
''. The essay, an unsolicited submission to the magazine, launched Bourdain's media career and served as the foundation for ''Kitchen Confidential.'' Released in
2000
File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from S ...
to wide acclaim, the book is both a professional
memoir
A memoir (; , ) is any nonfiction narrative writing based in the author's personal memories. The assertions made in the work are thus understood to be factual. While memoir has historically been defined as a subcategory of biography or autobiog ...
and an unfiltered look at the less glamorous aspects of high-end
restaurant kitchens, which he describes as unremittingly intense, unpleasant,
hazardous
A hazard is a potential source of harm. Substances, events, or circumstances can constitute hazards when their nature would allow them, even just theoretically, to cause damage to health, life, property, or any other interest of value. The probabi ...
, and staffed by misfits. Bourdain believes that the kitchen is no place for dilettantes or slackers and that only those with a dedication to cooking will remain undeterred.
Synopsis
Structured as a loose collection of humorous anecdotes, ''Kitchen Confidential'' is equal parts confessional narrative and industry commentary on the cooking trade. Bourdain has cited
George Orwell's ''
Down and Out in Paris and London
''Down and Out in Paris and London'' is the first full-length work by the English author George Orwell, published in 1933. It is a memoir in two parts on the theme of poverty in the two cities. Its target audience was the middle- and upper-cl ...
'' (1933), with its behind-the-scenes examination of the restaurant business in 1920s Paris, as an important influence on the book's themes and tone. He details some of his personal misdeeds and weaknesses, including drug use. He explains how restaurants function economically and warns consumers of the various tricks of restaurateurs. For example, he famously advises customers to avoid ordering fish on a Monday as it is likely left over from the weekend or earlier (years later, however, he retracted this advice). He also suggests avoiding
well-done beef
Beef is the culinary name for meat from cattle (''Bos taurus'').
In prehistoric times, humankind hunted aurochs and later domesticated them. Since that time, numerous breeds of cattle have been bred specifically for the quality or quantit ...
, since cheaper cuts are often substituted for the top-quality meat used for rarer orders.
TV series
In 2005, the book was adapted into a television show
of the same name, starring
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 ...
as a fictionalized Bourdain. The series was cancelled partway into its first season, and only 13 episodes were produced.
Subsequent work
A follow-up work, ''
Medium Raw'', was published in 2010.
In 2017, amidst the
Me Too movement
#MeToo is a social movement against sexual abuse, sexual harassment, and rape culture, in which people publicize their experiences of sexual abuse or sexual harassment. The phrase "Me Too" was initially used in this context on social media in ...
, Bourdain expressed remorse that ''Kitchen Confidential'' "celebrated or prolonged a culture that allowed the kind of grotesque behaviors we're hearing about all too frequently".
References
External links
Anthony Bourdain's blog*
2000 non-fiction books
American non-fiction books
Non-fiction books adapted into television shows
Books about food and drink
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