“Kitchen Confidential”: Homage to Anthony Bourdain
I don’t have many public figures I admire, but Bourdain is one of them
I absolutely love all Bourdain’s shows (“No reservations”, “Parts unknown”) and his media personality.
He was a fantastic storyteller and always made a big effort to understand foreign cultures — inter alia, through food.
This book “Kitchen Confidential” is a memoir of Anthony’s coming of age and career as a chef in NYC.
“Kitchen Confidential” is notorious for being shocking. Bourdain reveals all the craziness happening in the kitchens behind closed doors – and hygiene issues is one of the smallest concerns.
I already knew that cooking for a living is extremely tough. It’s one of the roughest lifestyles, where you practically live in the kitchen (“your grandmother died? You won’t get a day off for her funeral, nor for your wedding day”).
Anthony makes a point of passing this message to the young chefs and warning them about what awaits if they truly want to pursue this path seriously.
Anthony is very open about his drug issues in the 1980s and how he dealt with them. He also emphasizes that drug abuse is common in the industry as a way to cope with the insane working hours and high pressure.
“Kitchen Confidential” is shocking, entertaining, sometimes disgusting, sometimes hilarious, and Bourdain’s writing is absolutely superb.
Anthony took his life in 2018, and I still remember being absolutely heartbroken by it. I still am, and I rewatch his shows fairly often. What a bright, remarkable person.
You might know that I don’t post book reviews without a beer recommendations. Books and beers, this is what I do.
“Blue Moon” beer is a somewhat common feature in my Medium posts because, out of all the beers I’ve tried and continue to explore, it remains my favorite. I am a Belgian-style beer girl.
Still, I reserve my “Blue Moon” pics for the books I especially liked. A special book and a special beer today.
So here it is, a “Blue Moon” on tap, enjoyed in a pub in Leith, Edinburgh 🍊 🏴
