Rating: 
Summary: Pressure cooker
Review: Now I finally understand the drama of cooking! It isn't just about carefully-selected ingredients and thoughtful recipes -- it's about getting it done and out to the waiting public -- before they tear you limb from limb! And the food still has to be excellent, safe, appetizing and cost-effective. Bourdain made me see how passion makes it all happen.
Rating:
Summary: A very satisfying full course meal
Review: This is a very entertaining read. Its exploration of a subculture is reminiscent of Samuel Fussell's personal journey through the world of bodybuilding in his book, "Confessions of An Unlikely Bodybuilder".Kitchen Confidential is written in the first person, without literary pretension or concessions to established conventions of the memoir. It's really oral storytelling at its best. Although the book is very much Bourdain's experience in the world of culinary commerce it's scope is as wide as any anthropological thesis, dealing comprehensively with topics such as language, ethnicity, apprenticeship, status and mores. Highly recommended.
Rating: 
Summary: A culinary rock n' roll star is born!
Review: Don't waste another moment reading this review, just go buy this book! From the first page to the last I was fascinated by every element of this story. It had a behind the scenes kind of naked truth that reminded me of "I'm with the Band". And Anthony Bourdain could have just as easily pulled of the role of rock star as he can of chef. His story has all the right elements:
-Young boy discovers his passion (food)
-Stumbles through his early career
-Gets messed up on drugs
-Ends up in a successful restaurant
-Writes a tell-all book and gets his mug all over the tube Not only do the elements line up, the attitude lines up. Bourdain is witty, sarcastic and about as cuddly as a cactus, but it works for him, and the man can tell a story. I'll go on any journey he wants to take me on(culinary or otherwise). If Anthny Bourdain has groupies, tell me where to sign up!
Rating:
Summary: Laugh out loud scary
Review: I could not put this down - I was giggling and snorting like a madwoman as I read this on the plane. Anthony Bourdain's sardonic no-apologies style kept me on the edge of hysterics, disgust, starvation and food-gasm throughout the book. If you love food - not dining, not frou-frou, but FOOD - you have to read this book.
Rating:
Summary: Hunter Thomson + Galloping Gourmet = a great, wild ride
Review: A must-read for foodies who are fans of the "gonzo" literary style. I fell in love with AB's rollicking style on his Food Network show, and his tales of living on the roller-coaster that is the food-service lifestyle are gripping and wild. Definitely not for those who prefer the genteel serenety of five-bean salad in Martha Stewart celedon!
Rating:
Summary: What it's like!
Review: This book is what it's like to shake and bake in a full service kitchen. He (Tony Boudain) is absolutely right with many of his points in service, thoughts on sanitation, and attitudes in the kitchen.
You easily put yourself in his sous chefs position: the discourse comes down to what he says it comes to!It's all about .... I could see myself joking around while I put out 1700 covers a night.. putting a little english on the plates as I throw them in the window... because I do... This book is a quick read, not requiring much time... something most of us cooks don't have... Buy this book and LAUGH OUTLOUD!!!
Rating:
Summary: Sex, drugs, rock n' roll... and french cuisine, too!
Review: Are you socially incorrigible, substance-dependent, able to curse fluently in multiple Spanish dialects, have a high tolerance for knife wounds, burns, cramped spaces, no sleep, and people looking to stab you in the back at every turn? Well, if you are, and you're not interested in a career in piracy in Latin America, you might want to try being a fancy chef. Anthony Bourdain's "Kitchen Confidential" is a salty, rambling, rambunctious love letter to the world of a professional chef and to the insane people who inhabit it, interspersed with some advice to the general public (such as why you should never order your steak well-done or a fish frittata, and how many knives you REALLY need to make all those hoity-toity dishes you see on TV). Bourdain gleefully jumps from describing his falling in love with french cuisine as a boy, to his experience as a junior "know-nothing" in Cape Cod, to what a typical day at Les Halles is, to a full-blown food and alcohol orgy in Japan, all at a pace that will leave you gasping for breath. Not necessarily for the faint-hearted, but if you want to know what life is like behind your fancy dishes, this is a must-read.
Rating:
Summary: Mesmerizing, funny and dark
Review: Who knew kitchens were so rock n roll? This narrative trips along with both humor and grit. I recognized many of the characters from my days working in the hotel business. Anthony Bourdain paints a vivid picture. Couldn't put it down.
Rating:
Summary: So true!
Review: Hilarious! Tony Bourdain tells it like it is. If you've worked in a professional kitchen you know the stories are true. If you've never worked in a kitchen then you'll probably be horrified by some of the stories. All in all a great book. Give it a try.
Rating:
Summary: Ha ha ha ho ho ho!!!
Review: Being a former waiter in a French restaurant (not a chef), I could easily relate to some of the tales of woe and horror in this very funny, fun to read book. And I even learned something about knives and cooking ingredients. A nice book to blast through on a lazy afternoon.
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