Rating: 
Summary: My thinking on the restaurant business is forever changed
Review: Bourdain's life journey behind the scenes in the restuarant business is a surreal ride for the general public out for the evening to enjoy a nice meal. My goodness! Bourdain is a guy that writes great guy books. My husband loved it. I was defintiely intrigued by the stories of sex and drugs in the kitchen, but wished it was fiction, so that my perception of the business would not be forever tainted. I also found it interesting how the author described the business side of restaurants, the international nature of the workers in the business, how small the chef world really is and how chauvinistic the industry is. Style-wise Bourdain is sassy, crass and not forgiving in this tale of his life as a chef. I recommend this as a very good summer read.
Rating: 
Summary: Mildly entertaining
Review: Although there were interesting anecdotes, the book was mostly fluff. I was hoping it would get more interesting, but it didn't. This book is good if you are thinking about becoming a chef or want to know more about the industry, but there is no real point to the book.
Rating:
Summary: he tells it like it is
Review: at one point everyone i know in the restaurant business either had read or was reading this page-turner. several women found it understandably sexist in spots, but no one argued that 'kitchen confidential' wasn't on target. there are times when you have to remind yourself you're reading a taken-from-life narrative, not fiction. if you want to know what life at the back of the house is like, kick back and dig into a delicious read.
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Summary: If this is cooking in NYC...but is it really?
Review: Mr. Bourdain paints a not-too-pretty picture, which may or may not be accurate, of the NYC restaurant scene over the last 15 years, reminding the reader over and over of the drug-induced craziness that goes on in his kitchen at one failing joint after another. Of course they mostly fail due to "owner inept", but then the sods get what they deserve, he says.
But is it relevant, or even real? He spends the first 24 chapters reeling off story after story showing how depraved the whole scene is, and then finally admits that, well, not ALL restaurants are like this, maybe not even most. The chapter near the end where he talks about a really good chef, much better than himself (his words) shoots huge holes in all the previous rantings, showing that, most likely, the common cause in all these "pirate ship" kitchens he has been running is, not surprisingly, himself!
There are two or thre worthwhile chapters, of course, and the "Day in the Life" chapter about what a chef goes through is very interesting.
If you think the whole world revolves around what people with lots of money are eating in lower Manhattan, you'll probably love this book. The rest of us could have been happy with just a few chapters. Thankfully a friend loaned me this book, as I would have felt liked I'd been served a shoe-leather steak if I'd paid real money for it. Send the waiter back to the kitchen with this one.
Rating: 
Summary: Rouxed Boy
Review: I love this book, written by bad-boy chef Anthony Bourdain. He starts the book like you'd make a roux, mixing together some butter and flour, slowly and surely cooking it together. He gives us the background for what led up to his decision to become a chef, in an enjoyable but basically "oh" manner. The warm milk hits the cooked flour at full-steam all of a sudden when Tyrone at the Dreadnought says to him after he complains about a minor mishap to his hand, "Whatchoo want, white boy? Burn cream? A Band-Aid?"A Rebel with a Claw was born at that moment. As Bourdain will tell you at the end of the book, his decision to become a chef has resulted in a right hand full of skin tags and bone barnacles. On the way to Bourdain's inventory of his leather-winged, trauma-sprung appendage, we come to appreciate the thousands of details that make up the Restaurant Biz. The book moves from pasteurized pharmaceutical strength to fry-basket ionization pitch with the introduction of Bigfoot. I mean, this chapter is the dash of psychotropic cayenne to the roux-based sauce. Bigfoot is some kind of Mad Magazine-rendered, charismic, Take-No-Prisoners Restaurant Owner. He is Why Tony become a "real chef". He is the frying pan, the smoking oil, and the maniacal short-order cook frying Tony's brains like street-grade drugs. Bigfoot was so all-consuming and awe-presuming that Tony got OFF drugs, at least enough to function to Bigfoot's high expectations. Reading about Bigfoot loving to play dumb like a "sunbathing crocodile" before moving in for the kill practically drowned me in my own tears. Real tears, not crocodile tears. Tony's prose style is also like watching a crocodile, that when it moves, moves with fast grace. The guy has written rhythm, probably just like he's got moves in the kitchen, with efficiency of movement and speed like a militant Merengue dancer. There must be something to watching a chef in action. I like my chefs male, just like I think men look better pitching a ball or playing licks on an electric guitar. If people like Tyrone and Bigfoot had not somehow weaned Tony from himself, we would not have the chef or the book about the chef today. Hurray for Cold Turkey Ego-Bashing. Now, how 'bout a nice Mashed Ego and Cold Turkey sandwich? With spicy white sauce?
Rating:
Summary: Within 48 hours of receipt, I was done reading it!
Review: As a former cook in the process of moving back towards it, Bourdain's book was an absoulte delight to read. Though many of the absolute horror stories in his book, are certianly the things he's seen, as apposed to the absolute norm of fine dining, no doubt the things did happen in the late 70's and 80's as Bourdain was coming up and in certain nooks continue to this day. His stories about favorite sauce spoons, pans, side towels, knives, etc touched many fond memories for me, and it had me laughing out loud dozens of times. One of the funniest books I've ever read, though I think working in the business gives you a unique perspective. The book is part information, but mostly, an autobiography of Bourdain's food related life in a blunt, no holds barred way only he can deliver. It's certainly not the most well written book I've ever read, but it's damn enjoyable just like mama's meatloaf. But, if foul language offends you, this is not the book for you.
Rating:
Summary: Opening Pandora¿s Pan
Review: If Tony Bourdain worked in another business riskier than cooking, he'd probably be in a witness protection program. In these memoirs the chef/writer tells it all-- I mean IT all about the profession. In his words we can see revaled the darkest secrets of the backstage of either a big restaurant or a small and obscure pub around the corner. Bourdain has no time for futilities he goes to the botton line. He tells what you can or cannot eat when out in a restaurant. Moreover, he shows there is no glamour when it comes to be a chef. Forget that fancy thing we see in movies, in which chefs look more like poets. Yes, you will have to carry heavy things, you will get dirty, and you'll barely have time to eat. Bourdain's book is highly recommend not only for food aficionados, but also for any good reader.
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Summary: The dark side of cooking
Review: Half expose, half memoir Kitchen Confidential is filled with enough hard boiled, macho commentary that it comes across as written by Mickey Spillane. Bourdain pulls no punches here; (if you go to a brunch after this you're probably a daredevil)his world of cooking is one of violence, long hours, drugs and alcohol, and more than enough enough testosterone. It's the constant machismo that wears thin after a while, when Bourdain is on target ("A Day in the Life" will actually get your heart racing) this book is as good as it gets, but for every great section you have another like "The Level of Discourse" which reads like a discarded George Carlin bit. This balances out to an intriguing but basically flawed work, well-worth reading but the parts do not form a satisfying whole.
Rating:
Summary: I'll never look at eating out the same again.
Review: Gives a great behind-the-scenes look at the world of professional cooking. Also includes a wonderful section on best practices for eating out (i.e., don't touch fish at brunch on Sunday). The author's style may be too much for the timid, but I found it enjoyably blunt, honest, and funny. Bourdain should be proud for achieving what he set out to do: Imbibe in the reader an appreciation for the dedication of the kitchen staff to deliver a quality product.
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Summary: No Fish on Tuesdays
Review: Anthony Bourdain is a bit of a foul-mouthed, pushy, opinionated New Yorker. He also happens to write truthful and often times funny (albeit frightening) prose. Recently Bourdain has obtained a puny level of fame, ala his television series. Bourdain is no newcomer to writing. He has several books under his belt, with Kitchen Confidential being his "break through" book. What I like most about Bourdain's writing is that his sharp wit and personality clearly comes through . He might come off like a jerk sometimes, but this is not a man who presumes or pretends otherwise. His writing is honest and funny. He explores his fateful rise through some of New York's most, (hmmmm, how shall I put this?) most interesting resturants. He discusses with humor and frankness the little-known heirarchy of a kitchen staff. He takes you through how retaurants order food, what items to avoid and why eating bread is generally safe. Bourdain's writing style is not for the timid. He's fond of foul language and uses it frequently. But his stories are brilliant and insightful, not only into the underbelly of the restuarant business but into why he became a chef in the first place. Bourdain is your lovable, drunk, slightly perverted Uncle. A quick and entertaining read.
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