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Summary: Life lessons from a rebel and a chef
Review: Let me begin by noting that I'm not in the food business. I'm not even all that great an ameteur cook, though I enjoy good food and I _am_ slowly learning the ropes by entertaining friends and family with my forays into lovingly made cuisine. So perhaps it wasn't just an accident of fate that my friend Shawn gave me this book as a gift to help me on my way.The book is a fun read, full of the sort of anectdotes that make a book hard to put down, but with a level of brutal honesty that is rare. The tales of food, sex, drugs, theft, harrassement, assault, and business that make it clear that there's [stuff] going down that he can't even tell you about in a book without having it relegated to keep company with porn videos in some sleezy adult store way downtown. Yet with all it's great moments and warnings for the wise diner, what struck me most were the life lessons about integrity, honor, hard work, community, and loving what you do. Tony reminded me that the real joys in life come not from having the best boss, the best employees, the most money...it's finding what you love and living that life with like minded travellers. For him food and running a great kitchen makes the 17 hour days a joy. Maybe it's where I am, but even though food isn't _my_ thing, what Tony says in this book makes a lot of sense.
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Summary: great tour of the kitchen!
Review: Great read! Glimpsed probably every aspect of the restaurant and chef trade, for better or for worse. Learned a ton. And Tony Bordain is hilarious, both in his ascerbic style and in his hijinx.
Rating: 
Summary: Kitchen Confidential but kitchen confidence?
Review: Whoa! After reading Anthony Bourdain's striking book "Kitchen Confidential" you may never want to dine out again. I may just know a little too much for my own good about what goes on behind semi-closed doors at restaurants around the country. It has been said that the two things one should never see being made are sausage and laws....I might add a third...what goes on in the kitchen. However, after finishing Bourdain's book, I want to eat out more. He presents in glib, and often funny fashion, the many aspects that surround preparing meals for customers...and he doesn't stop at the kitchen door.....the reader is treated to news about suppliers, owners, competition with other restaurants for staff, etc. He's certainly more than earned his stripes and it's fascinating to see the road he has taken to get there. His basic ingredient in everything is his love of food and its preparation. But watch out along the way. He has some pretty harsh things to say (and many good things, too) about people with whom and for whom he's worked. Bourdain spends more than a little too much time on people who go into this business and who tend to live often on the edges of society...alcoholics and drug addicts to name just a couple. One wonders how meals are ever prepared when some (or many!)of the kitchen staff are high or drunk. But he also commends the same people for their loyalty and often for their creativity. I particularly liked that aspect of this book. Kitchen Confidential but kitchen confidence? Yes. But fasten your seat belts....this book is a roller coaster ride!
Rating: 
Summary: He does love himself
Review: Kitchen Confidential is very entertaining at times, as Anthony Bourdain takes the reader into the kitchens of big time restaurants. It's hardcore cooking done at high speed and great organization despite the apparent frenzy. There is a particularly interesting chapter devoted to a restaurant man simply known as "Bigfoot", who is Bourdain's role model; a man who knows what's going on at all times and has exacting standards in the kitchen. Less riveting is Bourdain's own story moving up in the ranks. His experiences as a rookie line chef in Provincetown are somewhat amusing, and his time at the CIA (Culinary Institute of America) is a look at the more formal cooking training which Bourdain contrasts with the high octane New York kitchen scene. Other anecdotes seem self-serving, so be advised it's okay to jump ahead; the chapters have different themes and stand on their own. One isn't shocked by the author's frequent profanity at first, but he goes way overboard with the gratuitous F-words and comes across as very arrogant and juvenile. He also goes on and on about using cocaine and heroin in younger days, which is totally unnecessary and one wonders why he seems so proud of it. If you can get past his obnoxious nature this book is still an interesting read.
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Summary: Kitchen Confidential
Review: I recommened anyone who it going or thinking about going to culinary school to read this book. Everything in this book is true and if your a chef you can identify with what he has to say. This book just scratches the surface on what goes on in the kitchen. I just couldn't put this book down!
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Summary: One hell of a ride.
Review: This has to be one of the most entertaining books I've read this year. If you're looking for a witty and amusing book about the restaurant industry, there is no one better out there to read than Tony Bourdain. If you're an Emeril junkie, a Food Channel addict, or are looking for the next food "bible", look elsewhere, he will not appeal to you. But, if you have a sense of humor and are not easily offended, pick up the book and be prepared to laugh out loud. Happy reading!!
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Summary: Oh Lord!
Review: Tony Bourdain does not need my pitiful words! He is my God of all things food-wise! Funny! Insightful! And a HUNK! Is Nancy lucky or what! Great Book! I was lucky to read it free at my library! I learned a lot and I will never-ever eat seafood on Monday- esp., since my sons own a seafood market in Florida!
Write MORE, Tony Bourdain since I have read ALL your books!
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Summary: Brilliant and absorbing
Review: People seem either to love his writing (me, for example) or hate it (my wife), but that's almost an irrelevant opinion. The best writers can take you into a world you know nothing about and make you see it, smell it, and taste it full force. Tony Bourdain does that, and if you don't like what's there, you owe that realization to his brilliant writing. It's funny, scatalogical, quirky, male (my wife's judgment, and it's probably accurate), sometimes irritating, and yet it always pulls you into his world. It's a trip through his life and his profession, with chapters that frequently could stand on their own, and were probably written that way. Still, the overall impression is of a long, funny, interesting trip through one chef's life and world. Absolutely superb.
Rating:
Summary: A gifted writer, but needs more seasoning
Review: Being a fan of his TV show on the Food TV Network, I hungered for more of Anthony Bourdain's crude wit and harsh tell-it-as-it-is personality. Kitchen Confidential starts out with pure Bourdain attitude and fed my hunger satisfactorily. However, the latter half of his tell-all tale of the restaurant biz fell apart with random stories which don't tie together well with the book overall. Despite the roughness and poor editing of the book, I found it to be an enjoyable read. Bourdain does a good job telling his self-aggrandizing life story, but leaves out his wife almost entirely! Given his character, career obsession, and drug use, I'd like to know more about the woman who stands behind him and puts up with his horse [dung].
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Summary: The Chef you hate yourself for Loving
Review: Tony Bourdain is arrogant at best, cocky at least, just reading about his cigarette habit annoys me, yet I love to read his opinionated sometimes peevish prose. He irks and offends, yet is entertaining and absorbing and keeps me up past bed time! I adore him and I hate him , somewhat like I feel about my husband at times.
Its a good romping read, you will probably actually learn something (whether you wanted to or not). You will certainly never walk into a restaurant and feel quite the same way again (ignorance is bliss?). And by the way Tony I'M A VEGETARIAN!!!! ...
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