Rating: 
Summary: yes, and
Review: I studied with Madelaine Kamman in Newton Centre, Ma. who had the only great restruant at that time, she and Enzo Danesi changed the way Boston wanted to eat when dining out, in the 70's, you could wait 3 months to get a reservation in her sparkling, clean,restruant. I marveled at her ability to give the customer very good food, no leftovers and most of it fresh that day. Pates',some desserts, normally carried to next day, like a cake or frozen sorbet. I was there over a period of three years and know how great a chef she was and is. Sally LaRhette
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Summary: Plainly and simply put!
Review: A word of advice for potential readers..This is well and truly an 83 page book..Lots of input and insight, plus good down and dirty info about the places we pay to dine in...then it's just downhill and repetitious til the last overdone adjective. The points are made early...drugs, obscene language,etc. and any grownup reader will find himself yawning and wondering what happened to a great beginning...too bad..love the restaurant, tho.And, I wish that alot of the chef talk had been more clearly defined..I still don't know what a garde-manger is, nor in fact do I even begin to understand what the 'dupe' system is all about. Maybe next time around, Tony.
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Summary: A page turner for the aspiring chef or foodie
Review: As a person who worked in the restaurant industry for about a dozen years before making my escape, I can attest to the accuracy of Anthony Bourdain's expose. If you are looking for a book that glorifies the exalted 3 star restuarants of the world and the "celebrity chefs" that run them, you would be wise to look elsewhere. If, however, you want a taste of what it's really like behind the scenes at a fine dining establishment, look no further. Mr. Bourdain's tales of making his way up the food chain to Executive Chef status and the characters encountered along the way make for an always entertaining read.
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Summary: Jumbled, self absorbed narrative
Review: Bourdain seems to have written with the aim of shocking the reader, rather than to give an understanding of the cooking business. The book is a series of disconnected stories, obviously written at different times, for different purposes, and stitched together to make this book.Bourdain paints a picture of a kitchen populated by misfits with foul mouths, lacking in common morals. While I'm sure that these types of kitchens exist, Bourdain's kitchen seems to be more a reflection of himself than of the industry as a whole. There are two things missing from the book which are telling. The first is that Bourdain never displays any passion for food. He describes how many meals he and his kitchen staff put out, and how he cheated at the Culinary Institute of America (CIA), but never even mentions a desire to create unforgettable food. The only mention of why he chose to become a cook has nothing to do with food, but perhaps with power. The second is the lack of mention of his parents (they appear briefly in an early chapter). But it's clear that their support was important to Bourdain, both for the education funds he diverted to drugs and for his tuition at the CIA. Yet he never mentions them, giving the impression that he did everything on his own. Bourdain obviously is driven and works extremely hard. One is left wondering what he could have achieved, even in the cooking world, if he had focused that drive and energy towards achievement instead of drugs and macho posturing. A book with a more realistic view of the cooking world is Michael Ruhlman's "The Making of a Chef". Save yourself some time and money and buy that one first. And if you're really interested in cooking, get Harold McGee's book "On Food and Cooking".
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Summary: Is it so bad to be an arrogant SOB?
Review: I don't think you're going to regret reading this book. But when you're done, you might find yourself wondering what exactly you just read. Just be aware beforehand that it's much more about the author than it is about cooking or restaurants. I was surprised at the incredible coarseness of the book, but I thought, OK, that's real life in the restaurant world, if you can't stand the heat get out of the kitchen so to speak. But then towards the end he shows you that actually that's NOT how it is all through the restaurant world. Forget the last couple hundred pages. So maybe he's just a jerk. Do I feel good about giving my money away to some jerk? But then again, he'll gladly TELL you he's a jerk. That's almost his point. Isn't the view of a crude, wild, hedonistic lifestyle that most of us would never live but still find fascinating why we buy these memoirs in the first place? I found myself saying, "Wow, what an SOB (turn page) I can't stand this jerk (turn page)..." And that's not necessarily a bad thing, although it did leave me wondering whether I could really say I "liked" the book. What bothered me more was the poor structure of the book and the almost total lack of editing. Really weird things, like commas constantly popped up at random in the middle of, sentences. Like that. It grew more than a little annoying. And it was almost the last chapter before he actually defined all the cooking terms and the slang he had been using for hundreds of pages. People showed up whose significance he didn't explain until a number of chapters later. So he's annoying, in many ways the book is annoying, but it's a fun and wild ride that will definitely give you something to talk about with your friends.
Rating: 
Summary: Take-no-prisoners approach to the restaurant business
Review: For strong stomachs only. Bourdain is aggressive, famous, undoubtedly competent, and very smart and funny. He is also a little bit scary, for food to him - like sex, drugs, and cigarettes (mentioned throughout the book, often) is a consumable, at its best thrilling, but also devoid of real meaning. These forceful essays are meaty exposes of the restaurant business, and probably should not be read for "inspiration" or enlightenment, or even particularly creative ways to think about people or food. He's a hedonist, and free with his dislikes (vegetarians, for example), but - in contrast to other famous 'writing' chefs - Julia Child, James Beard, Alice Waters come to mind - he does not love people or the possibilities of food nearly as much as he loves excitement and power. I was disturbed by his mercenary approach to his business, and some of the scenes he described are downright sickening - and included purely to shock.
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Summary: excellent author!
Review: I have been a fan of Mr. Bourdain's since reading his first novel "Bone in the Throat" and second one "Gone Bamboo." My husband and I just hope that he doesn't decide to give up writing for being a chef. We look forward to lots of great reading from this very talented author.
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Summary: More of an autobiography than an expose
Review: Kitchen Confidential is more of an autobiography than an expose of the upscale restaurant industry. Certainly we feel privileged to have the insider's view of the kitchen, and the uninitiated will have a better understanding of the restaurant industry. Mr. Bourdain proffers tips on what to seek out, what to avoid, and why the kitchens at some of the most exclusive restaurants in the world are anything but what we expected them to be. But if the purpose of the novel was an expose of the underbelly of haute cuisine, the author's contribution could have been made in less than 50 pages. But the insiders' guide that you think you're getting is auxiliary to Anthony Bourdain's story of his life in relation to food. And it's a good story. The author is a decent writer and has a refreshing style of narrative; very frank, upbeat and witty. But the novel is a little longer than necessary. While the final chapter was invigorating, edifying and compelling, the few chapters preceding it were tedious, much of it repetitive. Though I was contemplating finishing the book a bit early, the final chapter rewarded my patience. My advice: if you find yourself restless two-thirds through the novel and want to put it away, feel free to skip to the last chapter.
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Summary: I couldn't put this book down!
Review: Bourdain has answered all my questions about cooking and chefs, I think! I have had a tendency to think chefs were like the ones we see on TV shows, with this peak into the underbelly of the kitchen, I can see that a job is a job is a job! The same personality types are found in every workplace. The descriptions of the food and how it comes to the plate were great. I esp. liked the chapter where he took us from the time he woke up until his day was over. Keep writing and cooking, I will look for your next book!
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Summary: Restaurant patron
Review: I'm a patron. I enjoyed this entree into the world of food preparartion by a chef. I couldn't put it down. It was funny and repulsive at the same time. I am thrilled that those of us at the moderate- to low-income levels can have a good laugh at those patrons who think this type of service (yet have received it without knowing) is beneath them. I can afford this book, yet I can't afford the price of a meal by the chef. I think the chef is pleased that I bought his book rather than the meal!
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