Rating: 
Summary: written like he is talking to you..
Review: I think this book was very well written. If you are reading it for inside knowledge of culinary techniques and serious kitchen methodology - you have picked up the wrong book. There's a lot of other books here you could read for that. I think this is an excellent book for anyone considering restaurant work because its very telling- lots of long sweaty hours of you working when everyone else is relaxing with their glass of wine. its more of an expose, I would say of what really goes on in a restaurant kitchen.
Rating: 
Summary: Repetitive and without point..
Review: Anthony Bourdain is the (abeit less-witty less-varied) Howard Marks of the culinary world. And he knows how bad he is. And will tell you over and over again because you are expected to be entralled by 300+ pages of this.
He is so happy to remind you of the amount of drugs he has taken and his love of kitchen chaos, and this work comes to serve little actual purpose outside of a self-indulgent recount of his numbing adventures. Honestly, this piece could have easily been condensed to a chapter on his misadventures and a chapter for the rest.
There are very few tips, even fewer stories worth recounting and the work is framed around an incoherant chronology.
I do give Bourdain complete credit for his writing, which is actually wonderfully varied, intelligent and impressive. This is possibly the only positive to this dullish piece.
Rating:
Summary: Simply Great
Review: This book is so informative, entertaining and funny that I plan to buy all of Tony's books. Thanks for making me laugh so hard! I can't wait to get back to NYC and visit Les Halles again.
Rating: 
Summary: Terribly Arrogant
Review: Anthony Bourdain is the annoying guest at a party who bores those willing to listen with the intricacies of his job in unnecessary detail. I was one of those guests willing to listen finishing the entire book deciding it was worhwhile for only one chapter. The chapter to which I am referring, is written behind the wizards curtain. The reader learns why not to order fish on Monday and that the rolls in most restaurants are recycled. These are gross revelations and I am better for knowing them. After this stop which occurs early on in the memoir, the author laborously details his rise to the acme of culinary expression. Some of the accounts are humorous but only in the way one would chuckle at the exploits of fraternity hazing. Snorting lines of cocaine, chain smoking, and mysogyny are funny only in a pitiable sense. These stories may seem like self deprecating apologies but they are not presented with such compunction. The author is proud of his indomitability, his hands scarred with kitchen abuse. He even claims in the last sentence that he wouldn't have missed the experience for the world. The author is certainly proud of his own nastiness and that of his cronies; if others do not understand they can get out of the kitchen. He presents his daily routine as a chef in exacting detail in a chapter titled expectedly enough "A day in the Life..." In this chapter he allows the reader a glimpse in to the draconian requirements of his job implying that it is beyond the scope of normal expereince worthy of publishing and admiration. What is lost on the author is that many jobs are replete with comical characters, unendurable routine, and moments of frenzied activity. I am sure the waiters whom he loathes would have just as interesting a tale to write. However, like the waiters I feel alienated by Anthony Bourdain and prefer to stay out of the kitchen.
Rating:
Summary: One of my favorite books OF ALL TIME
Review: If Bourdain cooks even half as well as he writes, I'd sit at his table any day. This book and "Cook's Tour" were so delightful, I truly hated to finish them. He writes with wonderfully wry humor yet he's endearingly self-depracating. He tells compelling stories, isn't afraid to speak his mind (but is NEVER strident), and just writes the most entertaining tales you could ever want to read. This book could have been a nasty expose but instead, it is a rollicking good time. BRAVO ANTHONY BOURDAIN!!!!
Rating: 
Summary: those crazy cooks
Review: This book recapitulates the life of Anthony Bourdain, a New York City chef. Bourdain describes how he decided to become a chef, and his training, from washing dishes for a Provincetown surf-and-turf, to studying at the Culinary Institute of America, to boot camp with Bigfoot, an unnamed New York City restaurateur from whom he learned how to survive in the big leagues. He introduces us to the backrooms of a busy restaurant kitchen, where we meet the people who prepare the fabulous food, learn about their tools and slang, and begin to get an inkling about the daily responsibilities of a head chef. Thanks to his French heritage, Bourdain had learned to appreciate superb food as a youngster, and his parents had the resources to send him to any college he chose. Bourdain, however, likes to live on the edge, and his desire to live life to the fullest and push the limits soon led to multiple drug dependencies and heavy alcohol usage that kept steady employment difficult to maintain for a time. Remarkably, though not detailed exactly how in this book, Bourdain managed to beat his addictions, and has gone on to become not only a talented executive chef, but also a successful novelist and writer in his spare time. How anyone could even find spare time in a chef's life as he describes it is unfathomable- -Bourdain obviously thrives on stress and challenges. The pace of the book is relentless- -it's one of those volumes that you can race through in a single day, not allowing anyone to interrupt you. Bourdain's language is not for everyone though- -he accurately records the words that are said behind the kitchen doors, so if you are squeamish about sex or take offense easily, this book is not for you. This book confirms the importance of knowing who is cooking your food. After all, food is something you put inside your body, so it is a real act of trust to consume something that someone else has prepared. It's remarkable that many people are quite content to let total strangers prepare their food. Why would anyone frequent fast food restaurants where most of the cooks are teenagers with no talent or interest in food preparation, doing it all for minimum wage? At least in kitchens like Bourdain's, although some of the cooks may be oversexed drug addicts with filthy mouths, only those who can consistently achieve high cooking standards manage to stay on. Bourdain also reminds us to use our heads when placing our orders. After all, when you tell the waiter what you want, the food isn't just going to appear on the plate out of thin air when the cook snaps his fingers. If the fish market isn't open on the weekend, then Monday isn't a great day for ordering fish. Today's luncheon special may indeed contain leftovers from last night's menu. Some items take longer than others to prepare- -hence shouldn't be ordered at five minutes before closing. This book provides a fascinating perspective on what it's like to study at the CIA, how an executive chef spends his time, and what may be happening behind those closed doors at your favorite restaurant.
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