Skip to main content
PBS logo
 
 

Search - Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly

Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly
Kitchen Confidential Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly
Author: Anthony Bourdain
New York Chef Tony Bourdain gives away secrets of the trade in his wickedly funny, inspiring memoir/expose. Kitchen Confidential reveals what Bourdain calls "twenty-five years of sex, drugs, bad behavior and haute cuisine." — In Chef Bourdain's shocking, "Don't Eat Before Reading This." Bourda...  more »
ISBN-13: 9781582340821
ISBN-10: 158234082X
Publication Date: 5/22/2000
Pages: 302
Rating:
  • Currently 3.8/5 Stars.
 40

3.8 stars, based on 40 ratings
Publisher: Bloomsbury USA
Book Type: Hardcover
Other Versions: Paperback
Members Wishing: 3
Reviews: Member | Amazon | Write a Review

Top Member Book Reviews

reviewed Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly on + 16 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 6
I have found this book to be dead on perfect as to how a restaurant works, I have worked the Food Industry for over 20 years, and he is dead on!!! He kept me laughing about all of the tings that happen. He always makes me smile and laugh through out his books.
reviewed Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly on + 20 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 5
Memoir of celebrity chef Anthony Bourdain, who admits his arrogance and missteps with no apologies. Insider's look into the "underbelly" of professional restaurant chefs and their world. Has a hard edge, but is ultimately a very rewarding read.
reviewed Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly on + 132 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 5
If you've wondered about kitchen culture, this is the book. As the mother of a chef, a line cook, and a restaurant owner I learned a lot about the alien (but lovable) world of the professional kitchen. And what not to order for Sunday brunch.
reviewed Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly on + 57 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 5
I love this book and am not sure I can let it go. It is, all at once, informative, fascinating, addictive. His ability to explain, in explicit detail, some of the more grotesque practices of even the BEST restaurants or their staff, while not removing your desire to frequent these establishments, is quite uncanny. It is also a concise but invaluable resource for restaurant workers and home cooks alike. One thing is for sure, you will not come away from this book thinking that someday it might be fun to open a small restaurant as a lark!
reviewed Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly on + 27 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 3
If you're a fan of anything Bourdain's done - you'll want to read this. If you're NOT a fan, you'll WANT to read this to find out all the backstories behind the restaurants you visit. The gory details are sure to keep you planning your visits out in a whole different light. (big hint: AVOID the Sunday Buffets!)
Read All 88 Book Reviews of "Kitchen Confidential Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly"

Please Log in to Rate these Book Reviews

reviewed Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly on + 55 more book reviews
Rough, raw, rowdy, and raunchy. Not for the squeamish. Very interesting and entertaining. Yes, the later chapters are written at a slower and more mature pace, but I loved the one about Tokyo. I even enjoyed the chapter about his hands. It might be a good idea for a photographer to put together a book picturing the hands of chefs.
reviewed Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly on + 52 more book reviews
The beginning was great and he is a really good writer. I got kinda bored at the end but I definitely want to read more stuff that he's written.
reviewed Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly on + 17 more book reviews
brilliant. if you watch this guy on tv, this is absolutely required reading. reveals all about working in the hottest chef led kitchens.
TheLankyYankee avatar reviewed Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly on + 81 more book reviews
I supported and put myself through college waiting tables. The restaurant business is not for the faint of heart, and Bourdain describes it well. It is a rough life, and not easy even for servers. I take pride in my waitressing days--I was damn good, and made good money. A great server is priceless. Have a bad server and you'll see what I mean.

I loved reading this. It brought me back to those days. And whatever he says about the sex, drugs, and drinking are all true.
I laugh at friends and colleagues who are afraid to eat certain foods, or who wrinkle their noses at items left out of the fridge for a couple of hours--they should see what goes on in restaurant kitchens!
reviewed Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly on + 3 more book reviews
Great writer, so interesting!
FoundItOnAnAirplane avatar reviewed Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly on + 30 more book reviews
Fun and light reading. This guy makes being a chef seem like the best job ever. He writes with great humor and is not afraid to poke fun at himself!
reviewed Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly on + 366 more book reviews
wicked and witty-reveals trade secrets of chefs and restaurant owners
Yoni avatar reviewed Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly on + 327 more book reviews
It took me a long time before I finally read this book. I was so saddened by his suicide that I couldn't even watch any of his shows anymore. That said, I eventually opened it. Reading through these pages, It was as if he was alive. Pure Anthony Bourdain in younger days. I enjoyed it very much. Wild adventures, descriptions of food and preparations that I had to look up. It was a lot of fun to read once I sucked it up and cracked the cover.
reviewed Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly on + 368 more book reviews
An interesting read. He dwells on the dark underside of the restaurant business. According to him, just about everyone working in the kitchen is a mis fit of some kind. His writing is entertaining. He portrays a pretty miserable life, but one that many look to do. Reading it after his more recent suicide, its even harder to understand why he did it. He only mentions in passing he was a heroin addict, and doesn't dwell on how the occupation affected his personal life with his wife.
reviewed Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly on
I love Anthony Bourdain. He makes me laugh and shocks me with his writing just enough to keep me wanting more. This book inspires me to go work in a kitchen if only for the ability to curse, eat and drink with abandon :-)
reviewed Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly on + 36 more book reviews
really liked this book. he is a good writer,also. descriptions of the life of a chef is raw/funny,sad..
beccajoro avatar reviewed Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly on
Great book, Tony definitely shows a true side to the world of the culinary underbelly!
reviewed Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly on
Very entertaining and a quick read. As someone who occasionally daydreams about being a chef, this book made me glad that it is only a daydream.


Genres: