Book 20: Kitchen Confidential

Finished: April 15
Pages: 305

If there is anything to say about Anthony Bourdain's memoir, I would have to say that it is a stunning example of author's voice. From start to finish I can hear him say all of these words, and maybe that says more for my obsession with No Reservations than it does for Bourdain's talent, but I'm going for this book is an honest reflection of his time as a cook and chef in and around New York City, and he has taken that personality with him on the road for A Cook's Tour and then No Reservations.
Let me give you some insight into that personality.
" I do have heart, you see. I've got plenty of heart. I'm a fucking sentimental guy--once you get to know me. Show me a hurt puppy, or a long-distance telephone commercial, or a film retrospective of Ali fights of Lou Gehrig's last speech and I'll weep real tears" (248). This just after having admitted to being willing and happy to fire someone who breaks any of the cardinal rules. I would say this is the most inappropriate coming-of-age story I've read in a while. It certainly shows his progression from a young child learning the mysteries of food in France, to a Vassar drop out, to a drug addict cook, ending with his first adventure in Tokyo where you can see the seeds of No Reservations being planted. But I'm not kidding about the inappropriate-ness.
"As an art form, cook-talk is, like haiku or kabuki, defined by established rules, with a rigid, traditional framework in which one may operate. All comments must, out of historical necessity, concern involuntary rectal penetration, penis size, physical flaws or annoying mannerisms or defects" (220). He then goes on to describe, in detail, all of the various words and phrases, both Spanish and English, and their meanings. At times, I was exceedingly glad that I read parts of it at home, but I wasn't really expecting the three pages of cursewords in English and Spanish that greeted me on the next page. I probably shouldn't have read this in class.
This book is full of helpful tidbits: things you should have in your kitchen, things you should look for in a good or bad restaurant, the myriad reasons not to start your own restaurant, when to order or not order certain specials, what days of the week to eat out. The often quoted piece of advice: don't eat fish on Monday, while helpful, doesn't give you the full gamut of insider information that Bourdain happily throws at his reader. I'm not going to lie, don't read this book and expect to want to go out to eat. At some points, yes, the descriptions of the food was mouth-watering, but at other times I never wanted to eat anything that I didn't prepare for myself ever again. A Mexican restaurant full of rats, the hazards of eating vegetarian food at a non-vegetarian restaurant, medical emergencies being handled in the kitchen while still cooking, all this and more horrified and entertained me.

Good Reading,
Caitlin