Book ~ "Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly" (2000) Anthony Bourdain

From Goodreads ~ Over two decades ago, the New Yorker published a now infamous article, “Don’t Eat Before Reading This,” by then little-known chef Anthony Bourdain. Bourdain spared no one’s appetite as he revealed what happens behind the kitchen door. The article was a sensation and the book it spawned, the now iconic "Kitchen Confidential", became an even bigger sensation and megabestseller. 

Frankly confessional, addictively acerbic, and utterly unsparing, Bourdain pulls no punches in this memoir of his years in the restaurant business.

I don't really enjoy cooking but we just finished watching the fourth season of The Bear and we watch Gordon Ramsay's reality shows. This book has been around for years but I've never read it so I thought I'd give it a go. It looks like a crazy brutal industry to be in!

Kitchen Confidential is Bourdain’s look (it’s part memoir and part exposé) at what went on behind the scenes in restaurant kitchens ... and it sounds like he'd been in many up to this point. He started with his journey of being a young punk washing dishes to eventually becoming a seasoned chef in New York’s culinary scene. He talked about his past with drugs, the crazy (and sometimes offensive) characters he worked with and the intense and chaotic vibe of professional kitchens. 

It was interesting to find out some industry secrets  ... like why you should never order fish on a Monday or what really goes into your fancy restaurant meal. It was obvious that he did have a deep love for food and the people who cooked it. I liked the writing style and found most of the chapters interesting. If you’ve ever thought about what life in a professional kitchen is really like, you should read this book. I know it wouldn't be the life for me! As a head's up, there is swearing.