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Title: Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly
ISBN: 073933235X
Author:
Anthony Bourdain
Publicate Date: 2005-10-11
Publish: 2005-10-11
List Price: $20.00
Average Customer Rating: 4.0
Format: Audio CD
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Amazon Lowest New Price: $11.66
Amazon Lowest Used Price: $10.94
Amazon Merchant Price: $13.60
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| Customer Review: |
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1: Prefer Food Poisoning
I wish I'd read the reviews prior to purchasing. I couldn't get past the first few chapters. The writing was incredibly crude and created a totally repulsive image of what's going on in the kitchen. If there are moments of hilarity they must be further along. I didn't think it worth the effort to continue.
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2: Excellent book, highly entertaining!
At age 14 I started working in the restaurant industry. Looking for a job I was hoping to get lucky and maybe land a dishwashing gig. But the back of the house was short handed and needed someone on the line. At the time I didn't even know what a line cook even was but it was the launch of the first career in my life as a cook. I spent 5 years as a line cook and managed to work my way up to kitchen management, doing inventory and ordering, hiring and firing when I was a still a sniveling 17 year old. I came to a cross road when I was 19 and seriously considering a culinary school or apprenticeship and get serious. But I took another path and got an education and jobs working with computers, networks and the like. I decided that my chances of success as an aspiring chef might be limited. And honestly the road was going to be a harder one then I wanted to go down, I wanted a life, I wanted weekends and nights free. So even though I loved food I departed from that scene.
Kitchen Confidential brought back a flood of memories for me and is so remeniscent of many of my own experiences. Anthony has a gift, the narrative way he tells the story brings you in. You can almost smell and taste the things he talks about. You can't help but laugh out loud and think how insanely true the life of a cook really is! His utter candor about the difficulty in becoming a career cook or chef isn't over dramatic or overstated in any way. It's an honest, entertaining, page turning book!
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3: Great Price & Product
For anyone who has seen the show "No Reservations" then they know what to expect from Anthony Bourdain. His cooking is only second to his writing. The book is delightfully crude and isn't afraid to hit below the belt. There just aren't enough words to describe what a great book this is. Go buy it!
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4: "Never judge a book by its cover"
I can recall standing at the best seller table in the center of Barnes & Noble holding a copy of "Kitchen Confidential" when it was first published. Not having been a fan of Anthony Bourdain, I quickly put the book down and went about my shopping. As time went by, I would frequently hear references and comments being made about "Kitchen Confidential." Having more of an open mind these days, I decided to read the book and see what all the fuss is about. "WOW!" I have a new-found respect for Anthony in many aspects and now am definitely a fan. Reading this book was like sitting down with a well-known, seasoned and well-respected chef listening to him reminisce about his career as a chef. I experienced multiple "foodgasms" and found myself devouring each page with voracity until the very last page was turned. Talk about dispelling any fantasies or notions of any kind of glamour in being a chef. Having worked in restaurants myself, I did know of some of the chaos and craziness Anthony Bourdain describes in the book, but "boy, oh, boy" did he open my eyes and teach me a few things. I can't wait to read everything he's written.
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5: Eye Opening Voice of Unfiltered Reason
Great book to get on audio. Chef Anthony Bourdain does well telling his own story, and through him insight into the cooking world. If you're fan of cooking shows (Bravo, the Food Channel, Fox) or interested in learning about what it takes to be a chef, this book offers one professional's insight into that world. His stories entertain, shock, and illuminate how difficult and complex being a line cook, much less a head chef.
Chef Bourdain acknowledges his checkered past, the ups and downs, drug usage, alcohol abuse, 17+ hour days, and the total commitment necessary to be successful. I understand now why shows like Top Chef and Hell's Kitchen are constructed. The career line cooks would cook circles around many of those contestants.
More important, Chef Bourdain shares what it takes to become a chef, whether taking a college track or apprenticeships, or a combination. A family member wants to be a chef. Now we have a way to develop a plan for building the foundation. Read this PG13 book, you'll enjoy the roller coaster ride.
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