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sarakomo 's review for:
Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly
by Anthony Bourdain
2022: Wow, this book did nothing to endear me to Bourdain.
Thank goodness I had respect for the man going into this book, because I certainly didn't have much coming out of it. I have always regarded Bourdain in the same boat as [a:José Andrés|1019700|José Andrés|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-632230dc9882b4352d753eedf9396530.png], an advocate and man of the people. He portrays *himself* as an arrogant, coked-up asshole in this book. I will cut him some slack; this book is over 20 years old and he was younger then. BUT I really did not jive with most of what he was espousing here.
Mostly, it's hard listening to his bullshit after living through a pandemic. His primary philosophy is that if you don't show up to work every single night, on time and ready to go every single day, 7 days a week, you're a "worthless piece of shit" (direct quote). Bourdain openly praises his employees who show up to work with a slight fever over those who call out sick "because they are wimps". Um, no thank you! I would much rather them stay home rather than sneeze on the food I am about to eat. Also, life happens. I am so sick of people prioritizing their work over their lives.
I'll be the first to admit, I've never worked in a kitchen. And it does sound like the environment Bourdain trained in was hellish. My takeaway is that he kept a lot of things black and white that should have been gray. For example, he goes on a really long tirade about how people who use pre-chopped garlic or a garlic press "imbeciles". I'm sorry, some people have disabilities that make chopping their own garlic impossible! Also, some of us are young mothers who don't have the time to make a gourmet dinner every night! Ease up, Bourdain!
All in all, it's terribly sad to read this after knowing how it ended for Bourdain. After all, it doesn't seem like it was really worth it in the end? The story about how he sent away his sous chef to go and get stitches and "90 minutes later he was back in the kitchen" and Bourdain says "aahh loyalty" NO NO NO NO go home and rest! Give your body a break! And then there's another terrible story about his friend committing suicide, and Bourdain basically shrugs it off. Ugh. It's just unfortunately not surprising the toll that 40 years in such an environment would take on someone.
Lastly, every time Bourdain mentions any chefs or influences or people he looks up to, with the sole exception of Julia Child, they are all guys. Really disappointing. And basically his answer to that is "buck up, this is how it is" which is just infuriating. Overall, this book made me mad and sad.
Thank goodness I had respect for the man going into this book, because I certainly didn't have much coming out of it. I have always regarded Bourdain in the same boat as [a:José Andrés|1019700|José Andrés|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-632230dc9882b4352d753eedf9396530.png], an advocate and man of the people. He portrays *himself* as an arrogant, coked-up asshole in this book. I will cut him some slack; this book is over 20 years old and he was younger then. BUT I really did not jive with most of what he was espousing here.
Mostly, it's hard listening to his bullshit after living through a pandemic. His primary philosophy is that if you don't show up to work every single night, on time and ready to go every single day, 7 days a week, you're a "worthless piece of shit" (direct quote). Bourdain openly praises his employees who show up to work with a slight fever over those who call out sick "because they are wimps". Um, no thank you! I would much rather them stay home rather than sneeze on the food I am about to eat. Also, life happens. I am so sick of people prioritizing their work over their lives.
I'll be the first to admit, I've never worked in a kitchen. And it does sound like the environment Bourdain trained in was hellish. My takeaway is that he kept a lot of things black and white that should have been gray. For example, he goes on a really long tirade about how people who use pre-chopped garlic or a garlic press "imbeciles". I'm sorry, some people have disabilities that make chopping their own garlic impossible! Also, some of us are young mothers who don't have the time to make a gourmet dinner every night! Ease up, Bourdain!
All in all, it's terribly sad to read this after knowing how it ended for Bourdain. After all, it doesn't seem like it was really worth it in the end? The story about how he sent away his sous chef to go and get stitches and "90 minutes later he was back in the kitchen" and Bourdain says "aahh loyalty" NO NO NO NO go home and rest! Give your body a break! And then there's another terrible story about his friend committing suicide, and Bourdain basically shrugs it off. Ugh. It's just unfortunately not surprising the toll that 40 years in such an environment would take on someone.
Lastly, every time Bourdain mentions any chefs or influences or people he looks up to, with the sole exception of Julia Child, they are all guys. Really disappointing. And basically his answer to that is "buck up, this is how it is" which is just infuriating. Overall, this book made me mad and sad.