Kitchen Confidential

{{short description|2000 book by Anthony Bourdain}} {{about|the book by Anthony Bourdain|the 2005 TV series|Kitchen Confidential (TV series)}} {{Infobox book | name = Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly | title_orig = | translator = | image = Kitchen Confidential.jpg | caption = First edition | author = Anthony Bourdain | illustrator = | cover_artist = | country = United States | language = English | series = | genre = Memoir | publisher = Bloomsbury Publishing | release_date = August 2000 | media_type = Print (hardback & paperback) | pages = 320 | isbn = 0-7475-5072-7 | dewey= | oclc= | preceded_by = | followed_by = A Cook's Tour: In Search of the Perfect Meal }}

'''''Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly''''' is a ''New York Times'' bestselling nonfiction book written by American chef Anthony Bourdain, first published in 2000. In 2018, following Bourdain's death, it topped the ''New York Times'' non-fiction paperback and non-fiction combined e-book and print lists.<ref>{{cite news |last=Jordan |first=Tina |date=June 22, 2018 |title='Kitchen Confidential,' First Published in 2000, Tops the List Again |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/22/books/review/kitchen-confidential-anthony-bourdain-best-seller.html |work=New York Times |location=New York |access-date=December 6, 2019 }}</ref>

In 1999, Bourdain's essay "Don't Eat Before Reading This" was published in ''The New Yorker''.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/1999/04/19/dont-eat-before-reading-this|title=Don't Eat Before Reading This|work=The New Yorker|access-date=2018-08-28|language=en-US}}</ref> The essay, an unsolicited submission to the magazine, launched Bourdain's media career and served as the foundation for ''Kitchen Confidential.''<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/this-is-the-story-that-launched-anthony-bourdains-media-career_us_5b1a7b1de4b09d7a3d716b88|title=This Is The Story That Launched Anthony Bourdain's Media Career|last=Amatulli|first=Jenna|date=2018-06-08|work=Huffington Post|access-date=2018-08-28|language=en-US}}</ref> Released in 2000 to wide acclaim, the book is both a professional memoir and an unfiltered look at the less glamorous aspects of high-end restaurant kitchens, which he describes as unremittingly intense, unpleasant, hazardous, and staffed by misfits. Bourdain believes that the kitchen is no place for dilettantes or slackers and that only those with a {{linktext|masochistic}} dedication to cooking will remain undeterred.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly|last=Bourdain|first=Anthony|publisher=Bloomsbury|year=2000|isbn=9781596917248|location=New York, NY|oclc=669990270}}</ref>

== Synopsis == Structured as a loose collection of humorous anecdotes, ''Kitchen Confidential'' is equal parts confessional narrative and industry commentary on the cooking trade. Bourdain has cited George Orwell's ''Down and Out in Paris and London'' (1933), with its behind-the-scenes examination of the restaurant business in 1920s Paris, as an important influence on the book's themes and tone.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.vogue.com/article/anthony-bourdain-obituary|title=Anthony Bourdain Is Dead at 61|work=Vogue|access-date=2018-08-28|language=en}}</ref> He details some of his personal misdeeds and weaknesses, including drug use. He explains how restaurants function economically and warns consumers of the various tricks of restaurateurs. For example, he famously advises customers to avoid ordering fish on a Monday as it is likely left over from the weekend or earlier. He also suggests avoiding well-done beef, since cheaper cuts are often substituted for the top-quality meat used for rarer orders.

== Adaptations == In 2005, the book was adapted into a television show of the same name, starring Bradley Cooper as a fictionalized Bourdain. The series was cancelled partway into its first season, and only 13 episodes were produced.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.thewrap.com/watch-bradley-cooper-as-jack-bourdain-in-foxs-short-lived-kitchen-confidential-comedy-video/|title=Watch Bradley Cooper as 'Jack Bourdain' in Fox's Short-Lived 'Kitchen Confidential' Comedy (Video)|date=2018-06-08|work=TheWrap|access-date=2018-08-28|language=en-US}}</ref>

The first two chapters of the memoir are the basis of the 2026 film ''Tony'', starring Dominic Sessa as a young Bourdain.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Hall |first=Gerrard |date=May 4, 2026 |title=Dominic Sessa transforms into Anthony Bourdain in first look at Tony (exclusive) |url=https://ew.com/tony-first-look-dominic-sessa-anthony-bourdain-exclusive-11964612 |url-status=live |website=Entertainment Weekly}}</ref>

== Subsequent work == A follow-up work, ''Medium Raw'', was published in 2010.

In 2017, amidst the Me Too movement, Bourdain expressed remorse that ''Kitchen Confidential'' "celebrated or prolonged a culture that allowed the kind of grotesque behaviors we're hearing about all too frequently".<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://medium.com/@Bourdain/on-reacting-to-bad-news-28bc2c4b9adc|title=ON REACTING TO BAD NEWS|last=Bourdain|first=Anthony|date=2017-12-12|website=Anthony Bourdain|access-date=2018-07-12}}</ref>

==References== {{Reflist}}

==External links== *[http://anthonybourdain.tumblr.com/ Anthony Bourdain's blog] *{{OL book|id=19290065M}}

Category:2000 non-fiction books Category:American non-fiction books Category:English-language non-fiction books Category:Non-fiction books adapted into television shows Category:Books about food and drink