Short book review: "Kitchen Confidential" by Anthony Bourdain

If you're not interested in food, cooking, and kitchens--or if you haven't worked in a restaurant--you probably won't find this book interesting. A lot of people would probably be nothing but offended at some of what Bourdain has to say about restaurants. Bourdain talks about how he first became interested in food, his path through the Culinary Institute of America and then through an array of kitchens; he talks about his years of drug addiction, and encounters with the mob in New York's restaurant business. In the second half of the book is when non-foodies will probably lose their focus, as Bourdain describes a typical day for him, and talks about the people who work for him in the kitchen. That was my favorite part, in contrast--although I've worked only in fairly crappy restaurants, nothing as exciting and sophisticated as Les Halles, I could still relate.

In short the book is interesting, and often funny, and sarcastic; it's foul-mouthed and honest, and was well worth the read.