Kitchen Confidential: 25th Anniversary Edition

A NEW YORK TIMES-BESTSELLING PHENOMENON

"Utterly riveting, swaggering with stylish machismo." -New York magazine

The bestselling breakout chef's tell-all from Anthony Bourdain, the globally beloved Emmy award-winning host of Parts Unknown and No Reservations.

In the now-classic memoir that launched Anthony Bourdain's long career, the globally beloved chef took us through the swinging kitchen doors and turned the culinary trade on its head. The result was a deliciously funny, shocking banquet of wild tales that drew from "twenty-five years of sex, drugs, bad behavior and haute cuisine.”

Sure to delight gourmands and philistines alike, Bourdain recounts everything from his first oyster in the Gironde to his lowly position as dishwasher in a honky-tonk fish restaurant in Provincetown (where he became hooked on chef work for life); from the stovetops of the Rainbow Room atop Rockefeller Center to drug dealers in the East Village, from Tokyo to Paris and back to New York again.

Bourdain's tales of the kitchen are as passionate as they are unpredictable, and Kitchen Confidential will make your mouth water and your belly ache with laughter and leave you wanting more.

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Published May 22, 2000

400 pages

Average rating: 7.89

222 RATINGS

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Community Reviews

boyleschris
Mar 16, 2025
Lesa's recommendation.
K Olson
Jan 14, 2025
6/10 stars
While there are some interesting chapters the book dragged for me at points.
gregdeadlyheffley
Sep 05, 2025
8/10 stars
This book is rather pretentious, and is all about working as the lowest in a culinary profession. I am pretentious, however I am for the most part unemployed. In spite of my occupational deficiencies, I found this book to be incredibly relatable, sometimes touching and often hilarious. I have stolen many colloquialisms and pieces of slang from this book which I will continue to use for the rest of my life and credit myself with creating. One day I will maybe be exposed, and will be ostracised to working the line in a cheap sea food restaurant in the off season in massachusettes, pretending to be a teenager when i’m actually approaching 47 years old. You can only dream.
QuiteContrary
Aug 13, 2025
9/10 stars
Loved it. Fast paced writing about what makes food delicious and the underbelly of restaurant kitchens.
CRUDDYC
Jun 24, 2025
7/10 stars
A very intriguing take on the experience of an inquisitive individual in the world of culinary arts.

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