Book Drop // Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly by Anthony Bourdain (2000)
It is a common affliction of the modern age to want our protagonists to be good, moral citizens. That they should be people we look up to or aspire to be or, if they are successful or powerful, that are also an example to others. But Anthony Bourdain is an unapologetic, loud-mouthed, straight-talking, rough-around-the-edges pirate of the culinary seas, and this is where the joy in his autobiography lies. His industry insider stories of life in a professional kitchen are fun, wild, hedonistic and self-indulgent. It's not a perfect read. There are moments that lack clarity, there are holes and the pace is uneven. But Bourdain has understood something; that life in the kitchen is one of the senses, not one of the head. I get the impression that this was how Bourdain lived his life, that everything was filtered through his belly and his heart. Read his book, then watch his documentaries and awaken your senses with the smells, sounds and tastes of food and travel.