Quicklets: Learn More. Read Less.

Anthony Bourdain is a television host, author, and chef. A 1978 graduate of the Culinary Institute of America, Bourdain worked as a professional chef in New York City for nearly twenty years, eventually being named Executive Chef of Brasserie Les Halles in 1998. Though best known for hosting the Emmy-winning television program No Reservations, Bourdain first shot to prominence after his book Kitchen Confidential reached the New York Times Best Seller list in 2000. Bourdain would follow Kitchen Confidential with A Cook's Tour (2001), an account of his travels to many different parts of the world, including Cambodia, Russia and Morocco. A Cook's Tour, which was simultaneously filmed as a television program, first showed the type of passionate and honest commentary on international cuisine that Bourdain would become best known for.

Bourdain has written ten books in total (including three fiction books), most recently 2010's Medium Raw which was also a New York Times Best Seller. Kitchen Confidential is an autobiographical account of chef Anthony Bourdain's entry into the professional culinary world of the 1980s and 90s and his experiences within it. The book is organized into six sections, each representing part of a multi-course meal: Appetizer, First Course, Second Course, Third Course, Dessert, and Coffee and a Cigarette.

BOOK EXCERPT FROM THE ANTHONY BOURDAIN QUICKLET: KITCHEN CONFIDENTIAL

Motivated by his embarrassing experience at Mario's kitchen, Bourdain decided to apply to the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, New York. Quick to mention how it was not nearly as selective as the school is today, Bourdain was easily and quickly able to gain entry due to a connection who had donated money to the school. Though his restaurant experience was limited compared to a seasoned chef, it gave him an advantage over his classmates, most of whom were younger than he was. Bourdain was able to pass through most of his classes with relative ease, which made him arrogant and cocky. However, because of the humiliation that he suffered at the hands of the chefs at Mario's, he also had a more grounded perspective than before. This is best exemplified by his encounter with Chef Bernard, a terrorizing French chef who ran the Escoffier Room, a famed restaurant on the grounds of the CIA. It was considered a rite of passage for every chef that attended the CIA to receive a furious, profanity-laced scolding from Chef Bernard during the course of taking his class. When Bourdain was scolded by Chef Bernard, however, he looked in Tony's eyes and saw, perhaps, that Tyrone and the Mario crew had done his work for him. Due to his inability to put fear into Tony, the chef came to be quite nice to him.

…to be continued! Quicklets: Learn More. Read Less.

Books in the “Martins” bookshelf created by Martin Aagaard Sørensen