Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly

Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of cursing, substance use, mental illness, and addiction.

Anthony Bourdain is Kitchen Confidential’s author. A chef with decades of experience in the New York restaurant world, he ultimately became a travel writer and television host. Bourdain is passionate about good food, quality ingredients, and exploring diverse food cultures. He advocates adventurous eating and traces his interest in professional cooking to his first experiences with off-the-beaten-path menu items. 

Bourdain has a strong work ethic and values the work done by the entire kitchen staff, not just the chef, as shown by the development of the theme of “Street-Level” Cooking and Its Practitioners in the narrative. He highlights the work of dishwashers, prep cooks, line cooks, food runners, and other back-of-the-house employees, noting that they often work long hours, must collaborate effectively with people from diverse backgrounds, and are given very little recognition for their work. Bourdain identifies as a social misfit and notes that many of the people who work in restaurant kitchens could also be described using this moniker. Throughout his career, he provides direction and grounding to other “lost souls” by giving difficult-to-employ individuals a chance in his kitchens.