Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly

Although Bourdain loves the kind of kitchens he creates, he also has a healthy respect for chefs who are not social misfits prone to hiring other social misfits. One such chef, Scott Bryan, is someone whom Bourdain fully acknowledges as a “better” chef than he is. Bryan grew up in a working-class home, got a culinary degree, studied in France, and then applied himself to his career with a single-mindedness and a sense of purpose that Bourdain lacked. 

While Bourdain bounced from job to job without a strategy, Bryan parlayed a series of high-profile positions into a series of even higher-profile positions and ultimately ran several of his own well-regarded restaurants. His food was innovative but delicious and somehow less pretentious than many of his contemporaries. He was knowledgeable about wine and pastry and ran a tighter ship than Bourdain. Still, the two men share a passion for food and a years-long friendship despite their many differences.

Bourdain has often felt out of control during his lifetime and is sure that he will not die with the regret of not having lived enough. By 1999, however, he is sure that the greatest adventures of his life are behind him.