Anthony Bourdain: tales from Hell`s kitchen

05 Apr 2001
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6
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ChewOn This
AnthonyBourdain:TalesFrom
Margaret
Ambrose
Hell's Kitchen
page 1 of 2
Anthony
Bourdain
wouldeatlamb'$
balls,buthewouldn't
eatbear's
claws.He'deattigerpenissoup*
butonlyif it wasn'tan endangered
speciesof tiger.Hewouldnevereat
rl{cw w*lld*
y*u ba*anee
live monkeybrain("1couldn'thurt a
w liitlemonkey''),but he would- and
recentlydid * eat a live,pulsating
cobra'sheart. He wants us to know
that he's not scaredof food, bui if all
rf
he revealsin his grittyexpos6 of ihe
restaurantkitchenscene, Kitchen
to be believed,you don'timaginethere'smuch
Canfidentialis
that wouldscarethis man.
a .
q
t
Bourdain,who has workedfor 25 yearsas a chef in some of
the swankiestand dodgiestrestaurantsin New York, has
testosterone*pumped,
spilledhis guts in a hyperbole-filled,
tell-allstoryaboutthe lifeof a chef and all the scumbagsand
riff-raffhe's shared his kitchenwith. Servedwith a meaiy side
order of blood,drugs and sex, KitchenConfidentialispart
memoir,part historicaltour of ltlewYork restaurants,and part
collectionof thoughts-of{he-daya la Bourdain:Yaurbody is
not a temple, it's an amusementpark. Enjoy the ride and
Vegetariansare the enemy af everythinggaod and decent in
the human spirit.
*€ ir-:i*::.ri;:::rIs
veL-_$ups!:_s_t
J_
amre_o,!
r.
C,heJ
BecomeAn Unstressed
Chef.
ChefsWithAttitude
1
:
"l
did my best to be offensive.I find it a totallyobncxious
"l'm proudof the
book,"Bourdainexplainswithoutshame.
book.I get sick of myselfnow and again,but then it is me
talking.I wouldloveto say that it was a torturousprocessto
write but it was pretlyeasy - a sustainedrant. That's the way I
talk in the kitchen."
YummyApron
"l
l-,{sww*}tds
yau ha$ance
deliberately
wantedto writeit in kitchenese.I wantedit to
soundlike me a littlebit drunkon a Saturdaynightaftera
reallybusyshift,talkingto othercocks. I wantedit to sound
I wrote
to my fellowprofessionals.
authenticand recognisable
in
it thinking,at best,it wouldbe a cult itemfor professionals
the States- maybethere would be a few food-smearedcopies
kickingaroundin kitchens.I reallydid not anticipatethat it
wouldbe a big success,and I didn'texpecthow manycivilians
- mcaningnon-restaurant
people- wouldread it."
BrevilleChar-GrillPlus
r$ilS*W
Thesedaysthe conceptof the celebritychef mightbe a bit ho-
rur, r rrr> uury, dr ru I rrrb cl rau sudr y, rru o
gotkitchencred,man.Andhe'sgotmcrethanoneverysharp
knifeattached
to him.lt'san imagehe'sproudof."l ihinklggy
is cool that'sthewayto growoldgracefully."
with
Compat$+*e
ycnrrtcver?
€w
Bourdain
relishes
describing
in vividandsometimes
disturbing
detail,thefilthy,madcooks,outof controlon amphetamines
andheroin,of whichhe wasone."WhenI startedout,drugs
- absolutely
wereeverywhere
topto bottom.Thewhole
the
businessfrom ownership
to thedishwashers."
Andthentherewasthesex.Likemostcultbooksor movies.
youstop
there'sthe momentin KitchenCanfidentialwhere
andthink,nope,he'spushedit toofar- | don'tbelievethat.
It'sthe BrideStory.Let'sjust sayit involvesa weddingparty
comingintotherestaurant
andthebridebeingso enraptured
by thefoodandthechefwhopreparedit thatnotlongintothe
evening,
she'sslippedoutof theparty,he'sabandoned
his
post,andthey'rein thecarparkdoingthe BigNasty."A lot of
peopledon'tbelievethatstory,"he says."Butit'strue.You
haveto remember,
it wastheseventies,
man."
\ffiw;s'i
WMFGrandGourmetKn
Set
Bl-s-ck
i
a
i
t*_
.
fe* *t {".,*
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Can3-eef
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The Good Oil On Spar
Olive(
Under-co-ver
Pestols Best
ChefsWithA!fll
It'$overtwentyyearsdownthetrack,andSourdainis notthe
sameman.Likethewashedup rockershe'sso often
comparedto, beneathihe roughexteriorand past-behavior
The
thatlegendsaremadeof,there'sthenewBourdain.
Bourdain
whowon'tallowdrugsin hiskitchen,
whois happily
married,
andwhoclaimsthatoneof thebestthingsabout
havingan international
bestselleris hisabilityto afford
comprehensive
healthinsurance
andsavea bit of a nestegg
for histwilightyears.
Th""h*f,o**, "l"un,,."ud
on...
lWl
\"
B r i d al Cl a r e e r l F o o d & W i n e l F a c e & B o d y l H o m e & L i v i n g l P r e g n a n c y &
Arlq&Entertainmed
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05 Apr 2001
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ChewOn This
AnthonyBourdain:TalesFrom
Hell's Kitchen
Margarei
Ambrose
page 2 ol 2
The long hoursof cocaineand heroin-induced
lrenzycame to
an end when he foundhimselfsittingin the streetin the snow,
for drug money,surroundedby friends
sellinghis possessions
who had been badlybeatenin some drug deal gonewrong.
He turnedhis back on his addictfriends("lt was hard to leave
thoseguys behind,but I didn'twant to die.")but foundthat the
kitchenenvironmentwasn'tsomethinghe neededto leave
behind.lt was actuallyhelpfulin his recovery.
"l
thinkfor a recoveringdrug addictit's perfect* it's one of the
few businessesthat will haveyou.As long as you can get it
togetherto show up on time and do a goodjob, you know,you
couldhavetwo heads.lt's a veryforgivingbusinessin that
respect* there are a lot of recoveringdrug addictsin my
cornerof the world."
Bourdainoftenmakesa militaryanalogyfor life in the kitchen
- there'sa hierarchy,and specificduties,which,he says,
"You're
meansyourday-to-daylife is relianion others.
workingshoulderio shoulderwith peoplein a small,hoi,
confinedspacefor most of yourwakinghours,everyday. One
of the thingsthat I loveaboutthe businessis thai you have all
these very differentpeoplefrom differentbackgroundsthrown
together,and you'reforcedto becomeiniimateand relyon
each otherin a very beautifulway."
Bourdainmaintainsit was the structuredlifestyleof the
kitchenthat not onlyenabledhim to becomeclean,but also to
"l
discoverhis own skills. am as much in lovewith the lifestyle
and my crew and the ideaof runninga day to day operaticn,
as I am with food."
Compatibl*
with
ynu:rlou*r?'
t*-
J-am
ie-O--li-vel
: Superstar.
_CheJ
BecomeAn UnstressedChef '
ChefsWith Attitude.
i: i : r t l _ . l
krc
rel
GA
ffi
YummvApron
It'sa lifestylethat has also enabledhim to producesuch an
"
acclaimedbook. I don'tknow if I couldhave beena writer
withoutbeinga chef first.Writingrequiresdiscipline.lf I had to
put writingas anotherthingI do today,I don'tknow if I would
havethe urge."
h"{*w.!usllid*
you halarrc*
3
"truelove",it's a place
While the cultureof the kitchenis his
he's not planningon spendingeverywakinghour in the future.
Althoughhe stillhas the roleof ExecutiveChef,at the New
York brasserie,Les Halles,he'sgot morefingersin the pie.
"l'm workingon a bookcalledlhe Cookb lourwhich will also
be a televisionshow.where I eai mv wav aroundthe world*
BrevilleChar-GrillPlus
alsobeeneatingsomehumblehomecooking.
In MexicoI
wentto visitrelativesof my cooks- mostof themcomefrom
thisarea* andI visitedtheirMomsandtheirGrandmothers
andljust atesimplecountry
food."
l{*w we{$ds
you ha$amee
ffi
WMFGrandGourmetKnife
BlockSet
It was in Vietnamthatthe unfortunate
cobralosthis heartto
"Yep,zippedrightoutof thecobratableside,"
Bcurdain.
he
laughs."lt waskindof likea hyperactive
mussel.Mywaiter,
whcwashandling
thecobra,hada bandage
on hishand,
whichdidn'texactlyfill mewithconfidence"
But I wasn't
scared."
To saythatno foodfrightens
Bourdain
wouldn't
be entirely
true."Genericcookingscaresme - restaurants
wherethe
foodtastesexactlythesamein Melbourne
as it doesin Tulsa,
- thatdisturbs
Oklahoma
me.I liketheideathatcuisine
reflectsits regionor neighbourhood."
"l'm alsoa littlefrightened
by thetrendtowardswhatthe
- youknow,labfood,
Frenchhavebeencallinglaboratoire
hyper-sanitary
testinglaboratories
makingfood.Whilethis
maybe thewaveof thefuture,it makesme feelold andoutof
touch,anda littlebitfrightened
of thefuture."
KitchenConfidentialby AnthonyBourdainis published
by BloomsburyPublishingand retailsfor $29.95.
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