Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly

Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of mental illness and death by suicide.

Anthony Bourdain was an American chef, writer, and travel television host who received widespread acclaim for his restaurant work, books, and television shows. A 1978 graduate of the Culinary Institute of America (CIA), Bourdain was a fixture on the New York restaurant scene for three decades. He worked in many professional kitchens throughout the course of his career but is best known for the years he spent as an executive chef at Brasserie Les Halles in Manhattan. 

A lifelong lover of writing and literature, Bourdain published his essay “Don’t Eat Before Reading This” in the New Yorker in 1999. Kitchen Confidential was published one year later and became, to Bourdain’s surprise, a runaway success. Bourdain’s first television show, A Cook’s Tour, ran on the Food Network in 2002 and 2003, catapulting him to celebrity status and cementing his appeal as a television host. In his writing, Bourdain was open about his lifelong mental health issues, and he died by suicide in 2018 while filming on location with his friend and fellow chef Eric Ripert.

Bourdain began his culinary career in the fast-paced world of Manhattan fine dining. After landing a job washing dishes at a restaurant in Provincetown, Massachusetts, Bourdain realized that he did not belong in a traditional, four-year college and set his sights on culinary school. He attended CIA, one of the nation’s top-tier culinary schools, and quickly made his mark on the New York restaurant scene. He was an early champion of ingredients and dishes that had long been labeled undesirable and advocated for more responsible fishing practices through his menus’ use of a greater variety of seafood. 

As he notes in Kitchen Confidential, Bourdain’s interest in professional cooking was rooted in his passion for adventurous eating, and he hoped to share that passion with his diners. He gained many industry connections through his work in different kitchens, but enjoyed his greatest success as executive chef at Brasserie Les Halles in Manhattan. Named for Paris’s famed central marketplace, the restaurant served simple French bistro classics with an eye toward excellence in preparation. Bourdain’s menus reflected his own family’s history and his commitment to one of his favorite culinary traditions, and he published many of his recipes in Anthony Bourdain’s Brasserie Les Halles Cookbook.

Although better known for his work as a chef and television host, Bourdain was also an accomplished writer. A fan of both classic literary fiction and gritty thrillers and mysteries, Bourdain published his first book, a culinary mystery called Bone in the Throat, in 1995. The novel follows the exploits of a Manhattan chef who unwittingly gets mixed up with the Mafia and is horrified to discover a murder in his restaurant kitchen. Although a work of fiction, Bourdain drew on his own experiences for this book, some of which are detailed in Kitchen Confidential’s “The Wilderness Years” chapter. His second novel, Gone Bamboo (2000), also features ruthless mobsters and is set in the Caribbean, Bourdain’s favorite travel destination. 

Bourdain published several more works of nonfiction during the years he spent working on television, and A Cook’s Tour (2001) is a bestselling account of his experiences while filming his first travel show. Like Kitchen Confidential, it is written in the alternately serious and humorous tone that characterizes much of Bourdain’s writing. His other works include The Nasty Bits (2006), another work of nonfiction, and Medium Raw: A Bloody Valentine to the World of Food and the People Who Cook (2010), a follow-up memoir to Kitchen Confidential.

Bourdain hosted several different travel shows, each of which introduced readers to food culture in a series of different destinations. A Cook’s Tour (2002-2003) was his first show, and it shows the keen interest in exploring new cities and their food cultures that he writes about in the “Mission to Tokyo” chapter of Kitchen Confidential. Although the show only ran for 35 episodes, Bourdain’s relatable hosting style, coupled with his sincere appreciation for both people and food, struck a chord with viewers. In 2005, he premiered Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations on the Travel Channel. The show was an instant success, receiving an Emmy award in 2007 for the episode that he and his crew filmed in 2006 in Beirut as the Israel-Lebanon conflict erupted. 

He went on to star in two other shows for the Travel Channel, The Layover and The Getaway, but due to mounting frustration with the Travel Channel’s leadership, Bourdain moved to CNN in 2012, where he hosted Parts Unknown, another food and travel show, and then PBS, where he hosted The Mind of a Chef. Throughout his television career, Bourdain introduced viewers to new dishes, culinary traditions, people, and countries. Although a self-avowed introvert, he formed deep connections with many of his interviewees, some of which became lasting friendships. The authenticity that he brought to his television shows earned him a wide viewership, and he used food culture as a way to explore individual human stories, politics, and history.

Bourdain had a complex public persona. He brought his wit and trademark sarcasm to both his writing and his work on television and was known for his harsh criticism of celebrity chefs and celebrity chef culture. Yet he often struck a more serious tone: A harsh critic of injustice, he spoke out against the United States’s interventionist practices, exposing the harmful impact of US foreign policy in places like Latin America and Southeast Asia. As his hosting style evolved, he increasingly engaged with the complex intersection of food, culture, and politics. Some of his most-viewed shows were filmed in Vietnam and Cambodia, where he explored genocide, the impact of colonialism on society and food culture, and the lasting trauma of what the Vietnamese still call “the American War.” During the years of #MeToo, Bourdain became an advocate for women and criticized the exploitation of women in the film industry. He leaves a rich legacy behind, and his books and television shows continue to inspire a new generation of cooks, diners, and travelers.