Book Club #9.
Lesson: Be careful what and where you eat.
Lesson: Be careful what and where you eat.
About the Book:
Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary UnderbellySummary:
Anthony Bourdain shares his initiation and experiences in the underbelly of the food industry as a culinary school graduate and eventually head chef. There is order and chaos in kitchen, industry secrets, and a wide variety of characters.Characters:
- Anthony Bourdain
- BigFoot - mentor
- fellow workers
Questions:
1. Have you ever worked in the restaurant industry? If yes, in what capacity and was your experience reflected in the book?
2. Bourdain described his kitchen as a loud, lewd environment whereas he later visited another kitchen that was very quiet and had a woman in a higher kitchen position. Reality shows often depict head chefs as loud, angry, dictator types like Gordon Ramsey. Do you think this is a result of Bourdain, reflective of chef personalities, or simply for entertaining television? What do you think is the personality of most kitchens?
6. Bourdain had a life-changing trip to Japan. Have you had a travel experience that had a great impact on your view of food or was particularly memorable for culinary reasons?
2. Bourdain described his kitchen as a loud, lewd environment whereas he later visited another kitchen that was very quiet and had a woman in a higher kitchen position. Reality shows often depict head chefs as loud, angry, dictator types like Gordon Ramsey. Do you think this is a result of Bourdain, reflective of chef personalities, or simply for entertaining television? What do you think is the personality of most kitchens?
3. What do you think it takes to work in the professional food industry?
4. If you were to start a restaurant or food-related business, what would it be?
5.
What advice from the book do you plan on implementing in your life? Do
you plan on changing any of your dining habits after reading this book?
What would you change?4. If you were to start a restaurant or food-related business, what would it be?
6. Bourdain had a life-changing trip to Japan. Have you had a travel experience that had a great impact on your view of food or was particularly memorable for culinary reasons?
7. What did you feel was most compelling or memorable about the book? What did the author do that made it particularly memorable?
8. Anthony Bourdain describes lots of memorable characters in the book,
then mentions them again at the end of the book. Who seemed most
interesting to you?
9. Do you think it would be possible to
succeed in the restaurant business without caffeine or drugs? They
seemed like a big part of the restaurant culture.
Conversation Summary:
Discussion topics:- running a kitchen and working a tough, time-sensitive industry like the culinary world takes a particular personality
- fans of bigfoot - establishing relationships with vendors, kitchen setup, efficiency
- changes to eating habits - no fish on Sunday, bread, eggs benedict
- stories from people who worked in the food industry
- signs of a bad restaurant - bathroom unclean, wide focus, changing menus, management turnover, etc.
- kitchen disasters and restaurant turnovers
- favorite food adventures and experiences
- well-written, bourdain has a easy-to-read and poetic writing style
- bourdain's media/celebrity climb
3/3 bears finished book and 3/3 loved it
