Kitchen Confidential
by Anthony Bourdain
★ Top 10 book of 2000 · #10 on Best Books of 2000
A celebrity chef looks back on his time in the restaurant business, sharing stories from the kitchen. The book follows his rise from humble dishwasher to a place of fame in the food world.
Best for: Food lovers curious about restaurant life and one chef's rise to fame
Kitchen Confidential is #10 on BookWard's Best Books of 2000, out of 45 2000 books that cleared our data bar.
What Kitchen Confidential is about
Anthony Bourdain's book takes you through the back door of professional restaurants and shows what happens behind the swinging doors. It began as a 1999 New Yorker essay, "Don't Eat Before Reading This", which his mother submitted to the magazine and which launched his media career. The book is part memoir and part exposé, told as a loose run of funny, blunt anecdotes.
Bourdain describes kitchens as intense, hazardous places staffed by misfits, and he is just as frank about his own failings, drug use included. He also explains how restaurants make their money, passes on warnings about the tricks some owners play on diners, and offers practical advice, such as skipping fish on Mondays and avoiding well-done beef. He names George Orwell's Down and Out in Paris and London as an influence. It will appeal to food lovers, anyone curious about restaurant work, and readers who like their memoirs brash and honest.
Kitchen Confidential on the Best Books of 2000
Kitchen Confidential came out in 2000. Of the 45 books first published in 2000 that met BookWard's data bar, it ranks #10 on our Best Books of 2000 list.
Why it made the list: 346 readers have shelved it on Open Library; readers rate it 4 out of 5 (54 ratings). The list ranks each year’s books on how many readers have picked them up, how highly readers rate them, and how many are reading them right now.
Nearby on the 2000 list
- Angels & Demons Dan Brown, #8
- Stormbreaker Anthony Horowitz, #9
- A Living Nightmare... (Cirque Du Freak #1) Darren Shan, #11
- How Do Dinosaurs Say Good Night? Jane Yolen, #12
See all Best Books of 2000 Best books by year
More years: Best Books of 1999 Best Books of 2001.
The numbers behind it
- Readers: 243 want to read it, 19 are reading it now and 84 have read it, according to Open Library.
- Ratings: 4 out of 5 from 54 Open Library ratings.
| Signal | This book (0 to 100) | Weight |
|---|---|---|
| Reach | 71 | 55% |
| Reader love | 60 | 25% |
| Being read right now | 67 | 20% |
Questions about Kitchen Confidential
When was Kitchen Confidential published?
Kitchen Confidential by Anthony Bourdain was first published in 2000.
Was Kitchen Confidential one of the best books of 2000?
Kitchen Confidential is #10 on BookWard's Best Books of 2000, out of 45 2000 books that cleared our data bar. 346 readers have shelved it on Open Library; readers rate it 4 out of 5 (54 ratings).
Why is Kitchen Confidential on the Best Books of 2000 list?
346 readers have shelved it on Open Library; readers rate it 4 out of 5 (54 ratings).
More of the best books of 2000
- Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire J. K. Rowling, #1
- The 48 Laws of Power Robert Greene, #2
- Because of Winn-Dixie Kate DiCamillo, #3
- The Gruffalo Julia Donaldson, #4
- Life of Pi Yann Martel, #5
- Esperanza Rising Pam Muñoz Ryan, #6
See the full Best Books of 2000, the Top 100, or new books on Rising.
How we know
This page uses public data: Open Library reader counts and ratings, and Wikipedia page views for recent years. The description is paraphrased from real source text. Rankings reflect reading interest, not quality or sales, and can be affected by data gaps. Lists update monthly.
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