Thursday, August 28, 2003
Book Notes
I'm done. Wiped out. Through. Ready to catch the last few minutes of MTV's VMA. Hoping to see Missy Eliot pick up an award.
I just wanted to give a book suggestion for the long weekend. Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly by Anthony Bourdain. He tells you everything you wanted to know about the kitchens in New York's fanciest restaurants, and lots of stuff you didn't want to know. He describes the subculture of the kitchen with its foul-mouthed, intense, pill popping, sweaty chefs, sous chefs, dishwashers, and owners. The best stuff is all the stuff you don't want to know, ie.
- don't buy the seafood frittatta on Mondays. By monday, the fish is probably four days old.
- don't be surprised if the bread was formerly on someone else's table.
- don't get well done meat.
- don't think too much about food safety. He thinks some quality time in the toilet is the price you pay for a fantastic meal.
- Emeril sucks.
As novice foodies, Steve and I visit a great restaurant a couple times a year. After reading this, I can't wait until our next trip. It would be fun to check out Bourdain's restaurant, Les Halles.
The first part of the book goes fast, but by the end, there is a little too much name dropping. And the Hunter Thompson style gets old after two hundred pages. Only Hunter should do Hunter.
But maybe a little over-the-top writing is the price you have to pay to get an insight into the kitchen.
(Off to the conference. Back to the blog on Monday.)
I'm done. Wiped out. Through. Ready to catch the last few minutes of MTV's VMA. Hoping to see Missy Eliot pick up an award.
I just wanted to give a book suggestion for the long weekend. Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly by Anthony Bourdain. He tells you everything you wanted to know about the kitchens in New York's fanciest restaurants, and lots of stuff you didn't want to know. He describes the subculture of the kitchen with its foul-mouthed, intense, pill popping, sweaty chefs, sous chefs, dishwashers, and owners. The best stuff is all the stuff you don't want to know, ie.
- don't buy the seafood frittatta on Mondays. By monday, the fish is probably four days old.
- don't be surprised if the bread was formerly on someone else's table.
- don't get well done meat.
- don't think too much about food safety. He thinks some quality time in the toilet is the price you pay for a fantastic meal.
- Emeril sucks.
As novice foodies, Steve and I visit a great restaurant a couple times a year. After reading this, I can't wait until our next trip. It would be fun to check out Bourdain's restaurant, Les Halles.
The first part of the book goes fast, but by the end, there is a little too much name dropping. And the Hunter Thompson style gets old after two hundred pages. Only Hunter should do Hunter.
But maybe a little over-the-top writing is the price you have to pay to get an insight into the kitchen.
(Off to the conference. Back to the blog on Monday.)
