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I admit it. When I first picked up this book, I thought that I was getting some tips, techniques, and maybe recipes from one of my favorite chefs. What I got was a reason to tell the next person who tells me, "You need to open a restaurant." to shut up; because they don't know what they are talking about.

Yes I can cook and love to cook; but Anthony Bordain describes the most insane world that I have ever heard of. Why would someone want to get all that culinary training and be subjected to and environment akin to a pirate ship. Anthony Bordain likes it that way.

He shares his life with you, his childhood, even his life as a functioning drug addict; all the time becoming one of the most well known, well traveled, and creative chef in the world today.

This book takes you to the place where food is created, before it even gets to the restaurant. The mind of a chef is created by his whole life experience. Like some great person once said,"A great artist is born by his pain." I believe that. I have a greater respect for the time I spend at a restaurant waiting for my order to appear before me. The eating of a well conceived meal is an experience like going to the theater. It is a team effort by a group of artist, one patron (or plate) at a time. The chef is a player coach that, manages, sets the tone, and pinch hits for the team.

So if you get impatient while waiting for your meal, or shorts the customary 20% tip for good service or 25% for great service, try McDonalds. That's all you deserve. This book let me discover that eating a great meal at a great restaurant, is like viewing Van Gouge's Violets at a great art museum, or hearing jazz at a club. It is human interaction on an intimate level. You are allowing someone to created art to be ingested by you, hoping that you will be satisfied. I hope that you will notice the adventure.

I have to say that as a huge fan of the show, but without any sort of culinary background, I was on the fence as to whether or not I was going to buy Tony's book and read it. After reading your thoughts here, I don't think there is any more question...thanks

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Originally posted by snurvnurple:
I have to say that as a huge fan of the show, but without any sort of culinary background, I was on the fence as to whether or not I was going to buy Tony's book and read it. After reading your thoughts here, I don't think there is any more question...thanks

I've never been to cooking school and I've never worked in a professional kitchen but I enjoyed both "Kitchen Confidential" and "The Nasty Bits".

I don't think you need to have a cooking background to enjoy these reads