Reader’s Den, Food for Thought

November Reader's Den: "Kitchen Confidential" Discussion Wrap-Up

Welcome to the wrap-up of our discussion of Kitchen Confidential. We hope that we have inspired you to be adventurous in the kitchen this Thanksgiving holiday [if you happen to be reading this blog from a country that doesn't celebrate Thanksgiving now, then we hope that it has inspired you to be adventurous in the kitchen in general], or at least inspired you to find some tasty reading.

Since Kitchen Confidential is a memoir, many of the scenes in it help us to understand why Anthony Bourdain is so emotionally attached to food through the autobiographical vignettes, particularly through those involving his childhood and Europe. In this vein, I would like to invite you to sample some other memoirs about food and the restaurant industry as well as some books about psychological and emotional drama that have a passing relation to food.

Medium Raw (bourdainmediumraw.com) by Anthony Bourdain

The Ramen King and I: How the Inventor of Instant Noodles Fixed My Love Life: A Memoir by Andy Raskin

Service Included: Four-Star Secrets of an Eavesdropping Waiter by Phoebe Damrosch                                  

Spiced: A Pastry Chef's True Stories of Trials By Fire, After-Hours Exploits, and What Really Goes on in the Kitchen by Dalia Jurgensen

The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake by Aimee Bender

Mr. Peanut by Adam Ross

The Edible Woman by Margaret Atwood

Like Water for Chocolate by Laura Esquivel