“Kitchen Confidential”: the book changed Anthony Bourdain’s life

The first time Good Food host Evan Kleiman interviewed Anthony Bourdain was in July of 2000, shortly after his first book came out. In 1999, he had written a widely read piece for the New Yorker called “Don’t Eat Before Reading This.” At the time, Bourdain was still working as a chef, and his essay lifted the veil on the chaos and dysfunction of restaurant kitchens. That article led to the publication of “Kitchen Confidential,” his breakthrough tell-all about the restaurant world. Kleiman says, “I remember devouring [it] on a plane trip laughing and crying my way through.”