RIP, Bourdain

Had I not been deliberately transitioning out of the restaurant trade when this came out in 2000, I might have made it my bible.

I was homeless, a recently-fired chef, unemployable, not nearly as skilled as I believed, and mentally ill.

I never again wanted to see the interior of a commercial kitchen.

I was a good candidate for madness from the outset of my working life, but working in restaurants nearly finished me off.

Kitchen Confidential was a holy book, funny as hell, and as true a piece of writing as I've ever read.  I can say that because I recognized every damn situation and anecdote therein.

I took to it like an evangelical Christian takes to his favorite bible passages. I wasn't very big on the later TV shows, mainly because I'm not really a TV watcher, but the book got me.

Had I not read it, Bourdain's fate may have been my own in that long-ago nightmare.

The guy was absolutely gifted.  Sorry to see he didn't make it last a little longer.


TS