I am not going to lie, this guy is one of my culinary heroes. I cant really condone his early life and rampant drug use but I have to admit that my most dog eared books are his Kitchen Confidential, The Nasty Bits & a Cooks Tour.
What I like about the guy is his total sensual indulgence in food, he speaks clearly of his first true foodie moments. His first taste of vichyssoise, his first oyster, his first irreverent glass of vin ordinaire (watered of course, he was 14 or something) Relating to that on my level is easy. My first fondue, my first beef carpaccio, my first foie gras and my first glass of new zealand sauvignon blanc- which unfortunately turned me on to wine.
Total culinary sensualism cant be a bad thing, when you look at Bourdains travels he has literally made an attempt to be killed by food at least 5 times (4 of which ended in gastroenteritis) and you have to admire that. I hope that one day, having established myself I will attempt food induced coma's at every opportunity....
Most of all I appreciate the in depth look at my daily life. The grind of cooks, the shitty side of waiting tables, the importance of working a 60 hour week without a word of complaint. Heed his advice about when to eat seafood in a restaurant, the perils of mussels anywhere, why never to order a steak well done, the true importance of quality knives & heavy bottom cookware and truism that if you ever screw with someones mise en place (their general cooking items from salt & pepper to towels to oil, wine, herbs, chiles etc)you deserve to be shot.
This guy has got me back into cooking many times in the past few years, every time I read his books I want to be better in my industry.
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