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He says "The restaurant kitchen may indeed be the last, glorious meritocracy," yet his own career has greatly benefited from his talent for writing and self-pro
by phugoid 16y ago
He says "The restaurant kitchen may indeed be the last, glorious meritocracy," yet his own career has greatly benefited from his talent for writing and self-promotion.
- JCThoughtscream 16y agoAye. But as a writer, not a chef. He complains quite often about following the money instead of the experience during his tenure as a chef for many a failed restaurant.
- dagw 16y agoI think you have to differentiate between a chef and a restaurateur. Bourdain's success as a chef comes from hard work, skill and merit. His success as a restaurateur has on the other hand benefited from his writing, self-promotion and no doubt luck.
- ssharp 16y agoIt's been awhile since I've read Kitchen Confidential and have some timelines mixed up between that and his new book, so I'm not sure about this, but I believe Bourdaine had already become head chef at Les Halles in NYC before KC was published. He is now a writer / TV personality and is no longer spending his career in a kitchen. Certainly, he is making more money now than he would have been able to do while only being a chef, but he advanced pretty far in the restaurant industry before he wrote the book that launched his second career.
- GBond 16y agoLes Halles is a mid-tier business lunch place as far as NYC restaurants go (BTW, they have great frites moules). I wouldn't say working that kitchen indicates far advancement. I think the draw of his book & tv show has more to do with his persona rather than his resume as a chef. This is consistent with what he is saying in this article. To survive as a chef, you have to be crazy. And to be mega-successful, you have to be lucky to boot.
- mechanical_fish 16y agoI believe Bourdain had already become head chef at Les Halles in NYC before KC was published That is correct. EDIT: You also need to read the article, in which he says: If I hadn’t enjoyed a freakish and unexpected success with Kitchen Confidential, I’d still be standing behind the stove of a good but never great restaurant at the age of fifty-three. I would be years behind in my taxes, still uninsured, with a mouthful of looming dental problems, a mountain of debt, and an ever more rapidly declining value as a cook. Bourdain is under no illusions about his own value as a cook, as opposed to his value as a writer. And he'll be the first to tell you.
- wyclif 16y agoIn a manner of speaking, he found his true self. It's a great piece of writing.
- bmj 16y agoI think, too, that this is said about quite a few professions, by people working in those professions.
- napierzaza 16y agoBut wasn't his success not really "in" the kitchen, but outside it?
- InclinedPlane 16y agoExactly. He succeeds through luck and accident in being a writer, but not in being a great chef.