“Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly” By Anthony Bourdain

Earlier this month my co-worker Lillian walked with some friends from our hospice in the “Out of the Darkness Overnight Walk” for suicide prevention in San Francisco. They walked in honor of one of our nurses who took his own life last year. Covering more than 18 miles, they helped raise money and awareness for the America Foundation of Suicide Prevention. As Lillian described the powerful experience to me, it made me remember that it has not only been a year since our nurse died, but also a year since Kate Spade and Anthony Bourdain committed suicide just three days apart. This memory drove me back to re-read Bourdain’s book “Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly.” For foodies and non-foodies alike, this book is an incredible read. In his own words he describes the memoir as “twenty-five years of sex, drugs, bad behavior and haute cuisine.” The book is filled with juicy characters, colorful food and helpful tips such as why you should never order fish on a Monday (because it has been sitting around since Friday.) Like a war correspondent, Bourdain takes us behind the front lines of some of the world’s best restaurants and shows us what it really looks like to work there. There also is a new book out called “Anthony Bourdain Remembered,” a collection of quotes, memories and images from his life. That is a book I will want to check out, too. I am missing all three of them, and thinking about those they left behind. To purchase this book on Amazon click here.