Anthony Bourdain was one of the best food memoirists of all time. His seminal book Kitchen Confidential gave readers an unfiltered look at the food, people and work in professional kitchens, exposing everything from substandard food practices to his own struggles with drug use. Bourdain wrote exactly as he spoke: direct, no nonsense and packed with vivid anecdotes, reports BritPanorama.
After Kitchen Confidential came A Cook’s Tour: In Search of the Perfect Meal, in which he documented the travels that later defined his television work, inspiring readers to explore unfamiliar cultures through food. His later memoir, Medium Raw: A Bloody Valentine to the World of Food and the People Who Cook, reflected on his rise to fame and the transformation of food culture in the years between his life as a behind-the-scenes line cook and his career on screen.
Bourdain died by suicide in 2018 at the age of 61, but his influence on food writing and television continues to shape the way audiences think about restaurants, eating and travelling the world.
Later this year, A24 will release a biopic of Bourdain, Tony, starring Dominic Sessa. Until then, here are some of my favourite books by chefs, food writers and culinary enthusiasts to whet your appetite.
Tart by Slutty Chef
Released last year, Tart is the debut of the anonymous writer Slutty Chef, carrying over the voice that earned her a devoted Instagram following: witty, irreverent and constantly upending expectations of what a food writer should talk about. Take, for example, a line from her description of the ideal restaurant: “I want the waiter to smile, but not because he has to – because he is in love with the head chef.”
In her memoir, the chef-influencer-turned-Vogue-contributor captures the chaos of life in her twenties, charting messy post-shift nights filled with drinking and drugs and the isolation that can come with being the only woman in the kitchen. The writing is unapologetically carnal, treating sex and food with the same hunger, excess and intensity throughout. You have been warned.
Bloomsbury, £16.99
The Devil in the Kitchen: Sex, Pain, Madness and the Making of a Great Chef by Marco Pierre White
This exhilarating memoir by Marco Pierre White is a first-hand look at the obsession and sacrifice it took for the “Great Chef” to become the youngest-ever chef in the UK (and the youngest anywhere at the time) to earn three Michelin stars – and then the first to give them all back. The memoir follows White from his working-class upbringing in Leeds, through a difficult childhood and the death of his mother when he was six, to his rise as one of the culinary world’s original rock-star chefs.
Particularly compelling are the mentions of Harvey’s, the landmark London restaurant that White opened in the 80s at just 25. These scenes are chaotic, even more than you might expect, marked by late-night excess and combustible kitchen culture.
Orion, £12.99
Taste: My Life Through Food by Stanley Tucci
The beloved actor and lifelong foodie serves up a book rich with anecdotes and evocative descriptions of his life from his earliest memories cooking with his mother to the more complicated realities of the present day: losing his first wife to cancer and his own diagnosis with oral cancer. Though treatment affected his sense of taste for almost a year, Tucci writes with characteristic optimism, even finding an unlikely silver lining in the metabolism boost that followed.
Some of the book’s finest moments come from Tucci’s tales of on-set catering, freely flowing wine while filming in Italy, a sacred and formal lunch hour during French productions, and his simple equation: the bigger the budget, the better the food.
Penguin, £9.99
Kitchen Person: Notes on Cooking and Eating by Rachel Cooke
In 2009, the British journalist, critic and author Rachel Cooke – celebrated for her incisive interviews, cultural commentary and literary criticism – began a weekly food column for The Observer, a new chapter in her 25 years there. With wit and sharp precision, the column charted the evolving landscape of cooking and eating. It dissected everything from stocking up her freezer with European goods in anticipation of Brexit to how the home delivery phenomenon is turning regional food specialties into a thing of the past. Kitchen Person brings together 50 of her best pieces.
But it’s not just about food: Cooke’s observations on cultural and culinary upheaval are woven into reflections on her personal journey. From her childhood in Sheffield, to interviewing
