KITCHEN CONFIDENTIAL Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly

I didn't want to be a killjoy. To dampen the enthusiasm at this proud and happy event by being a ...

amusement. A little knowledge can be dangerous and annoying . . . but I had actually learned some useful ...

beach, got drunk and sat there, roasting his never-before-exposed-to-the- sun scalp to the July ultraviolets. Whe ...

from our regular kitchen chores and all the overtime we needed. We threw ourselves into the task with near- ...

the tasty, protein-rich gelée that covered us from head to toe. The garden party was, to be modest, a ...

filled Dimitri's head with the idea that what we were doing here, we could do back in New York— ...

We didn't know if the thing could be done. Other than old engravings from Larousse we'd never even ...

ourselves. Party time came and we were ready—we hoped. First there were hors d'oeuvres: microscopic ca ...

buttons. But who's actually cooking your food? Are they young, ambitious culinary school grads, putting i ...

Gimme that risotto!' . . . and the Italian . . . he's gonna give it to you . . . An Ecuadorian ...

You want loyalty from your line cooks. Somebody who wakes up with a scratchy throat and slight fever ...

cutting board with Beth dry-humping him from behind, saying, "How do you like it, bitch?" The guy almost died ...

Working clean, constantly wiping and cleaning, is a desirable state of affairs for the conscientious line cook. ...

kosher or sea salt crushed black peppercorns (hand-crushed-not ground in the blender) ground white pepper fresh bre ...

head, remembering which steak goes with what. He's got to be able to tune out the howls of outrage f ...

That's what counts. I can break down line cooks into three subgroups. You've got your Artists: the a ...

another Mexican dishwasher anytime. I can teach him to cook. I can't teach character. Show up at work on ...

days old! You walk into a nice two-star place in Tribeca on a sleepy Monday evening and you see they're ...

Sunday or Monday night special—they're not sturdy enough. The chef knows. He anticipates the likelihood that he mig ...

pick the good-looking ones out of your order. How about seafood on Sunday? Well . . . sometimes, but n ...