Highly respected author in the food industry. Well written, funny, humerous, could not stop laughing. Honest realistic tells it like it is. Most in the industry can relate and identify with his experiences. Former executive chef of Les Halles, NYC. Graduate of Cullinary Insititute. Prolific writer in the food industry. Traveling around the world eating and describing his experinces to his audiences. Do not go anywhere in the world without reaing about Anthony's experiences in the country you are traveling to. Opinionated and experienced, a valuable resource for students in culinary schools.

It's certainly an interesting idea - send a chef out to sample various exotic cuisines in search of the perfect combination of food, place, setting. But they picked the wrong guy.

I cannot believe this man can taste food, much less be a professional chef. He is destroying his taste buds, through the abuse of alcohol and nicotine, not to mention myriad forms of cannabis and the occasional cocaine amuse-nez. His idea of a good time is to get so drunk he can't remember what he did, swear a lot, and in general behave like the kind of jerk you wouldn't want at the table next to you. I think he suffers from testosterone-poisoning.

This was good, but I didn't enjoy it as much as Kitchen Confidential. I've been trying to decide why & I think it's because ultimately this isn't so much a food book as it is a travel book. That's okay, but the notion of hunting down the perfect meal has an appeal to me & led me to expect something different.

Having said all of that, I enjoyed the book. It's hard not to love someone who hits the jackpot with a best seller & says to themselves, "Hmmm ... I think I'll see if I can get someone to pay for me to travel around the world eating cool stuff & looking at cool & interesting places." That someone actually did agree to pay for this & that it was the Food Network makes it all the more amusing since he spends much of Kitchen Confidential slagging the Food Netwok & many of its chefs.

If you've seen No Reservations you know the schtick - Tony visits exotic locale, meets interesting people, talks a lot, & eats cool food. Often there is is drunkenness & there is the occasional oblilgatory inspired by the producers moment of Eat-This-Weird-Thing-While-We-Film-You-It'll-Be-Great-Remember-We're-Paying.

I like that Bourdain gets that great food doesn't all happen at 5-star restaurants. It can, but it doesn't happen only there. Great food also happens at people's houses, from street vendors, down at the local. It was fun to read about his meal at The French Laundry, but I'm not dropping $400-$500 on a meal anytime soon & I much more enjoyed his writing about his adventures in Mexico with the families of some of his cooks from his New York restaurant.

All in all I think that this kind of thing works better as a TV series. Ultimately with travel I want to actually see the place, the food, the people. What works as voiceover makes for okay reading, but just okay. ( )

Meh. I was disappointed. Bourdain's book [book: Kitchen Confidential] was so good that I couldn't wait to read this one. More of a documentation of his travels for the show No Reservations, the wit and banter is not there. Too much time is spent on the logistics of travel and it seems to drone on and on.This doesn't mean I won't continue to read his stuff and watch his show. I think he's funny and writes well. But this book is just not as good. ( )

After the bravado and profanity of Kitchen Confidential, the last thing I expected from this book was warmth and tenderness. Damned if Bourdain didn't surprise me. Yes, there was a fair amount of blue language and contempt for The Man, but it's set against a backdrop of genuine affection for the cultures he visits. The chapter where he goes to France with his brother made me tear up. The lush descriptions of food made me ravenous. Not a good book to read for dieters, vegetarians or nuns. ( )