Medium Raw

A Bloody Valentine to the World of Food and the People Who Cook

By: Anthony Bourdain

Narrated by: Anthony Bourdain

The long-awaited follow-up to the mega-best-seller Kitchen Confidential

In the 10 years since his classic Kitchen Confidential first alerted us to the idiosyncrasies and lurking perils of eating out - from Monday fish to the breadbasket conspiracy - much has changed for the subculture of chefs and cooks, for the restaurant business and for Anthony Bourdain. Medium Raw explores those changes, moving back and forth from the author's bad old days to the present. Tracking his own strange and unexpected voyage from journeyman cook to globe-traveling professional eater and drinker, and even to fatherhood, Bourdain takes no prisoners as he dissects what he's seen, pausing along the way for a series of confessions, rants, investigations, and interrogations of some of the most controversial figures in food.

Beginning with a secret and highly illegal after-hours gathering of powerful chefs that he compares to a mafia summit, Bourdain pulls back the curtain, but never pulls his punches, on the modern gastronomical revolution, as only he can. Cutting right to the bone, Bourdain sets his sights on some of the biggest names in the foodie world, including David Chang, the young superstar chef who has radicalized the fine-dining landscape; the revered Alice Waters, whom he treats with unapologetic frankness; the Top Chef winners and losers; and many more.

Always he returns to the question "Why cook?" Or the more difficult "Why cook well?" Medium Raw is the deliciously funny and shockingly delectable journey to those answers, sure to delight philistines and gourmands alike.

©2010 Anthony Bourdain (P)2010 HarperCollins Publishers

Critic reviews

"The food orbit is [Bourdain’s] element, and chapters on today’s leading figures—from chef David Chang to critic Alan Richman—display his access, outspokenness and comedic gifts....Mr. Bourdain is a vivid, bawdy and often foul-mouthed writer. He thrills in the attack, but he is also an enthusiast who writes well about things he holds dear." ( Wall Street Journal)

“Full of things everybody in the food world thinks but nobody will say...If [Bourdain’s] sharp eye and his wicked tongue have brought him acclaim, what’s kept him in the spotlight is his heart. Like Oscar Wilde, he’s a moralist in the guise of a libertine. Long may he prosper.” ( Denver Post)

“Bourdain has insight, access and good taste, and he’s a naturally engaging writer...Bourdain is a hopeless romantic when it comes to food and the people who cook. The subtitle’s real valentines are two elegantly written profiles.” ( New York Times Book Review)

Unexpectedly Delighted

Bourdain can get on your nerves. I should know, after faithfully inhaling his No Reservations for years, and more recently The Layover, all the while noticing the shows' producers increased tolerance for letting Tony get away with (or encouraging him towards?) kinda lame stuff. To watch as Tony tosses back triple shots of straight (insert local booze here) with a local table-mate until the redness of nose and the inanity of banter chafes my patience, and is no longer good TV (I even found it tedious when I was still a practicing drunk). On the other hand, the Haiti and Beirut and Mozambique episodes are finer recent examples of how No Reservations works when it’s nurtured and cared for. It was this Bourdain I hoped to find in Medium Raw, and with some trepidation I procured the audiobook.

All hesitation was quelled after the first two or three chapters. I am pleased to say I’m now enjoying my second listen, revisiting themes and analyses the first pass threw down with such ease and grace. Whatever impulse Bourdain may have to tread lightly and boozily when shooting some of his less stellar travel drunkalogs is not present here. Instead we have a sharp noggin bristling with ideas and a witty blast of fresh and cheeky verbiage in the sharing of them. He’s got some of David Foster Wallace’s eye for detail, and hints of A. J. Liebling’s ability to communicate complex ideas about food and society in a few finely crafted phrases that get right to the nut.

Dear Tony, if Medium Raw is the Bourdain that the TV versions of you have been hinting at, then please give us more of this pen on paper stuff, as after all it was Kitchen Confidential that sent the TV scouts after you in the first place. Yes you’re fun and irreverent on TV, but you really shine on the page (and incidentally as the narrator of your own work).

a decent sequel

This sequel to Kitchen Confidential is very good, but Bourdain's ego and opinions get a little bloated and tedious. However, when he begins to berate the Food Network, it is the best. definietly download if you like his first book.

Brutally honest and endlessly entertaining.

I am a big fan of all the variations of Mr. Bourdain's TV show, which started off as "No Reservation". He is honest about his sudden success with his first book and his subsequent lifestyle that he was lucky to survive. He reflects on how clueless and rude his criticisms were in his first book and now looks back with the perspective of age and experience and expresses some regrets.

If you like this aging artist looking back on his life, his hipster, poetic, rock and roll kind of attitude, you will really enjoy this book. He's a great story teller.

A Great Sequel

It is like having Bourdain back. I love hearing his voice just one more time.

another great one for the great one

man just knows how to speak to kitchen people.. pretty sure he's my spirit animal

a glimpse into a chefs life

I read kitchen confidential in culinary school and kinda knew what I was in for after school. I worked 12 years as a cook. then I listened to this book and wow. chapter 8 is my bucket list.

Excelent!

Would you consider the audio edition of Medium Raw to be better than the print version?

The feeling on Bourdain's voice on every story makes it worthwile.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Medium Raw?

Everything is great, the descriptions detailed enough to make you feel part of the story.

What does Anthony Bourdain bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

It's great when you get the author to tell the story, even better when he really is a great communicator and has a very recognizable voice.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

No, you want to make it last!

Any additional comments?

Great book!

Everything I thought and more

Five star

Growing up seeing this man, a person who was a drug addict and a alcoholic at times Is what gave me the push to be in the food business I was in. His sarcastic views spoke volumes to my adolescent mind.

Was like a Mr. Rogers I was proud to watch

ANother great book by Tony Bourdain

If you like Kitchen Confidential, you'll love this book. It's not the sequel -- but it's darn close.

Bourdain at his best

Any additional comments?

If you're already a fan (TV shows or other books) you'll enjoy this one. Bourdain offers more personal opinions than travel log as he did in Kitchen Confidential.