It Happened in the Kitchen

America's love affair with food has turned chefs into superstars

by Robert Rorke -- Publishers Weekly, 7/18/2005

Anthony Bourdain tells it like it is, whether he's writing about the inner workings of a New York restaurant, as he did in his 2000 bestseller, Kitchen Confidential, or talking about the proliferation of cookbooks in the marketplace. The executive chef of New York bistro Les Halles doesn't believe the authors of most cookbooks intend their readers to actually follow the recipes inside. "They don't expect you to work from the book," he says. "It's like food porn. You fantasize about doing it."

When he was putting together Anthony Bourdain's Les Halles Cookbook (Bloomsbury), he wanted to make sure the recipes were more accessible than some of the higher-end books. "Our recipes are 100 years old," he says. "I'm not Thomas Keller or Alain Ducasse. I run a brasserie. I work with a very traditional form."

Bourdain was en route to Las Vegas for a week of fine dining at America's new capital of cuisine, Las Vegas. As once-elite figures like Todd English and Jean-Georges Vongerichten become household names, the major chefs of the world have opened up shops in Sin City. But the country's fascination with cuisine culture is not limited to the rise of upscale restaurants in Vegas. The Food Network has made stars out of Bobby Flay and Emeril Lagrasse, among others. Bourdain applauds the celebration of the food world and the elevation of the chef to superstar status.

"We have a lot of catching up to do with chefs in Asia. There have always been celebrity chefs in France," he says. "Who better than chefs to become superstars? Football players? Actors? Personally, I'm milking it for all it's worth."