Kitchen Con - Trevor White

[kpzoo]

Howdy. Has anyone read "Kitchen Con: Writing on the Restaurant Racket" by Trevor White?
http://www.kitchencon.com/

If so, did you enjoy it? Did it enlighten and/or entertain? I'm thinking of buying it.

Thanks!

[atom12]

You've already been warned away from it, but add me to that list. It was unwiedly, poorly organized and just plain awful.

On a more positive note, if you like Bourdain, I highly recommend Chuck Thompson's "Smile When You're Lying" which is a Bourdain-like take on the travel industry. Really funny and enlightening. Though there isn't much food in it.

[L_W]

I read it, and to be honest it was one of my LEAST favorite food-based books. Comparing it to Bill Buford's Heat (if you read that), I would give Kit Con a 3/10 and Heat an 8/10. But to each their own and I am sure others must have liked it. I was bored.

[kpzoo]

Thanks for letting me know, LW. I actually wasn't crazy about a lot of Heat for various reasons, so that's an interesting comparison. I really liked Kitchen Confidential (& all of Bourdain's other books), all of Ruth Reichl's books, Marion Nestle's What to Eat, Alan Richman's Fork It Over, among many others. But boredom is not a good recommendation, I'll think twice about the purchase. Thanks!

[L_W]

I WILL say that Kitchen Con was a fast read. I am midway thru California Dish by Jeremiah Tower which is a good read so far. I also loved Ruth Reichl's, to give you an idea of my "taste"

[kpzoo]

Thanks for the tip on Ca. Dish - I"ll check it out!

[galleygirl]

Wow, just reading the 'select cuts' makes him sound so pretentious and self-satisfied, that I hate him already. He seems to like to get off one-liners that he can't back up...A restaurant critic who only comes once? I don't think so....

[LindaWhit]

What a sanctimonious prat.

"On Gordon Ramsay
The difference between Gordon Ramsay and a talking pig is that Gordon Ramsay never shuts up. "

Sounds like the author fits the bill as well. In his "about the author" the first line sums it up:

"Trevor White is your classic bourgeois loser who happened to be in the right place at the right time"