Kitchen Confidential: Complete

I just finished Kitchen Confidential.

The last part of the book felt like Anthony running through the highlights of fine dining. He was going through the stuff he'd think about for a night's service. He'd talk about the best names in the business. He also spoke about his Japan trip which gave me a preview into a Chef's Tour.

This was really well enjoyed. I dare say I'd love to read it again.

I am utterly convinced at this point that the best chefs in the world are french though: Robuchon, Riper, Keller, Boulud ...

Utterly amazing. What's next on my list? I'm not sure. I do know I'm smoking Seto's ass though.

Kitchen Confidential: Chef of the Future

I like the book so far. I haven't read very many non-fiction books like this. I think the only other book prior to this would have been "Surely, you're joking Mr. Feynman!" This book is interesting to me because I very recently got into looking at the cooking world. It's nice to see names like, Eric Ripert and La Bernadin ... Gale Greene ... and know what they're referencing. What's nice about this book is that it's honest. Not in the story itself because I wasn't there. But the tone feels as though you're speaking to a friend about what he did. He embellishes a little bit here and there but you can tell that they're making an earnest effort about describing what had happened. It's nice to see them talking about cooking and starting a restaurant and I see how it parallels how some technical startups turn out. He also had a good phrase that a good line cook is not creative and some of the best chefs are simply technicians. I'd like to think about that in coding sometimes. You do need a few creative people, but you need the workhorses who can buckle down and get results. People too creative can cause problems a lot of the times. It's nice to know that I'll never order fish between Saturday to Monday and to check the bathroom first of a restaurant before dining. I've heard of the bathroom test before, I'm almost positive that people took it off this book and used it as if it were their own.

Anyways, very entertaining read and I'm very much enjoying it right now.

Second!

This is Seto (aka. Lisa) reporting in!

First thing: blogging about my opinion on books is not going to be an easy task for me. Reason is I have difficulty translating my thoughts into words. I often hear that practice makes (almost) perfect so maybe this blog will help. So without further delay, here is my list!

1. The Tales of Genji
2. Snow Country
3. How Normal Behavior Became a Sickness
4. His Dark Materials Trilogy (The Golden Compass, The Subtle Knife, The Amber Spyglass)
5. The Angel's Game
6. Brand Sense
7. The Five People You Meet In Heaven
8. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
9. The Girl Who Played with Fire
10. The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest
11. Kitchen Confidential
12. Inkworld Trilogy (Inkheart, Inkspell, Inkdeath)
13. No Longer Human
    

Titles in bold means I've read it. I just wanted to put down all the titles in the trilogy for completeness sake.

I know the list doesn't have much diversity. Hopefully that will change in the coming months.

Here's a graphics novel list just so Rob can expand his horizons. (^_^)

1. Fruits Basket (23 Volumes)
2. Nodame Cantabile (23 Volumes)
3. Ouran High School Host Club (15 Volumes)
4. Ze (Yaoi) (~_^)
   

First!

My name is Robert and I will be partnering with my cohort Lisa and doing an overseas book club as it were. This is going to be completely baffling to besides us. This is probably going to be a mix of an essay written 3 hours before it's due and an IM chat.

What we're going to do is make two lists of books. Pick a book that tickles our fancy from either list and blog about it.

I've read a decent amount of books in my life. Not nearly as much as an average reader but much more than your average person.

In any case, here is what I have:

1. The Rape of Nanking
2. The Man Who Only Loved Numbers
3. Bringing Down The House
4. What Do You Care What Other People Think?
5. Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
6. Kitchen Confidential
7. Snakes in Suits
8. The Five People You Meet in Heaven
9. Haunted
10. Black Markets: The Supply and Demand of Body Parts
11. A Game of Thrones
12. My Sister's Keeper
13. The Golden Compass
14. The Glass Castle
15. In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto
16. Snow Crash
17. The Moral Animal - Why we are the way we are
18. One Hundred Years of Solitude
19. Solar

I think it's an intriguing mess of books.

Anyways, Seto, I'll pass the ball off to you and let you run with it.