Week Three; part 1

Part One

As of this third week, Bourdain has left the Culinary Institute of America with hopes, dreams, and big plans. He quickly lands a job at the exclusive Rainbow Room atop the Rockefeller Center, his "first experience in the big time." (105) He developed strong, if not odd, relationships with his fellow cooks, who eventually grew to respect him. Due to his skill and unmatched work ethic, Bourdain was eventually thrust into a small position of power as shop steward, but to his dismay, was swiftly "asked" to step down. Seeing just how things worked, Bourdain quickly jumped ship, heading off to make a name for himself elsewhere in the world of food. A good friend of his, Sam G. had begun to put together a kitchen, and soon Bourdain was neck deep in drugs, poor business decisions, and his first experience of full-scale failure. It wasn't long before he found himself toiling in one backwater dive after another, settling for terrible kitchens and crews in order to receive the larger paycheck that comes with the revered title of chef. He became "more of an undertaker than a doctor." (133) delivering several floundering restaurants down to the bottom. After a half-dozen failures, constant drug use, and no clue as to where his life was going, Bourdain decided "that it was time, really time, to try to climb out" of the hole he had dug himself.

Part One (II)
Anthony Bourdain was born in New York City on June 25th, 1956, but he was raised by his foodie parents in Leonia, New Jersey. When he was just a child in France he first began to experience and appreciate food, in all its forms and glories. He unproductively spent two years at Vassar College, while working in Provincetown, Massachusetts during the summer. It was here that he realized he had to learn and develop if he was to become anything in the world of food, so he enrolled at the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park. He has written numerous successful books, including Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly, The Bobby Gold Stories, Bone in the Throat, and Gone Bamboo. His works on cooking, food, and general culinary operations have appeared in The New York Times, The Times, and The Observer, among many others. He also is currently a contributing authority for Food Arts magazine. Most recently, he is the Executive Chef at Brasserie Les Halles, and has a program (No Reservations) on the Travel Channel in which he tours the world, professing knowledge and advice to viewers.

Links:
http://www.anthonybourdain.com/copy.asp?g=1&id=7
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthony_Bourdain#Biography
http://travel.discovery.com/tv/bourdain/bio/bio.html
http://www.lahbug.com/images/bourdain.jpg

Official Site of Anthony Bourdain. January, 2006. Bloomsbury Publishing. 10/6/2007.
Anthony Bourdain. 10/3/2007. Wikipedia. 10/6/2007.
Meet Anthony Bourdain. January, 2005. The Travel Channel. 10/6/2007.