Anthony Bourdain was my word hero, and my inspiration for creating both AfroPublica and this blog as a vehicle for sharing my thoughts and adventures in this world, and specifically when I write about food. I will sorely miss his witty, sometimes caustic and always sarcastic takes on the state of the people and events that exist solely to divide us (or worse, bullshit us), and his pure love, appreciation, and awe of the things that unite us. Say what you want, the man knew how to use words like a painter uses paint.
I read "Kitchen Confidential" during a period where I was working a "struggle job" as a kitchen helper/prepper/cook and bartender at a club in Louisiana. Instantly I connected with Anthony Bourdain's struggle as related in the book and if you haven't read it yet stop right here and purchase it!
I make no excuses for that fact that this was a really dark period of my life and thanks to the club owner and his staff and family for helping me through that time by giving me an opportunity to work. I was fresh off a nasty, expensive, and soul-sucking divorce and had lost everything I worked for in one big swoop. Wife, house, dog, and eventually the job all fell victim to a nasty spiral of depression and despair. And yet somehow reading Anthony Bourdain's words touched me in a way that helped me to see light at the end of a long and dark tunnel. They even inspired me to break out the keyboard and write again.
Like Anthony Bourdain, I too was a soul in search of a place in the world after totally fucking up my life. Through his words, I found out we both sought redemption for our sins and like him I found mine in a kitchen, and a keyboard.
Working the line in a kitchen is a place where everyone is equal, doesn't matter where you're from, what language you speak, who you pray to, what degree you have (or haven't) or what ethnicity you are. All that matters is your skill at getting those plates (or drinks if you are a bartender) out to customers and serving a quality product fast. Is that steak medium rare? Those fries are done? And for God's sake where the hell is that salad? The modern restaurant kitchen is the place to truly find what you are made of, and in the heat of those moments (literally), regain your soul.
Struggle jobs like kitchen and bartender work can really ground you. They remind you what hard work really is and through that work you gain a deep appreciation for every nickel and dime you sweated, cursed and put up with shit for. It's hard to properly frame the experience if you haven't done it, but its a tough, shitty and downright challenging way to survive, but also one of the most rewarding and genuine since your customers, your coworkers and often your boss will immediately give you feedback. Drinks suck? You'll know it right away. Food tastes like shit? They will let you know on the spot. You learn to take the compliments and the grief, the joy, and the pain, and it either will build you up or grind you to dust. There ain't no HR dept in the kitchen!
But....
If you can overcome the challenges and actually make good drinks or food, man, the love you get from your customers is like nothing and nowhere else. I spent a lot of years writing code to an anonymous audience of users and can recall maybe one or two instances where someone gave me actual feedback. In the kitchen I was getting it every day! That's just the nature of that business.
So to my brother in the written word I wish peaceful journey, may you finally have found the peace that seemed to elude you in this life.
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