Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly Setting & Symbolism

Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly Objects/Places

The Queen Mary

Bourdain and his family sail to Europe on the Queen Mary ocean liner in 1966.

Normandy

Bourdain and his family spend time on the Normandy coast during their summer vacation in 1966.

Vienne

Vienne is the town where Bourdain's aunt lives and where Bourdain learns to love French cooking and going oyster fishing.

Oysters

Eating oysters as a boy in France changes Bourdain's view on food and his visions for his future in the culinary arts.

Vassar College

Bourdain attends Vassar College in Poughkeepsie, New York, after high school graduation in 1973.

Provincetown, Cape Cod

Bourdain spends the summer of 1973 with friends in the village of Provincetown, Cape Cod, Massachusetts.

The Dreadnaught

Bourdain's first restaurant job is as a busboy at The Dreadnaught in Provincetown, Cape Cod.

Culinary Institute of America (CIA)

Bourdain attends the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, New York for formal culinary training in 1975.

Knives

Kitchen knives become the indispensable tools of a chef and they are carefully wrapped...
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