Kitchen Confidential (the book) is fantastic. His claim that he's captured what it's like to work in a kitchen is absolutely true. He is also great on the show. It is one of my favorites. On his Charleston show, the server when he goes to one of the restaurants is actually a
great musician.
The one thing that annoys me a little bit is that it always seems he'd rather eat at a roadside stand than at a nice restaurant because it's more "genuine," and I don't think that's entirely true. Sure, a really nice restaurant is more likely to focus on flash more than substance, and he's
completely burnt out on that, but I've been to a fairly significant number nicer restaurants that have placed the focus squarely on the food, and with that extra money they're charging, they can hire really technically proficient cooks.
P.S. I want everyone to take a second and check out
this show on Hulu. Are you crying yet?