Background – since I’ve often expressed my admiration for Anthony Bourdain and since I sometimes write about movies and TV and DVDs, someone thought it would be a good idea to send me the DVD set of the Kitchen Confidential sitcom for review. And being an occasionally responsible adult, I’m going to follow through and review it for you now.
The thing about situation comedies is that they often require time to come together, especially in ensemble comedies. The actors and writers need some time to get to the essence of the characters and for the situations to develop. Take for example Seinfeld and Cheers, both of which were promising in their first seasons but weren’t really “there” – in terms of the eventual heights they would hit and in terms of attracting an audience. In those situations, the networks saw enough promise there and stuck with the shows and eventually they became massive in the ratings as well as two of the best series ever aired.
Kitchen Confidential was not so lucky. While a full 13 episodes were filmed, Fox canceled the series after airing just 4 episodes, and a 5th was streamed over the internet. The rest of the series went unseen. Now, all 13 episodes are available on DVD.
Kitchen Confidential is “based” on Anthony Bourdain’s book of the same name. By that, it means that it takes place in the kitchen of a high end restaurant, featuring a head chef named “Jack Bourdain” who had previously burned out his career in a haze of booze and drugs. Given one more shot, he’s assembled a motley crew of misfits to staff the kitchen of the “Nolita” restaurant.
When the series first premiered, I downloaded the first episode, watched it, thought it was horrible, and made no attempt to follow the show. With the TV in hand, I’ve watched all 13 episodes. And guess what? The four shows that aired are all pretty awful, actually kind of a second rate Scrubs. The fifth show, the one that streamed on the net, was an improvement. I didn’t have a “laugh out loud” moment until episode 6 or 7. The unaired episodes show consistent improvement and promise, to the point where I’m convinced that if they had come back for a second season, this could have really developed into something.
The first few episodes don’t spend enough time in the kitchen or with the staff. There seems to be almost nothing there that matches up to Bourdain’s book. But as this goes along, there’s more time in the kitchen, the characters are better developed and both the plot lines and the look of the show start to get infused with the tales and attitude behind the book.
As a key example, the third episode doesn’t focus on the cast at all. It focuses on a guest star – John Larroquette – who is 180 degrees away from the hipness that the show aspired too. It’s almost as if the producers were saying that they didn’t have faith in the cast of the show and that they were trying to attract attention by bringing in a big TV name. It completely backfires. Fortunately, this was a mistake that was never repeated. Other episodes keep the focus squarely on the regular cast.
(As another example, Bourdain’s book is filled with praise for the people from Central and South America who do all the real work in the kitchens of NYC’s restaurants. In the first few episodes, with the exception of John Cho, the kitchen is exclusively Caucasian and male. As the series goes on, the kitchen staff starts to look more “real” and Frank Alvarez gets several good moments.)
Jack Bourdain is played by the very likable Bradley Cooper, whose past credits include Alias, Law & Order and Jack & Bobby. Other regulars include Owain Yeoman (Sarah Connor Chronicles, The Nine), Nicholas Brendon (Buffy the Vampire Slayer), John Francis Daley (Freaks and Geeks), Jaime King (soon to be in Sin City 2) and Bonnie Somerville (NYPD Blue). Also in most episodes, though listed as a guest star, is John Cho (Harold and Kumar).
Appearing in 5 episodes, as the owner of Nolita, is the phenomenal Frank Langella. His appearances chart the growth of the show because in the first episode he’s little more than a clown with an over-the-top Italian accent. By episode 12, he’s a figure of respect with just a hint of an accent.
The series was created by David Hemingson, who worked on an assortment of shows including American Dad and Just Shoot Me. The long list of producers includes Darren Star, one of the creative forces behind Sex and the City.
Bonus features include a 3 minute “tour” of the kitchen set with Cooper, a 13 minute short called “A Recipe for Comedy” that’s kind of light weight (though interesting because the interviews were clearly done after the series was canceled), a one minute “trailer” for the series and commentaries on the first and last episodes. Of course the true meaty extras are the nine unaired episodes.
So I can’t give this an unqualified recommendation but if you do like Bourdain or consider yourself something of a foodie, it’s worth checking out. Just remember to stick with it beyond the first few episodes. It does get better, it does show promise and it’s a shame Fox didn’t give them more of a shot.
(Hey, an entire review with no bad food or cooking puns! “The ingredients were all there.” “This simmers but never boils.” “If you can’t stand the heat, get out of Kitchen Confidential.” See how I spared you?)
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Hi, I’m Spike. Born and bred in The Bronx but I've been calling Hong Kong home since 1995. I'm a corporate IT professional, music and film critic and aspiring photo-journalist. I've been writing Hongkie Town since 2004 and have been writing the "Spike" column in BC Magazine since 2006. You can follow me on Twitter 
