I Make my Bones and The Happy Time Summary and Analysis

Bourdain's first real job after graduation from The Culinary Institute is at the Rainbow Room atop Rockefeller Center in New York City. As one of the most famous restaurants in the country, the Rainbow Room is a real testing ground for Bourdain's culinary and interpersonal skills. By comparison to the other kitchens Bourdain has worked in, the Rainbow Room kitchen seems the size of an airport hangar filled with workers from almost every ethnicity.

Bourdain's job responsibilities include preparation of hundreds of a la carte dinners, huge sit-down banquets, and entrees for a private dining room. Just as in other kitchens where he has worked, Bourdain sees male antics, drug use, and sexual indiscretions among the kitchen staff workers.

Bourdain is especially tormented by a chef de...