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"I was – to be frank – a spoiled, miserable, narcissistic, self-destructive and thoughtless young lout, badly in need of a good ass-kicking."
Before the one and only, “Anthony Bourdain,” as the world knew him, he was just Tony.
Cape Cod, Massachusetts, summer of 1975, is where the story begins and ends. One spectacularly messed up summer where a 19-year old Tony (Dominic Sessa) finds himself working as dishwasher, after getting robbed, needing money and a place to stay.
This is not the Anthony Bourdain everyone knew. A world-famous celebrity chef, best-selling author, television star, global food explorer and traveler. A young, arrogant, reckless and directionless Tony arrives in Provincetown, following a trail of his high school crush, Nancy (Emilia Jones).
This impromptu trip is after Tony lied to his parents that he got a writer’s fellowship for college. As an aspiring writer, who is telling everyone that he’s writing a novel. After Tony sees that Nancy has a boyfriend, he gets steaming drunk, acts out, and gets thrown out of a restaurant. His trouble doesn’t stop there. He is robbed and out of cash.
Eventually Tony and Nancy run into each other, and Tony decides to keep the writer’s charade. It’s one lie after and the lies pile up. In order to impress a girl, he keeps digging into deeper holes.
Luckily for Tony, he’s taken in by the head chef and owner (Antonio Banderas, "Haywire") of The Flagship, the same no-frill seafood restaurant, who threw him out earlier. For a place to crash, specifically, the chef’s hammock on the porch, Tony works as a dishwasher.
Here is where Tony learns and immerses himself in the pressure-cooker kitchen action and rough-and-tumble culture among the salty characters. Sal (Leo Woodall), who hooks Tony into the bad boy lifestyle, is a standout prick, dishing out one shenanigan after another.
The kitchen scenes are rough and not for the meek, although eventually Tony forms a bond with his teammates, and especially with the salt-of-the-earth chef-turned-mentor.
Tony can now wake up without having a bucket of cold water thrown over his face, learns discipline and grueling work. Not just washing dishes, he learns to prep food, and it’s not without cuts and burns. Shucking oysters never looks more nerve-wracking. Amidst the boiling chaos and fast-paced kitchen scenes, the tomato-and-salt moments are quietly grounding.
Tony does have an eye for the restaurant business. His fancy Friday special menu idea is well-received, as well as a plan that brings the community together over food. Part of his redemption act also means admitting the truth about his writer charade.
The film is also atmospheric, like Cape Cod watercolor painting comes to life, where you feel like breathing in the salty air and feeling the sea spray on your face, walking along the white sand dunes and weathered beach shacks, watching fishermen go out to sea, cooking lobsters, roasting freshly caught fish over bonfire, having clambake on the beach. The entire film has a distinct, nostalgic New England beach town feel.
The film is not meant to cover Bourdain’s entire career. On the contrary, spiced with a dash of creative license, the story condenses into a slice of beachside life in one summer.
Sessa plates the portrayal of the legendary culinary figure at the start of adulthood perfectly imperfect. A formative summer peppered with serious mischiefs that leads to a decision with no reservations that will shape the rest of his life.
Here's a carefree, unseasoned young man with a whole life ahead of him, carrying those raw kitchen confidential misadventures with him, fueling a new flame to venture into parts unknown, facing a future beyond his wildest imaginations.
“You think I want to spend the rest of my life working in a f*** kitchen?" Ah, the irony.
Inspired by the early chapters of the Anthoy Bourdain's memoir “Kitchen Confidential,” Tony” serves up a briny, consequential coming-of-age story, seasoned with a blend of authenticity, chaos and care.