Bradley Cooper, who was last seen on "Alias" stabbing Merrin Dungey's character, will be sharpening his knife skills for his upcoming sitcom, "Kitchen Confidential."

Inspired by the eponymous culinary expose by Les Halles executive chef Anthony Bourdain, the Fox series stars Cooper as rock-star chef Jack Bourdain, whose career has been in the toilet for the past four years.

"I got addicted to cocaine and blew it all up my nose, lost everything," explains Cooper, referring to his character. "Now I'm a line cook at an Olive Garden-esque restaurant."

Despite a steamy romance with the eatery's manager and being sober for a year, Jack's frustrated with his wasted talent and the fact that nobody around him knows how to plate a decent rigatoni. His luck changes when he gets the opportunity to once again call the shots as the head chef for Nolita, an upscale New York City restaurant.

"This guy Pino, this Italian guy played by Frank Langella, just fired his chef last night," says Cooper. "He's got 300 on the book for tomorrow. He has no chef, no food, nothing. So he hires me and takes a chance.

"I have to get my cronies together - who don't trust me because I stole all their TVs and stuff for my cocaine habit - to come back and open this restaurant."

Among his pals are pastry chef Seth ("Buffy the Vampire Slayer's" Nicolas Brendon), seafood expert Teddy ("Harold & Kumar's" John Cho) and sous chef/thief Steven (Owain Yeoman). Rounding out the cast are Jamie King as airhead hostess Tanya, Bonnie Somerville as the ambitious Mimi and ex-"Freaks and Geeks" star John F. Daley as kitchen lackey Jim.

For Cooper, stepping into the kitchen on set was a homecoming of sorts.

"When I was a kid, it was either acting or being a chef. I worked in restaurants my whole life as a cook," he says, adding, "So, when I read the script I just thought, 'I have to do this.'"

Although the producers wanted to send the cast to "cutting" school to learn the necessary technical skills, Cooper already knew how to acquit himself well around the kitchen. To this day, he still enjoys experimenting with culinary creations.

His current specialty? "Recently I've been making a lot of stuffed squid, with dried currants and prosciutto," he says.

Before heading back to the kitchen, Cooper will star as another bad boy in the Owen Wilson-Vince Vaughn comedy "Wedding Crashers," which hits theaters July 15 and wrap the Paramount Pictures comedy "Failure to Launch" starring Matthew McConaughey and Sarah Jessica Parker.

"Kitchen Confidential" will air Mondays this fall on Fox.