Medium Raw (Anthony Bourdain)

In the ten years since the publication of his classic Kitchen Confidential, much has changed for the subculture of chefs and cooks, for the restaurant business–and for Anthony Bourdain. Medium Raw explores these changes, moving back and forth from the author’s bad old days to the present. Tracking his own strange and unexpected voyage from journeyman cook to globe-traveling professional eater and drinker, and even to fatherhood, Bourdain takes no prisoners as he dissects what he’s seen, pausing along the way for a series of confessions, rants, investigations, and interrogations of some of the most controversial figures in food.

Bourdain pulls back the curtain—but never pulls his punches—on the modern gastronomical revolution. Cutting to the bone, he filets some of the biggest names in the foodie world, including young superstar chef David Chang who has radicalized the fine-dining landscape; the revered Alice Waters, whom he treats with unapologetic frankness; the Top Chef winners and losers; and many more.

And always he returns to the question “Why cook?” Or the more difficult “Why cook well?” Medium Raw is the deliciously funny and shockingly delectable journey to those answers, sure to delight philistines and gourmands alike.