"Appetites, [Anthony Bourdain's] first cookbook in more than ten years, boils down forty-plus years of professional cooking and globe-trotting to a tight repertoire of personal favorites — dishes that everyone should (at least in Mr. Bourdain's opinion) know how to cook. Once the supposed 'bad boy' of cooking, Mr. Bourdain has, in recent years, become the father of a little girl — a role he has embraced with enthusiasm. After years of traveling...

With the chefs of Los Angeles ruling the town like crime lords, sushi chef Jiro, a chef known for decapitating patrons who dare request a California roll, is sought after by both the "Internationalists" and the "Vertical farm" families.