With this long awaited true follow-up to Kitchen Confidential Anthony Bourdain has shown himself to be older, wiser, snarkier and unafraid to call out by name those he considers villains or heros. He is obviously confidently secure in his place in popular culture, yet humble and genuinely in awe of the skills of those he considers far beyond his own talents- of whom there are many. His heros are not just recognizable names in the foodie world but the unsung, such as the amazing fish butcher at Le Bernardin, Justo Thomas to which there is an entire chapter dedicated. Tony gets a little raunchy in some chapters , but if you are a fan, you expect this and would be disappointed by anything less. I love that even though he has a newly found tenderness since becoming a father, he hasn't lost his sharp hard edge. Like the food that he loves, he is a perfect combination of luscious decadence and shocking guilty pleasure.