The Best Anthony Bourdain Books
Updated 2026-07-12 · 6 books
Anthony Bourdain wrote the way he talked: fast, funny, generous and profane. He started as a working chef and became the person who taught a generation to travel with an open mouth and an open mind. If you are new to his books, here is where to begin and where to go next.
- 1
Kitchen Confidential
Anthony Bourdain
Start here: the kitchen memoir that made his name, full of late nights, bad decisions and real love for the work.
CooksCocinerosHistory - 2
A Cook's Tour
Anthony Bourdain
His first food-and-travel book, chasing the perfect meal around the world before the TV fame arrived.
FoodCookeryCookbooks - 3
Medium Raw
Anthony Bourdain
Medium Raw is the older, wiser follow-up to Kitchen Confidential, reckoning with fame and the food world he helped change.
CookingNew york (n.y.)Biography - 4
Appetites
Anthony Bourdain
Appetites is his home cookbook: unfussy, generous food he actually cooked for family and friends.
Cooking - 5
World Travel
Anthony Bourdain, Laurie Woolever
World Travel, finished after his death with Laurie Woolever, is a place-by-place guide to the world as he saw it.
CooksBiographyVoyages and travels - 6
No Reservations
Anthony Bourdain
No Reservations is the illustrated companion to the show, a keepsake for anyone who watched him eat his way around the globe.
AnecdotesTravelVoyages and travels
At a glance
| # | Book | Author |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kitchen Confidential | Anthony Bourdain |
| 2 | A Cook's Tour | Anthony Bourdain |
| 3 | Medium Raw | Anthony Bourdain |
| 4 | Appetites | Anthony Bourdain |
| 5 | World Travel | Anthony Bourdain, Laurie Woolever |
| 6 | No Reservations | Anthony Bourdain |
Frequently asked
Which Anthony Bourdain book should I read first?
Kitchen Confidential. It is the 2000 memoir of his life in professional kitchens that turned a working chef into a household name, and it still reads like nothing else.
Did Anthony Bourdain write a cookbook?
Yes. Appetites is his home-cooking cookbook, and Les Halles Cookbook collects the bistro classics from the restaurant that made his name.
Prefer a plain-text version of this list? You can find one here.