The highly anticipated conference by Anthony Bourdain for Kitchen Confidential, the global bestseller. In Medium Raw, Bourdain explores the changes that have occurred in the world of chefs and dining from his early years to the present. He traces his own curious and unexpected journey from a traveling cook to a professional restaurateur traveling around the world. In this book, he compares and contrasts what he has seen and what he observes, offering a series of confessions, critiques, investigations, and examinations of some of the most controversial figures in food. He continually poses the question: "Why cook?" or the more difficult one to answer: "Why cook well?" Starting with a secret and illegal meeting of powerful chefs that compares to a mafia summit, Bourdain, in his characteristic style, delves deeply into each subject he undertakes.