Anthony Bourdain. 
 
Villard: 1995. Hardcover in a jacket. Octavo. First edition. Back flap has two folds. Minor shelf wear along the top and the bottom of the jacket. Shelf wear along the top and  bottom of the boards. Some smudges on the boards. Text block slightly leaning. A few small pen marks and stains on the text block edges. Small stains on the back endpapers. 290 pages. Very good. 
 
Bourdain's first published book. A young chef endures a career downgrade before he's embroiled in a mob plot. Meanwhile, the  characters he meets, from cautious hitmen to culinary eccentrics, leave indelible impressions. The world fell for Bourdain's voice of food scene cred and literary chops. In this first edition he created the combo and wrapped a mystery novel around it. 
 
"Thee young men in spattered white chef's jackets and black-and-white checked pants stood out front of the Dreadnaught Grill. The chef, the tallest one, was pale and thin, with long brown hair that curled out from under his chef's hat. He held a copy of Larousse Gastronomique and was turning the pages furiously. He wore the hat high on his forehead and pulled straight back like a skullcap. A cigarette dangled from his mouth."