BOOKS
Published
Read Time
8 min read
Reader ratingreader ratings, not a LuvemBooks score
4.8
· 4,981 Amazon ratingsShare This Review
Appetites: A Cookbook by Anthony Bourdain & Laurie Woolever Review: A Candid, Personal Kitchen Repertoire
Co-authored by Anthony Bourdain and Laurie Woolever and published by Ecco in October 2016, Appetites is a tightly curated cookbook that distils more than forty years of professional cooking and global travel into a personal repertoire of dishes Bourdain believed every home cook should master. This review assesses the book's content, structure, and reception from published sources — not a kitchen test.
Tap to enlargeLuvemBooks Verdict
Best for
Devoted Bourdain fans and home cooks who want an opinionated, personality-driven core repertoire built from forty-plus years of professional cooking and global travel — and who are comfortable with a voice that is frank, profane, and unapologetically partial.
Worth it if
You want a tightly curated set of recipes shaped by genuine personal preference rather than encyclopaedic coverage, and you value Bourdain's candid, foul-mouthed editorial voice as a feature rather than a flaw.
Skip if
Readers seeking a broad, technique-neutral culinary reference, or those put off by a consistently direct and profane tone, are likely to find the book's narrow personal focus and unmodulated voice more limiting than liberating.
What readers & critics say
Booklist awarded the book a starred review, praising Bourdain's "inimitable voice — funny, foul-mouthed, and unapologetically opinionated" and calling it "a cookbook that should be on every library's food shelves," as quoted on parnassusbooks.net. BookForum, also quoted on parnassusbooks.net, offered a complementary verdict, writing that Appetites "is also a really great cookbook" in addition to presenting an eclectic, expletive-laden portrait of family fare. Eater.com noted that the book, written with longtime collaborator Laurie Woolever, refocuses on the work of cooking and stands out as a visually distinct entry with edgy photography by Bobby Fisher and a cover by artist Ralph Steadman.
Sources: Parnassus Books, Eater4.8from 4,981 Amazon ratings— reader ratings, not a LuvemBooks score
Look inside the book
Preview the actual pages, via Google BooksIn This Review
- What Works & What Doesn't
- What the Book Actually Is
- Significance and Place in Bourdain's Body of Work
- Critical Reception and Voice
- Strengths: Curation and Scope
- Limitations and Who May Be Frustrated
What Works & What Doesn't
What Works
- A starred Booklist review singles out Bourdain's 'inimitable voice — funny, foul-mouthed, and unapologetically opinionated' as a core strength
- Curated from forty-plus years of professional cooking and global travel, the repertoire is deliberately focused rather than encyclopaedic
- Co-authored with Laurie Woolever, a longtime Bourdain collaborator, giving the book strong editorial coherence
- BookForum called it 'a really great cookbook' in addition to praising its portrait of family cooking life
- Oriented explicitly toward the home cook, reflecting Bourdain's own shift to cooking for family and friends
What Doesn't
- The consistently direct, profane tone is integral to the book's identity and will not suit all readers
- The tight personal curation means the repertoire reflects one strong set of preferences rather than broad culinary coverage
A cookbook that earns its starred reviews by being as candid on the page as its author was on television, Appetites makes no pretence of being anything other than one famously opinionated chef's definitive home-cooking list.
What the Book Actually Is
Interior spread featuring a meat dish with garnishes and hands preparing food, demonstrating bold, hands-on cooking techniques.
Appetites: A Cookbook is the product of a collaboration between Anthony Bourdain and writer-editor Laurie Woolever, who spent nearly a decade assisting Bourdain and co-authored this title with him. Published by Ecco on October 25, 2016, it was Bourdain's first cookbook in more than ten years. The premise is deliberately personal: rather than surveying world cuisines or building a comprehensive culinary reference, the book boils down forty-plus years of professional cooking and globe-trotting into a tight repertoire of personal favourites — dishes that, as the publisher's description puts it, everyone should (at least in Bourdain's opinion) know how to cook. By the time it was written, Bourdain had shifted from restaurant life to cooking primarily for family and friends, and that domestic pivot shapes the book's entire orientation toward the home cook.
“with his inimitable voice — funny, foul-mouthed, and unapologetically opinionated — in this tightly curated collection of recipes”
Significance and Place in Bourdain's Body of Work
Bourdain was the author of the New York Times bestsellers Kitchen Confidential, Medium Raw, and World Travel, as well as the host of the widely watched television series No Reservations and Parts Unknown. Appetites sits in that career as something of a reckoning — a man who built a public identity around restaurants and relentless travel turning his attention to what he actually cooked at home. The book is written with what the publisher describes as the no-holds-barred ethos of those television series, meaning readers arrive expecting the same directness that defined his broadcasting and his earlier prose. Given Bourdain's death in June 2018, Appetites also stands as one of his final completed projects, lending it an additional weight it did not carry at publication.
Split image showing dark still life with grapes and produce on left, man in kitchen with candelabra and "Party 101" text on right.
Critical Reception and Voice
The book drew strong notices from food and literary publications. Booklist awarded it a starred review, with the assessment that Bourdain returns "with his inimitable voice — funny, foul-mouthed, and unapologetically opinionated — in this tightly curated collection of recipes," calling it "a cookbook that should be on every library's food shelves." BookForum offered a complementary verdict, writing that Appetites, "in addition to presenting an eclectic, expletive-laden portrait of one's family's fare, is also a really great cookbook." Both notices point to the same dual identity the book wears: it functions simultaneously as a culinary document and as an extension of the Bourdain persona readers had followed across memoirs and television. The voice — direct, profane, and particular about what it likes — is not incidental colour but structural to how the recipes are framed and justified.
Strengths: Curation and Scope
Where many cookbooks attempt comprehensiveness, Appetites openly refuses it. The strength of that restraint is that every recipe earns its place through the filter of genuine preference rather than category obligation. The book's design intent is to give home cooks a practical, opinionated core repertoire rather than an encyclopaedic shelf reference — a different and arguably more useful ambition for the reader who wants guidance on what to actually cook rather than a survey of what is theoretically possible. Woolever's role as co-author and longtime collaborator gives the book an editorial coherence that solo-celebrity cookbooks sometimes lack; the text reflects a working relationship with the material rather than a name-only attachment.
Limitations and Who May Be Frustrated
The same qualities that give Appetites its personality also define its limits. Readers seeking a culturally broad or technique-neutral cookbook will find instead a collection shaped entirely by one man's strong and specific tastes. The foul-mouthed, unapologetically opinionated voice that Booklist and BookForum both flag as a strength is, for some audiences, a barrier — the tone is consistent and unmodulated throughout, which suits devoted Bourdain readers and may alienate those who come to the book primarily as a culinary tool. The book's tight personal focus means it functions best as a companion to the broader Bourdain catalogue rather than as a standalone introduction to cooking.
Frequently Asked Questions
is Appetites: A Cookbook by Anthony Bourdain, Laurie Woolever worth reading
If you're a fan of Bourdain's voice from No Reservations or Parts Unknown, yes — Booklist gave it a starred review, calling it 'a cookbook that should be on every library's food shelves' and praising its 'funny, foul-mouthed, and unapologetically opinionated' tone. BookForum backed that up, describing it as 'a really great cookbook' that doubles as an eclectic portrait of one family's fare. That said, if you're looking for a neutral, technique-first culinary reference, this deliberately personal book probably isn't your best fit.
What is this book actually about
Rather than surveying world cuisines or building a comprehensive culinary reference, the book distils more than forty years of professional cooking and global travel into a tight personal repertoire of dishes Bourdain believed every home cook should master. By the time it was written, Bourdain had shifted from restaurant life to cooking primarily for family and friends, and that domestic pivot shapes the whole book. Co-author Laurie Woolever — who spent nearly a decade assisting Bourdain — gives the text an editorial coherence that solo-celebrity cookbooks sometimes lack.
Is this book good for beginner home cooks
The book's stated design intent is to give home cooks a practical, opinionated core repertoire rather than an encyclopaedic shelf reference, which the reviewer calls 'arguably more useful for the reader who wants guidance on what to actually cook.' Because every recipe earns its place through genuine preference rather than category obligation, beginners get clear direction rather than an overwhelming list of options. The caveat is that the foul-mouthed, unmodulated tone won't suit everyone, and the book works best as a companion to the broader Bourdain catalogue rather than a standalone introduction to cooking.
How does this book compare to Kitchen Confidential
Where Kitchen Confidential was a memoir built around restaurant culture, Appetites represents what the reviewer calls 'a reckoning' — Bourdain turning his attention to what he actually cooked at home after decades of professional life and globe-trotting. Both share the same direct, profane voice, but Appetites channels it into recipes rather than storytelling. The reviewer notes that the Bourdain persona readers followed across Kitchen Confidential, Medium Raw, and television is structural to how the recipes are framed, so fans of that earlier work will feel right at home.
Does this book cover a wide range of cuisines
Not really — the reviewer is upfront that the book 'openly refuses' comprehensiveness, and readers seeking a culturally broad or technique-neutral cookbook will find instead a collection shaped entirely by one man's strong and specific tastes. The strength of that restraint, according to the review, is that every recipe earns its place through genuine preference. So if you want global coverage, look elsewhere; if you want a curated personal list from someone who has eaten everywhere, this delivers exactly that.
Is the writing style in this book too much if you're not already a bourdain fan
Possibly — the reviewer explicitly flags that the 'foul-mouthed, unapologetically opinionated voice' that Booklist and BookForum both praise as a strength 'is, for some audiences, a barrier.' The tone is described as consistent and unmodulated throughout, meaning there's no toned-down version of it for readers who come to the book primarily as a culinary tool. Devoted Bourdain readers will find it familiar and appealing; those new to his style may find it overwhelming.
Is this book one of bourdain's last books
Yes — published by Ecco on October 25, 2016, it was Bourdain's first cookbook in more than ten years, and given his death in June 2018, the reviewer notes it stands as one of his final completed projects. That context lends it an additional weight it did not carry at publication, making it feel like more than just a recipe collection. World Travel, another title mentioned in the review, also appeared posthumously as part of his legacy.
Sources & Further Reading
The key facts and claims in this review are grounded in the retrieved, verified sources listed below.
- Cited in this review
- 1
- 2
- Further reading
- 3
Anthony Bourdain, Laurie Woolever, Wikipedia
- 4
booksamillion.com
- 5
sevencircumstances.com
- 6
booklarder.com
- 7
parnassusbooks.net
- 8
- 9
powells.com
- 10
Related Reviews
Reviews of books we picked for readers who enjoyed Appetites.
Reader Comments
No comments yet
Be the first to share your thoughts!