In this age of round-the-clock Food Network programming and chirpy shortcut queens like Rachael Ray, it's hardly unusual for a celebrity chef to embrace (and capitalize on) both high- and lowbrow cuisine. But no one does it with as much daredevil passion and fierce intelligence as New York chef and author Anthony Bourdain. Wielding Hunter S. Thompson's gonzo attitude, Jim Jarmusch's artful, everyman perspective, and Iggy Pop's raw sex appeal, Bourdain has made a career out of exposing the secrets of haute cuisine and exploring the world through food (a recent episode of his Travel Channel show, No Reservations, showed him downing cups of fermented saliva and eating psychedelic plants with Peruvian natives), all while perfecting his own Parisian creations as chef-at-large for New York City's Brasserie Les Halles. While he also kicks out a hard-boiled crime novel from time to time (five titles to date), this promotional tour is in support of The Nasty Bits, a collection of his best magazine and newspaper writing.

Anthony Bourdain reads from and signs The Nasty Bits at the University Book Store, 4326 University Way NE, on June 13 at 12:30 pm. That evening, Bourdain appears at a dinner in his honor at Union, 1400 First Ave. (This $150, Chef Ethan Stowell–created dinner is totally sold out, but maybe you know someone.)

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