Introduction -- A new introduction / by Eric Ripert -- Preface -- Appetizer. A note from the chef -- First Course. Food is good -- Food is sex -- Food is pain -- Inside the CIA -- The return of mal carne -- Second Course. Who cooks? -- From our kitchen to your table -- How to cook like the pros -- Owner's syndrome and other medical anomalies -- Bigfoot -- Third Course. I make my bones -- The happy time -- Chef of the future! -- Apocalypse now -- The wilderness years -- What I know about meat -- Pinot noir : Tuscan interlude -- Dessert. A day in the life -- Sous-chef -- The level of discourse -- Other bodies -- Adam Real-Last-Name-Unknown -- Department of Human Resources -- Coffee and a Cigarette. The life of Bryan -- Mission to Tokyo -- So you want to be a chef? : A commencement address -- Kitchen's closed -- Afterword -- Interview with Daniel Halpern.