All is not well at the Dreadnought Grill - the chef has a smack habit, the owner has been set up by the FBI and in the midst of this, the sous-chef Tommy is just trying to do his job.

Sous chef Tommy just wants to perfect his sea food chowder. But his kitchen is being used for more than food preparation - with his mobster relatives finding imaginative applications for a meat clever you won't find in a cookery book. In a novel that deliciously blends The Sopranos and Kitchen Confidential, Bourdain tosses in a chef with a smack habit, a restaurant owner being set up by the FBI and a cast of colourful Mafiosi. It's a concoction that makes for a succulent and satisfying read.