Anthony Bourdain has things pretty good these days.

He samples faraway cuisines on his popular Travel Channel show, "No Reservations," and he's currently hosting speaking engagements across the country in support of his new bestselling book, "Medium Raw: A Bloody Valentine to the World of Food and the People Who Cook."

Being paid to eat, travel and talk about it is a far cry from the drug- and booze-filled life Bourdain wrote about a decade ago in "Kitchen Confidential," the tell-all look from his perch as a New York line cook that turned him into a card-carrying food celebrity.

Bourdain will be in St. Louis on Oct. 1 as part of a speaking tour, coming to the Fox Theatre for a talk that he said will be as animated as audience members want it to be.

"If I get good, provocative questions from a fun audience, that could lead to a rowdy and lively hour of Q and A," Bourdain said in a recent phone interview. "It all depends what (ticked) me off that day."

Although Bourdain may have mellowed some in the years since he stopped cooking professionally — he credits the birth of his daughter, now 3, with his decision to quit smoking — he continues to call out hypocrisy when he sees it. Even when it's coming from him.

In the first chapter of "Medium Raw," Bourdain compares endorsing Diet Coke (something "Top Chef" head judge Tom Colicchio cashed in on last year) to prostitution before acknowledging that he, too, would consider 'selling out" for the right offer.

"I would like to make enough money to put my daughter through college," Bourdain said. "At some point in every person's life, they decide they don't want to go to the same club their parents went to."

He also makes amends — somewhat — in the book with people he's skewered in the past, such as Food Network star Rachael Ray and celebrity chef Emeril Lagasse. And he finds new food-industry bigwigs to vilify, shooting particularly sharp barbs at Food Network president Brooke Johnson and food writer Alan Richman.

But much like on his TV show, the recurring themes in Bourdain's book focus on the benevolent people who prepare the food we eat and how great meals don't have to be served in pretentious settings.

"I have noticed a real move toward democratizing fine dining, making it more customer-friendly, more convivial and casual," he said. "When we're visiting my wife's family in Italy, I like to hang out in local, working-class places, drinking cheap Italian wine and (eating) rough, crude, local dishes."

Bourdain is an advocate for professional chefs and home cooks alike.

He said he approves of restaurant cooks becoming more present through social media networks like Twitter and Facebook. "I think anything that raises the profile of chefs, raises the prestige of the job, is a good thing."

And Bourdain said he believes that teaching kids basic cooking skills would be "a blow against the empire of mediocrity and stupidity."

Kitchen duties he'd like to see more home cooks tackle: pastas — "That's something I'd like to get better at myself" — soups, stocks and sauces.

"These are perfectly within the means of ordinary people," he said.

And although he likely won't have time for a meal when he's here next month, Bourdain said he does like the sound of St. Louis-style pizza, Provel and all.

"Sounds kinda good, actually."