Nate didn’t set out to build a culinary empire. He just wanted to feed people food that actually meant something.

What started as a battered food truck parked outside a strip mall became a journey across continents, kitchens, and cultures — transforming a self-taught cook from the streets of his hometown into one of the most talked-about names in the food world. Nate’s Plates is the story of that journey: the early failures, the breakthrough dishes, the mentors who changed everything, and the global feast that emerged from a relentless appetite for the real thing.

Part memoir, part culinary adventure, this book travels through the street markets of Southeast Asia, the grandmothers’ kitchens of Southern Italy, the open-fire traditions of West Africa, and the taco stands of Oaxaca — tracing how Nate absorbed each tradition without appropriating it, and built a culinary voice that is entirely his own.

For anyone who has ever believed that food is culture, that a great meal is a form of storytelling, and that the most interesting plates in the world are rarely found in the places you’d expect — this is the book you didn’t know you were hungry for.