Despite literal years of Zeff badgering Sanji and trying to get him to give up being the sous-chef at the Baratie and go on his own adventures already, Sanji refuses. He owes Zeff his life, his past and future, everything he can give the old man—he's not leaving. His occasional excursions elsewhere and back are just temporary ('internships,' Zeff calls them), and he always eventually returns home. This time Sanji visits Tottoland, excited to learn from the culinary envy of the world, but he encounters a lot more trouble there than he expects in Charlotte Katakuri.

Sanji Black, Executive Chef and owner of Le Tout Bleu, successfully defends his restaurant and its customers from aggressive paparazzi one evening with style. A video of the fight goes viral, though, and one of the celebrities in the center of the whole mess develops quite the intense—and public—crush.

Newly reunited and fresh into the New World, the Strawhats split up again briefly to chase rumors of the Mera Mera no Mi. Zoro and Sanji are assigned the long con: whispers place the Devil Fruit in the Lumo Archipelago under the care of Roland Vane, ex Level 6 prisoner of Impel Down. Vane is a recluse and only accessible monthly at pretentious wine tasting parties hosted at his mansion, and only his exclusive group of friends are invited, all queer couples who also enjoy boring cheese plates and even more boring art. The obvious solution is to fake having a husband.