The Restaurant of Lost Recipes is a charmingly diverting example of the Japanese food story genre, and the second Food Detectives book by Hisashi Kashiwai. Released 8th Oct 2024 by Penguin Random House on their Putnam imprint, it's 224 pages and is available in hardcover, audio, and ebook formats. It's worth noting that the ebook format has a handy interactive table of contents as well as interactive links and references throughout.
This is such a comforting, nostalgic, and sweetly uplifting collection of related stories. Originally published in Japanese in 2014, the translation work by Jesse Kirkwood is seamless and manages to flow very well in English without losing the indelible Japanese cultural and food-related nuances.
The stories are related by a common thread: seekers find the restaurant run by a father and daughter duo who specialize in recreating meals for their clients from the clients' own memories and recollections.
Despite the lack of danger or dramatic tension, the stories are moving and told effectively. Food manga and food-centered narrative is a popular subgenre in Japan, and this is a wonderful collection.
Five stars. Charming and worthwhile. Comfort reading.
Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.
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