The Restaurant of Lost Recipes is the delicious second book of the translated into English Japanese series which revolves around a father and daughter (and their cat Drowsy) who own a diner called The Kamogawa Diner but are also known to be food detectives for people who have somehow learned about them and come to them to try and recapture a food dish with a memory, sometimes good and sometimes bad attached. It is up to Chef Nagare and his daughter Koishi to work their magic and try to discover and then cook the dish which their clients sometimes desperately need to continue on their journey or make peace with their past.
The stories are lovely and beautiful and are filled with delicious delicacies and mysteries. Nagare will scour the earth to help anyone who needs his special service and Koishi will take care of all the paperwork. And of course, Drowsy their beloved cat will always make their guests feel better.
Some of the stories in this book include Fried Rice in which a model who is engaged is desperately searching for a Fried Rice she remembers from years ago so she can present it to her fiancé and be proud.
Another is an Olympic Swimmer who is looking for the special Beto Box his father who he is estranged from use to make for him daily.
The most poignant story to me was Christmas Cake in which a married couple comes to the diner to look for a particular cake their late son used to love, but they never tasted as it was given as an offering at the time of his death and neither wanted to try it. This story shows the love of the parents for their lost son, but it also shows the love of the young son to his parents as past and present collide.
Every story has a beginning, middle, and moving ending the last few sentences always an homage to Nagare and Koishi’s late wife and mother.
The Restaurant of Lost Recipes is a feel good, gloriously happy read with mouthwatering delicacies and mysteries to be solved for those seeking answers through food.
Thank you #NetGalley #G.P.Putnam’sSons #HisashiKashiwai #TheRestaurantofLostRecipes for the advanced copy.
Lisa's Cubby 