Follow the bank of the Koitogawa river until you reach the beach. From there a path of white seashells will lead you to the Chibineko Kitchen. Step inside, they’ll be expecting you.
Nagi Hayakawa is facing an impossible choice. Should she agree to marry her boyfriend, despite being ill and not knowing how many years she has left to live, or should she protect him from future heartbreak by refusing? Desperate for advice from the one person no longer there to give it – her mother who died years before – she reserves a table at the Chibineko Kitchen.
When she takes her first bite of the miso-marinated tofu and rice, prepared for her by the restaurant’s young chef, Kai, the gulls outside fall silent and the air grows hazy.
Deliciously heart-warming, The Chibineko Kitchen is about savouring every moment.
Nagi Hayakawa is facing an impossible choice. Should she agree to marry her boyfriend, despite being ill and not knowing how many years she has left to live, or should she protect him from future heartbreak by refusing? Desperate for advice from the one person no longer there to give it – her mother who died years before – she reserves a table at the Chibineko Kitchen.
When she takes her first bite of the miso-marinated tofu and rice, prepared for her by the restaurant’s young chef, Kai, the gulls outside fall silent and the air grows hazy.
Deliciously heart-warming, The Chibineko Kitchen is about savouring every moment.
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Reviews
A warm hug of a novel . . . set at a snug seaside café near Tokyo, where the food offers customers a chance to see the people they've loved and lost
As warm and comforting as the meals it describes . . . Takahashi is skilled at creating cozy, tranquil scenes, with light-dappled, evocative descriptions . . . The charming characters have moving narratives. The food, which is sensorially described, has a starring role as well, with regional and cultural exposition and recipes at the end of each chapter. Soul-nourishing
Charming . . . Easy to read, this book will take readers on an emotional and nourishing journey
Heartwarming . . . If you enjoyed Before the Coffee Gets Cold by Toshikazu Kawaguchi, you might enjoy this magical tale set in a seaside town outside of Tokyo
Hanako Footman's narration is as warm and delicious as the meals at the Chibineko Kitchen . . . Footman's soft, calm tone and precise pronunciation of Japanese words and places create the perfect ambiance for this translated work steeped in Japanese culture, locations, traditions, and sensibilities. Keep a notepad handy if you plan to capture the recipe in each chapter's transcendent encounter
Praise for THE CHIBINEKO KITCHEN