Overview

A beloved Japanese bestseller, Menu of Happiness is for fans of Before the Coffee Gets Cold and asks the question: What’s the one dish you’d do anything to taste just one more time? “As warm and nourishing as a good cup of tea…a series I can see myself returning to again and again.”—Mia P. Manansala, award-winning author of Arsenic and Adobo Every memory has a flavor. A very special restaurant in Kyoto helps find them . . . Welcome to the Kamogawa Diner, where every meal is a mystery ready to be solved. This unique establishment is run by a father-daughter duo who offer more than just mouth-watering meals. They act as “food detectives,” delving into the past to produce nostalgia-infused dishes for their hungry clientele. Among the patrons is a once-renowned pianist whose promising career was marred by a self-inflicted injury. She longs to taste the yakisoba shared with the only man she ever truly loved. The diner also welcomes a man haunted by shadows of regret. His mind is haunted by the memory of gyoza served by the parents of a lover he once jilted, as he seeks understanding and, perhaps, forgiveness. The Kamogawa Diner doesn’t just serve food – it recreates forgotten recipes, helping its patrons to revisit memories lost to time. Each dish is a portal to the past, serving not just sustenance but solace and reconnection through the miracle of delicious food.

Full Product Details

9798217045358

Table of Contents

Reviews

“Thought-provoking and will leave you hungry for more.” —BookRiot “Kashiwai indubitably satisfies delicious wishes.” —Booklist “Great food, great cat. Need I say more?” —Hopewell’s Public Library of Life “The series is well written and the format of the novels makes this series easy to devour, no pun intended.” —Books of Brilliance “Classic deductive detective work meets Japanese comfort fare.” —Salon “Nagare and Koishi, despite not being the ones telling most of each story, are really the heart of this series.” —The Lily Café “You probably don't want to read this when hungry.” —Girl Who Reads “[D]eliciously cozy.” —The Frumious Consortium “[A] mouth-watering delight . . . The way that the tastes and flavors are so lovingly described make it impossible not to think about the food and wishing that the books contained enough magic to make it appear!” —Reading Reality “It’s a novel about nostalgia, coziness and sharing of good food . . . Shoutout too to Jesse Kirkwood, who always captures the right tone and mood in the translation to English.” —Sam Still Reading

“Thought-provoking and will leave you hungry for more.” —BookRiot “Kashiwai indubitably satisfies delicious wishes.” —Booklist “The series is well written and the format of the novels makes this series easy to devour, no pun intended.” —Books of Brilliance “Nagare and Koishi, despite not being the ones telling most of each story, are really the heart of this series.” —The Lily Café “You probably don't want to read this when hungry.” —Girl Who Reads

A Library Journal Star of the Year (So Far) A BookTrib Culinary Book for Fans of “The Bear” A BookRiot International Cat Day Book An NPR Book We Loved this Year An Electric Literature Heartwarming Japanese Book Perfect for Cozy Nights “[An] ode to the magic of food.” – People “Off-beat and charming, [with] more complexity of flavor than you might expect.” – NPR – Fresh Air with Terry Gross “[A] feel-good escape. . . Kashiwai not only makes you hungry for the numerous Japanese dishes he writes about, but he also evokes a unique sense of longing for past happiness you might wish to relive. Warm and nuanced while bringing you to the beautiful city of Kyoto, you’ll devour this small, gentle read like a hearty bowl of your favorite soup.” – Seattle Times “Charming. . . This book offers more than beautifully crafted stories of life’s challenges and joys. It is filled with glimpses into Japanese culture. . . The kind of book you pick up and savor every page. A brilliant first installment to a series, it is expertly crafted and leaves you hungry for more.” – New York Journal of Books “The enduring strength of love [is] at the heart of this series opener. . . Takes care to illustrate food’s ability to preserve a culture across generations. . . The cozy, literary equivalent of a hearty stew on a cold day.” – Chicago Review of Books “Kashiwai’s unique blend of seasonings is more than enough to transform each into a five-star-worthy dish. . . [A] warm memory blanket of nostalgia. Readers [will] eagerly devour each morsel of this miso soup for the soul. . . A nourishing collection of bite-sized stories with a hearty dash of savory flavor.”—Kirkus Reviews “Outstanding. . . A culinary and cultural exploration of Japanese cuisine. . . The novel includes mouthwatering descriptions of food as well as a nuanced description of life in Japan. . . Readers will take delight in Kashiwai’s exquisite meals and the culinary history that accompanies them.” —Library Journal “[This] charming book is definitely not one to read while hungry… Little wonder that this gem of a detective novel is a bestseller in Japan. I’m only glad it’s been made available for the English-speaking public now too.” —Criminal Element “Affecting. . . With overwhelming emotional resonance [. . .], Nagare satisfies toothsome dreams.”—Booklist “Deliciously fun.” —BookRiot “The Kamogawa Food Detectives is an absolute joy; hilarious, emotional, and entirely delicious. Hisashi Kashiwai's tales of love lost, found, grown older and reborn are both striking and comforting — truly one of a kind. Delectable and delightful.”—Bryan Washington, author of Family Meal “Readers will delight in these quiet, introspective stories about the healing power of good, nostalgic food.” – PBS Books “An early contender for my favorite book of the year. For anyone who loves magnificent food writing and great storytelling, this novel is a moving, beautiful, and impeccably detailed tribute to the power of a great meal.”—J. Ryan Stradal, New York Times bestselling author of Kitchens of the Great Midwest “I absolutely devoured this book! The father-daughter power duo of Nagare and Koishi Kamogawa carry this series of vignettes that show nostalgia is often the best spice and a plate of food is never just a plate of food. As warm and nourishing as a good cup of tea or bowl of miso soup, this is a series I can see myself returning to again and again.”–Mia P. Manansala, author of the Agatha, Anthony, and Macavity Award-winning Arsenic and Adobo

Author Information

Hisashi Kashiwai was born in 1952 and was raised in Kyoto. He graduated from Osaka Dental University. After graduating, he returned to Kyoto and worked as a dentist. He has written extensively about his native city and has collaborated in TV programs and magazines. Jesse Kirkwood is a literary translator working from Japanese into English. The recipient of the 2020 Harvill Secker Young Translators’ Prize, his translations include The Kamogawa Food Detectives by Hisashi Kashiwai, Tokyo Express by Seicho Matsumoto and A Perfect Day to Be Alone by Nanae Aoyama.

Tab Content 6

Countries Available