The Kamogawa Food Detectives

by Hasashi Kashiwai

Jesse Kirkwood (Translator)

The Kamogawa Food Detectives is the first book in the bestselling, mouth-watering Japanese series, for fans of Before the Coffee Gets Cold.

What’s the one dish you’d do anything to taste just one more time?


Down a quiet backstreet in Kyoto exists a very special restaurant. Run by Koishi Kamogawa and her father Nagare, the Kamogawa Diner serves up deliciously extravagant meals. But that's not the main reason customers stop by . . .


The father-daughter duo are 'food detectives'. Through ingenious investigations, they are able to recreate dishes from a person’s treasured memories – dishes that may well hold the keys to their forgotten past and future happiness. The restaurant of lost recipes provides a link to vanished moments, creating a present full of possibility.


A bestseller in Japan, The Kamogawa Food Detectives is a celebration of good company and the power of a delicious meal.

• ISBN10: 0593717716
• ISBN13: 9780593717714
• Publish Date: 13 February 2024
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: US
• Publisher: Penguin Putnam Inc
• Imprint: G P Putnam's Sons
• Format: Hardcover
• Pages: 208
• Language: English
• URL: https://penguinrandomhouse.com/books/isbn/9780593717714

Reviews

[annieb123]

Originally posted on my blog Nonstop Reader.

The Kamogawa Food Detectives is a charmingly diverting example of the Japanese food story genre by Hisashi Kashiwai. Due out 13th Feb 2024 from Penguin Random House on their Putnam imprint, it's 208 pages and will be 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 2013, 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. 

Four and a half stars. Utterly charming. 

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.