I didn’t realize it at the time, but this has many similarities to Bloom, but with enough of a twist/reversal that it makes sense that I read it right after. It was purely coincidence though, this was one of the half dozen graphic novels/manga that were immediately downloadable from my local library. I won’t compare too much as it’s not really fair to either, but I just got a kick out of that realizing it now as I sit down to write my response (months later—whoops).
Chef’s Kiss is the story of Ben, a recent college graduate who is desperate to find a job in copywriting or proof reading and put his English degree to use. He wants to stay in the city he went to school in and doesn’t want to go home, but struggles to find ANY job that’ll give him a chance until he stumbles across a restaurant that says “no experience necessary.” In the restaurant he meets Liam, the dreamy sous-chef who is in his corner from the beginning and helps Ben as he navigates a really weird hiring process.
The biggest difference between this and Bloom is those four years difference that college makes for Ben, that Ari hadn’t yet experienced. And even though Ben is struggling to put his education to use, he’s found something that he’s passionate about and wants to pursue. There is some unnecessary drama with his friends, who’ve all found employment, but being recent grads it’s also not surprising to see this sort of behavior. They could’ve been more understanding about Ben’s new found passion, I mean they were benefiting from it.
Ben’s parents were probably the most realistic thing about the graphic novel. They were not impressed with his new career choice. They gave him an ultimatum of finding a job within your field or coming home and working for the family company. And at one point they even ambush him, but the gruff—overly ridiculous—head chef steps in and tells them that Ben’s an adult and has a full time job and they should let him pursue whatever career he wants.
Recommendation: Worth the read. I didn’t adore this when I was reading it, but reflecting on it I actually enjoyed it more than I thought I did. The two things that bothered me were the critic that was deciding Ben’s fate, it was just weird, and the illustration style. The style wasn’t bad, it just seemed to be a weird mish-mash of different styles that felt jarring to me for some reason. I’m not familiar with Danica Brine, the illustrator of this novel, but I know they have changed the illustrator to Irene Flores for the recently announced sequel (Oni Press link), Chef’s Kiss Again. Taking a quick look at her website I like what she has on there so it will be interesting to see if they change or refine the style any.