First published 2025
Chef Nagare runs the Kamogawa Diner with his daughter Koishi in a narrow Kyoto backstreet. They call themselves food detectives. Clients come seeking dishes from their past that they cannot recreate or find anywhere else. The father and daughter team uses their culinary skills to track down these lost recipes and forgotten flavors. Each dish carries powerful memories for those who taste it again. A bowl of yakisoba brings back feelings of first love. Dumplings shared between former enemies heal old wounds. Through careful investigation and cooking, Nagare and Koishi help people reconnect with parts of their lives they thought were gone forever. The diner serves more than meals. It serves as a bridge between present and past, allowing customers to taste their way back to moments that shaped them.
Genres: literary-fiction, family-life, contemporary, food-writing, culinary
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: found-family, slice-of-life
Setting: Kamogawa Diner, Kyoto
Period: contemporary
224 pages · Hardcover · G.P. Putnam's Sons