The Snail Restaurant

Some books are sad; others depressing. It’s quite rare to come across a book that it is simply optimistic and happy, but The Restaurant of Love Regained is just that. It’s not over the top love-love happy-happy but it makes you realise that in amongst that bad days and the sad days, there are a lot of good ones.

Our protagonist, Rinko, doesn’t have a lot to smile about at the opening of this short but sweet novel. Her boyfriend, who she was planning to open an Indian restaurant with, has up and left her without a word. Her apartment has also been cleaned out and she has no choice but to return to her mother’s house to regroup. Carrying a mortar from her grandmother, she makes a lone, weary bus trip to her small home town. She show more finds her relationship with her mother somewhat fractious, but with the help of an old friend, opens a tiny restaurant, The Snail. The Snail serves only one meal a day, but it’s a meal that is chosen with the utmost care for the diners. Rinko helps to heal a woman’s grief, unite two young lovers and cure a sick pet. Unfortunately Rinko’s luck hasn’t changed ultimately for the better and she has bad news to bear. Can The Snail and Rinko’s diners help her to heal too?

That brief synopsis may sound cheesy, but the book is beautifully written and translated. The characters are well drawn from Rinko to Hermes the pig and there is obvious love in the joy that Rinko gets from planning the best food for her diners. Food plays a leading role in the book, and some of the descriptions of Rinko’s creations will leave your mouth watering. Food is seen as a bridge to link emotions – to resolve grief, uncertainty and to restore love. The food isn’t all Japanese either – there’s some delicious desserts and meat dishes made. For the more adventurous, a fugu (pufferfish) party is described.

I loved the linking of food – from creating to eating and its link to emotion and conflict resolution. I hadn’t really thought of food that way before – Rinko is the perfect character to explain those thoughts to the reader. This book will have you both smiling and crying at times – definitely a book that deserves a wider audience.

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Première incursion dans l'univers de Ito Ogawa et probablement la dernière...
J'ai eu l'impression d'assister impuissante, au naufrage du Titanic. Pourtant on partait bien, avec cette histoire de refaire sa vie avec un restaurant et des plats quasiment mystiques qui procurent bonheur et voeux à ceux qui les goûtent. Mais déjà on commence à voir les fissures dans la coque de ce paquebot (l'histoire de cet ex qui est pour le moins douteuse mais aussi pas cohérente, la figure de la mère etc.). Et puis on assiste à une succession de plats, de personnages sans grand lien entre eux (j'ai eu beau chercher le sens caché de certaines scènes, je cherche encore)
Et puis l'iceberg survient au premier tiers avec des histoires plus show more rocambolesques les unes que les autres (on a un niveau d'absurde rarement égalé) pour finir avec tout un passage qui m'a soulevé le coeur.

Bref une bonne idée à la base mais qui n'a pas été exploitée tout comme les personnages qui m'ont laissée de marbre. show less

An enjoyable book about food, relationships, and love. I was inspired by the respect each ingredient was given. The storyline was different than I was expecting, being less about the restaurant and more about Rinko in general, but I enjoyed the journey. Very sad ending.

L'o iniziato dopo la piacevole lettura di "La cartoleria Tsubaki" e sembrava procedere tutto bene, magari un po' più sottotono ma scorrevole, con l'ambizione di rendere la protagonista un po' una sorta di Vianne di Chocolat in chiave chef (tentativo fallito su tutta la linea), poi da un certo punto la svolta in peggio: cose naif o assurde (come tutta la vicenda della madre), la macellazione della povera Hermès con particolari quasi gore con una sorta di compiacimento... ormai lo finirò, ma potevo evitarmi la lettura molto volentieri, ecco.

This book is short and sweet. The story has a fairy-tale quality to it, is very descriptive and well written.

[ Spoiler ahead!!! ]

I liked that Rinko lost her voice from the beginning, so we never "hear" her speak, a concept which appeals to me. Also loved the description of the eatery, I wish I could see the actual place!

I think quite a lot was lost in translation with this novel. It did not flow very well and I think was due to the fact that it was not meant to be in English. The story is charming and the book will appeal to food porn enthusiasts, however, like much of this genre, it has little substance.

The plot is full of holes and is not very realistic. It is more of a fantasy with wonderful imagery and colourful characters, that should not be taken too literally.

I do not know why what it is about pig slaughtering that writers feel is romantic. I read La Cucina, in this genre, not long ago in which there is a detailed description of the main character killing and butchering a pig. This book has an even more involved, more detailed pig slaughtering show more storyline, which spoilt the book for me. It is horrible and seems a little sick and unnecessary.

The best thing about the novel is that it is short. show less

A book that began with promise, muddled its way to a confusing middle, and then an overwhelming unbelievable finish. A disappointment.