Love à la Mode

In this novel for young adults, high school juniors Rosie Radeke from a small town in Ohio, and Henry Yi of Chicago are both enrolled in an elite cooking program in Paris with other sixteen-year olds. They are chefs-in-training at the École Denis Laurent, "the most prestigious cooking program for high school students on the planet." Rosie and Henry meet on the plane on the way to Paris and feel an instant attraction.

All of the students, who are from all over the world, live and study at a large, glamorous townhouse with a huge kitchen, and a staff to teach them led by Chef Martinet. ("Martinet" turns out to be a not-very-original epithet for the cold, strict disciplinarian.)

What happens to them unfolds in alternate chapters narrated by show more Rosie and Henry. Each of them makes fast friends with most of the other students, including the charming Yumi from Tokyo; Hampus from Sweden; Priya, who is Rosie’s roommate; and a surprise student - the great-looking and (fictionally) famous to foodies, Bodie Tal, who stars in a baking show with his superstar pastry chef dad.

As the students struggle to attain cooking perfection, some of them battle personal issues as well. In Henry’s case, his mom pressures the school to give Henry more assignments to help him prepare for college. Henry doesn’t want to go to college; he wants to go to culinary school. The extra work makes him tired and moody, but he won’t communicate about it with Rosie, so she thinks he doesn’t like her. Nevertheless, he is crazily jealous over Bodie, who obviously likes Rosie also. (It was beyond me why Rosie didn’t prefer Bodie anyway, who seems way more capable and mature than the volatile, juvenile Henry.)

Tensions come to a head not only between the triangle of Rosie, Henry, and Bodie. Towards the end of the semester the students have to make the best meals of their lives to convince both Chef Martinet and Chef Laurent that they should be allowed to return for another term after the Christmas holidays.

Discussion: The author quite cleverly has in essence used the main theme of Hemingway’s Movable Feast to develop a plot for young adults involving Paris, food, and romance - a great combination! (In his memoir, which is also one of my favorite books, Hemingway notably said, “If you are lucky enough to have lived in Paris as a young man, then wherever you go for the rest of your life, it stays with you, for Paris is a movable feast.”)

Rosie interprets the idea of a movable feast broadly after Henry shared that quote with her:

“Rosie loved that idea, of a moveable feast. Of something you could enjoy whenever you wanted, something that went with you no matter where you happened to go. Like home. Home was a place you carried in your heart. [And] . . . food was never just food. . . . Food was the people you cooked with, the people you cooked for, the people you ate with, and the people you thought of as you ate. The people who made the meal what it was.”

She concludes:

“In a few days, she’d go home to Ohio for Christmas. . . . But she would never leave Paris. Not really. Because she knew that it would stay with her. Wherever she went. For the rest of her life.”

Evaluation: This frothy confection celebrating food and family is fine for tweens as well as teens. However, you may want to have a supply of chocolate croissants and gougeres nearby, just for starters. I have never been so craving of French pastries as I have while reading this book! show less

Evergreen Bk Award 2020 nominee. Sweet romance set in Paris at posh cooking school - students from various countries have been selected to work under world class chefs & pursue their high school studies for two semesters. Warm friendships, cooking challenges, and a "does he/doesn't he & "does she/doesn't she" like me conflict throughout 2/3s of the book. "PG" romance for sure - but just the descriptions of the cooking, the French restaurants/bakeries, etc.... really fun if you enjoy baking, cooking and/or eating delicious food!!

I loved it!!

This one made me really hungry, craving things I'd never even heard of before this book, let alone seen them. My favourite part of it might have been the food, because the romance was okay......not something I particularly loved.

The problem, I feel, with the romance, was that it was just too whiny? for me. And the love triangle was boring? And just not working? And too fast? I don't know, but the characters, Henry and Rosie, were just acting like whiny children and misinterpreting to the limit where even whiny children would not have misinterpreted.

That said, I really liked the humour in this book, and I did have a good time reading this. Except the near-constant mouthwatering and stomach growling. In fact, I'm feeling show more hungry right now, writing(typing?) this, and I just had lunch.

I recommend this book to anyone who likes romance, like really light and fluffy romance, and can tolerate a bit of whining, and likes food. the best thing was the culinary school, and the food. show less

A world famous chef runs an exclusive Ecole Denis Laurent for high school juniors in Paris, France. It's a year abroad for twenty world wide cooking aficionados. In a small world meet cute, Henry Yi and Rosie Radeke are on the same flight to Paris from O'Hare. Kindred spirits from the get go, they meet up with other new students and head to their new dorm life and school. The back and forth chapters between Henry and Rosie give a good peek at all of the action and thoughts--there is plenty of room for misinterpretation as they navigate their feelings. I also really liked the 'posse' of kids they hang out with most of the time. Strohm does a great job at detailing this handful of secondary characters as well, making things very show more believable, including hashtag Mumi! show less

I thought this book was a prefect summer read. I really how this was concept novel about a cooking school in paris. I wish paris was represented and used a bit more. I really loved how this book was duel POV Novel. I liked both characters. I also like how this school was not easy for both students and showed the challenges that they faced. I think this book relyed alot on lack of communication to develop their story and that was okay, but it kinda off frustrated me at points. I would def read more by this author in the future. I w0uld love a sequel book about their second semester and see how that would go, but a fun summer read for sure!

I thought this book was a prefect summer read. I really how this was concept novel about a cooking school in paris. I wish paris was represented and used a bit more. I really loved how this book was duel POV Novel. I liked both characters. I also like how this school was not easy for both students and showed the challenges that they faced. I think this book relyed alot on lack of communication to develop their story and that was okay, but it kinda off frustrated me at points. I would def read more by this author in the future. I w0uld love a sequel book about their second semester and see how that would go, but a fun summer read for sure!

Cute story about first love. Set in Paris, surrounded by cooking and food. I absolutely love this so much