The Chibineko Kitchen

If you could speak to someone you've lost, one last time, what would you tell them?

Steam rises from the bowls of simmered fat greenling, rice and miso soup on the table in

front of Kotoko.

She has taken the train from Tokyo to reach the Chibineko Kitchen, a restaurant perched

by the sea in Chiba Prefecture. Still reeling from the sudden death of her brother, she has

heard that the food served there can reunite you with a lost loved one for one last time.

Hardly daring to believe it can be true, she sits down to the kagezen, the remembrance

meal, and takes a bite. Then the clock stops ticking, the gulls fall silent and the air grows

hazy . . .

In A Meal to Remember at the Chibineko Kitchen, Kotoko crosses paths with a handful of

other protagonists - a primary school boy, an elderly farmer, and the restaurant's young

chef - each of them grieving and looking for answers. This is a novel about coming to

terms with loss, and finding what matters most in life.

An exquisite, uplifting Japanese novel about loss, memory, and the healing power of food.