Cookbook author, travel and food writer, and founder of Rosen's Cinnamon Buns Amy Rosen mixes food and fiction in her first novel, Off Menu. After the sudden death of her beloved grandmother, Ruthie Cohen's inheritance comes with stipulations: she has to use it for education, travel, or starting a small business. Growing frustration with her job working on a movie-info app that was supposed to be temporary and a night of wine and prosecco leads Ruthie to spend the money on culinary school.
A lifelong cooking hobbyist, Ruthie's culinary journey details her most embarrassing moments, such as showing up to her first class covered in V8 juice, and her significant accomplishments in the kitchen. But V8 isn't the most notable aspect of that first class: "Let's just say butter in a pan wasn't the only thing sizzling in my class today. I made eye contact with a guy named Jeff... Dear Diary, I loved the first day of my new life!"
Writing in charming, uninhibited diary entries, Rosen cooks up a menu of raw vulnerability paired with just the right amount of humor. The real stars of the show are Rosen's incredible descriptions of food; lemon meringue pie, lobster bisque, and French onion soup are a few of the utterly mouthwatering recipes folded into Ruthie's musings. Ruthie sprinkles sweet homages to her grandmother's many pieces of advice through her journey and dishes out her heart in this delicious read about deciding what and who is most important in life. --Clara Newton, freelance reviewer