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Elza's Kitchen: A Novel

by Marc Fitten (Goodreads Author)

3.09 of 5 stars 3.09 · rating details · 86 ratings · 39 reviews

For years, Elza has gotten by. A divorcee out of culinary school, she started her own little restaurant in the mid-size Hungarian city of Delibab, and she's grown a decent business, cooking quality versions of Hungarian classics and serving them with a smile. But lately her smile has gotten tired. Her loveless affair with her sous-chef has become an irritation. She's getti...more

Paperback, 224 pages

Published July 3rd 2012 by Bloomsbury USA (first published June 19th 2012)

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Dec 21, 2012 Linda rated it 5 of 5 stars

Elza’s Kitchen
By Marc Fitten

Elza’s Kitchen is the second novel in a series, all of which take place in Hungary as it transitions from the Soviet bloc to the global market economy. The first, Valeria’s Last Stand, is a hilarious romp of a novel—less a novel than a fabliau, a comic tale about lust, greed, and the trickery ordinary people use to satisfy these all-too-human urges.

Elza’s Kitchen has fewer laughs out loud but far more moments of real and complex feeling. Valeria is an older, crotchet...more

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Nov 07, 2012 Sam rated it 4 of 5 stars Recommends it for: fans of food fiction

Recommended to Sam by: from publisher - thank you

Elza’s Kitchen is a fairly short book, but don’t misjudge it for its size. It packs a powerful punch in terms of life lessons all wrapped in a simple and delightful story. Even if you don’t like to cook or find food boring, you’ll enjoy this book.

Elza is the owner of a small restaurant in Delibab, Hungary. It would be fair to say that her life has fallen into a rut of late. She sees the same customers in her restaurant. Her relationship with the Sous Chef is dull. Her menu is unchanging. So Elza...more Elza’s Kitchen is a fairly short book, but don’t misjudge it for its size. It packs a powerful punch in terms of life lessons all wrapped in a simple and delightful story. Even if you don’t like to cook or find food boring, you’ll enjoy this book.

Elza is the owner of a small restaurant in Delibab, Hungary. It would be fair to say that her life has fallen into a rut of late. She sees the same customers in her restaurant. Her relationship with the Sous Chef is dull. Her menu is unchanging. So Elza decides to change things, by asking The Critic of a famed food journal to visit her restaurant and rate it. As she prepares for his visit, everything seems to go awry. Her relationship dissolves, her workers turn against her and the customers stay away. Elza needs to look at what she has and how to change it.

How Elza goes about changing her bad fortune into good (or at least tolerable) is admirable. Fitten doesn’t use any magical plot devices here – all of what Elza achieves could be done by any one of us and I think that’s where the magic in this book lies. Forget your self-help books; Elza is a role model for making great lemonade from life’s lemons. Likewise, Elza’s mishaps – a true accident, failing relationships and work issues are something that every one of us faces. Elza’s also not perfect herself – she comes across as rather naïve and gullible at times which makes her a much more believable character.

Fitten has also intrigued me by not giving all of his characters Christian names. For example, The Sous Chef is not referred to by name, despite being Elza’s partner (life and business) for years! Yet his new girlfriend is referred to as Nora, rather than ‘The Pastry Chef’. Likewise, The Critic is not referred to by name but the young boys who hang around Elza’s restaurant are. It’s interesting to try and work out why – many of these people play a pivotal role in Elza’s life, so why don’t they deserve a name? Is The Sous Chef so criminal in his betrayal of Elza? Or is he just a passing fad, not worthy of naming?

I came away with a smile on my face after reading this delightful book and a yearning for some home cooked food.

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Jul 21, 2012 cupcake rated it 3 of 5 stars

I don't think this book can figure out what it's about. Is it a mid-life coming of age? A woman's need to right a wrong? The story of two lovers who need to be away from each other in order to grow? Elza is a chef in Hungary, but she's restless. At forty-eight, she feels like her life should go somewhere, but it isn't. Her restaurant is successful, but not recognized by Michelin. Her romance with her nearly two decades younger sous chef is equally stagnant. He wants to get married, but she doesn...more

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May 21, 2012 Lisa rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: from-friends

I love the language of this book. The author has a fantastic way of describing scenes and people using very few words, but still painting a clear picture.
That being said, I had trouble caring for the characters, and I do not know why. Elza, the main character, is very human in her actions. She makes good and bad choices, and she is just trying to find her passion again. I like the fact that only the people she has strong emotion about had names. The man she is sleeping with is only ever called t...more

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Aug 21, 2012 Amy rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: food-cooking

This is a charming book about a chef in a small town. Only three characters in the book get names (the rest of the characters are named after their jobs--Professor of Sauces, Critic, Shopkeeper, etc.). Elza is a little sour, and a lot feisty. Her plans don't work out as expected, but everyone's better off for it. This is a soft-lens, cozy sort of story.

And mouthwatering. Bump from 3 stars to 4 because of descriptions like this:

"People came . . . for her potato pancakes--golden fried disks cover...more

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May 09, 2012 Nancy rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: ebook, netgalley, literary, fiction-adult

I received this book for free from NetGalley.

This story was just OK. It really had promise to be a better than OK story but ultimately it just fell short. For me, it just stemmed from the fact that I didn't care about Elza, the main character. I found her uninspired and just plain boring. The story starts off with Elza lamenting over the fact that she doesn't love her boyfriend, she just wants a warm body next to her. Sees that her ex-husband, whom she left because he wanted to start a family, h...more

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Dec 18, 2012 Marilyn rated it 3 of 5 stars

I enjoyed this book but it wouldn't make any list of my favorites. I liked that it was set in a different time and place, post-communist Hungary. And I love food-related novels. The tone of this one seemed a little deadpan, at least for first half of the story. Perhaps this simply reflects that time in the country's contemporary history. Certainly interesting to think about how people in a post-Soviet satellite adjusted to capitalism. And the plot was good enough. As I said, I kept reading and f...more

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Apr 22, 2012 Stephanie rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: senior-year

This novel was the perfect combination of everything that I look for in a book. Elza runs a restaurant that serves traditional Hungarian food. It is really about her rediscovering who she is and what she wants from life. I loved all of the scenes incorporating descriptions of food. It was a really interesting story, and it held my interest throughout. I liked how the author used exclamation points. Those are not often used, and I thought it was a good stylistic choice. I really felt a connection...more

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Sep 21, 2012 Bree T rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: arc, contemporary, cultural, literary

Elza has her own restaurant in Delibab, Hungary and has made a living for some years now. She opens for lunch and dinner and serves good, wholesome Hungarian food ‘like your grandmother made’ in a fine dining setting. She has always enjoyed her job, her restaurant and served her food with a smile, getting to know her regulars. But lately she’s experienced a dissatisfaction that threatens to consume her. And her relationship with her much-younger sous-chef is no longer tolerable.

The answer for El...more Elza has her own restaurant in Delibab, Hungary and has made a living for some years now. She opens for lunch and dinner and serves good, wholesome Hungarian food ‘like your grandmother made’ in a fine dining setting. She has always enjoyed her job, her restaurant and served her food with a smile, getting to know her regulars. But lately she’s experienced a dissatisfaction that threatens to consume her. And her relationship with her much-younger sous-chef is no longer tolerable.

The answer for Elza it seems, is to lure a notorious Italian food critic to her restaurant. He specialises in haute cousine, fine dining, particularly French food and Elza reads his column in a magazine religiously. She feels that she has the perfect meal for him, something he would love and she begins preparing it, testing it until it is perfect. Then all she needs to do is track down the critic – easier said than done. He’s always on the move and he’s always busy, but Elza is persistent.

When they get word that the critic is finally coming it couldn’t be at a worse time. Elza has finally ended her relationship with the sous-chef, refusing his marriage proposal for the last time. The sous-chef has retaliated by taking up with the pastry-chef and the kitchen is in chaos. Elza has very little time to whip them -and her restaurant- into shape for the critic’s special visit.

As I’ve mentioned, books set in places I’m unfamiliar with really appeal to me. This one is set in Hungary and it actually might be the first book I’ve ever read in my life that is set in that particular country. I found that aspect of it rather fascinating – it’s set after the fall of the Berlin Wall and the “freeing of the Eastern bloc” and therefore there’s a theme of opportunity that runs through this book. The residents of Hungary have a freedom and the opportunity to do things that they haven’t had before.

Elza is in her late-40s, divorced and seems to live her life free of any attachment to anyone. She has no family and while she has been sleeping with her sous-chef for the past three years, she has no real attachment to him. She’s unbothered by him other than a warm body some nights and she constantly refuses his proposals of marriage. It therefore seemed to make little sense to me that she became so infuriated by his moving on to her pasty-chef. She didn’t care for him, she readily admitted that she didn’t. Both the sous-chef and the pasty-chef were very good at what they did and made the restaurant quite popular. I’m not sure why she sabotaged this because of a jealousy that made such little sense to the reader. It was written as an impotent fury, like Elza was the woman scorned when in fact she was not in any way.

When this book focused on the food, on Elza’s desire to lure the critic, on the pastry-chef’s beautiful creations, on the meals Elza cooks herself later on in the book for her customers, it was truly beautiful. It made me deliciously hungry for food I’ve never tasted before – chicken paprika, which seems a kind of Hungarian signature dish, creamy omelette’s with peppers, pork served in a beautiful dill sauce. I wanted to try absolutely everything described in this book, and I’m not a particularly adventurous eater! The language and description were fabulous, mouth-wateringly evocative. I enjoyed the idea of Elza luring this famous critic to her small, home-food style restaurant in Hungary and the process that took to make it happen. I even enjoyed the character of the Critic himself (a lot of characters in this book are never given names, simply referred to as the Sous-Chef, the Critic, the Motorcyle Officer, etc).

But this book did let itself down (for me) in the rather random story of the young gypsy Roma children who hang around the restaurant generally being a nuisance and begging for money and/or food. I found it detracted from the story of Elza and the Critic and also the Sous-Chef and his story and to be honest, I didn’t care about the gypsy kids, what they were doing and how Elza dealt with them and the ramifications and guilt because of that. I just wanted them (and that whole story) to shoo so I could get back to the kitchen so to speak and read more descriptions of food and Elza trying to reboot her restaurant. That’s where the book’s strength was, getting bogged down in the gypsy community did the book no favours and it was also sort of pointless. It portrayed the gypsies as scavengers and sheisters (which they well be) but to a stereotype that was almost painful to read. I didn’t feel for them, I didn’t sympathise with them, mostly they just irritated me and I wanted them gone from the page so I could get back to what I felt was the core of the story.

This book had so much promise but I just feel it failed to deliver on it. I found Elza prickly and unenjoyable unless she was cooking and her reaction to the Sous-Chef and her pastry-chef was just out of place and irrational. She almost allowed her jealousy to sabotage the one thing in her life that seemed to actually mean something to her and I’m glad that in the end that didn’t happen because it just would have been so unnecessary. Less focus on gypsies and jealousy and more focus on food and Hungarian tradition and culture would’ve made me truly love this book(less)

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Feb 27, 2013 Sally906 rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: e-book, general-fiction

One of the first things that struck me – and I am not sure of the reasoning behind it – is that all the male characters are referred to by their career i.e. the Sous-Chef, the Dishwasher, The Critic, The Policeman etc. – the young Gypsy boy being an exception to this. All the female characters were called by their first names – Elza, Dora and Eva. It didn’t deter from the story, just had me wondering as to why?

I selected ELZA'S KITCHEN because it is set in Hungary – and in a few months I will be...more

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Nov 26, 2012 Shelleyrae at Book'd Out rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: arc-are, provided-by-publisher

Elza's Kitchen is the story of a Hungarian woman in the grip of a mid life crisis. Her restaurant is a success, she entertains a virile young lover and she enjoys bourgeois comfort but her passion for life has faded, much like her youth. Casting around for inspiration she seizes upon the idea of attracting a well known Parisian food critic to her restaurant in the hopes that he will recommend it for the prestigious Silver Spoon Award but change will not come easily and Elza stands to lose it all...more
Elza's Kitchen is the story of a Hungarian woman in the grip of a mid life crisis. Her restaurant is a success, she entertains a virile young lover and she enjoys bourgeois comfort but her passion for life has faded, much like her youth. Casting around for inspiration she seizes upon the idea of attracting a well known Parisian food critic to her restaurant in the hopes that he will recommend it for the prestigious Silver Spoon Award but change will not come easily and Elza stands to lose it all.

In many ways I feel like this novel didn't quite come together, I thought the focus was too often pulled away from Elza, by the Critic mourning his dog, the Sous-Chef and Dora's new venture and the mischievous Gypsy family. It didn't help that I found it difficult to care much for Elza whose dissatisfaction seems selfish, all the more so when she discards her besotted lover, her Sous-Chef, but objects to his developing relationship with Dora. She is oblivious to his hurt feelings and, it seems, deliberately obtuse about the impact of her rejection on their working relationship. As a result the kitchen begins to fall apart, yet Elza accepts no blame for it.

For me the strength of this novel lies in the description of dining on Elza's simple Hungarian fare with a creative twist, a Paprika Chicken that is both tangy and sweet, pork tenderloin marinated in white wine with a paprika and dill sauce. Elza's menu is mouthwatering, especially when dessert pastries are added.

An interesting yet inexplicable, aspect of the novel involves the naming of the characters. While the women in the story are referred to by their first names - Elza, Dora and Eva, all the men (excepting the young Gypsy boy, Pisti) are referred to by description - the Sous-Chef, the Dishwasher, The Critic, The Motorcycle Man etc. It is clearly a deliberate choice made by the author and I wonder at its significance.

I am left feeling fairly ambivalent about Elza's Kitchen, while I thought the writing was stylish and I was interested by the unfamiliar setting of post communist Hungary, I didn't really connect with the characters or the story. Still, I was glad when Elza rediscovered her passion for her restaurant and I headed for my recipe books looking for a recipe for paprika chicken when I had finished the last pages.
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Jul 02, 2012 Kimberly rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: goodreads-first-reads

I received this book as GoodReads First Reads giveaway.

At first, I found it hard to really get into this story. The writing style reminded me a little bit of 'stream of consciousness' narrative, and I've never been a fan of that before. However, the 2nd time I picked it up to continue reading, the story really took off and I finished it in that sitting.

Elza is a likeable character that many readers can probably relate to, while at the same time make readers cringe at her behavior throughout the...more

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Aug 30, 2012 Melanie rated it 2 of 5 stars

Elza runs a popular resteraunt in a mid-sized Hungarian city. She serves authentic Hungarian dishes. She is loosing her enthusiasm for the resteraunt and her affair with her soux chef. She decides she must have a famous food critic come review her resteraunt. I didn't like Elza or any of the major characters, and I felt that several of the minor character were not given the depth that they deserved. And the parts with the gypsies was strange and out of place with the rest of the plot.

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Jan 13, 2013 Rebecca rated it 4 of 5 stars

Read this for Tasty Reads bookclub at the University Bookstore in Bellevue. It started off slow but by 50 pages in I was hooked. I liked the way Fitten divided POV between the main character of Elza and various supporting characters. To have the Roma POV was interesting, especially as it was shown from the Roma characters POV as well as non-Roma characters reacting to them. There were several of the recipes I would like to try - but no recipes were given. Maybe better to imagine them.

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Aug 20, 2012 Sue Sharp rated it 4 of 5 stars

Elza, a chef, owns and works in her own restaurant, serving good though basic Hungarian dishes. Her three year semi-secret affair with the Sous-Chef starts falling apart when he pressures her to marry. At the same time Elza has decided to try to get a food critic to come visit her restaurant. Things don't work out the way she planned and her world unravels quickly. Loved the ending... Interesting book, great characters, and I love books about food, restaurants etc.

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Aug 15, 2012 Brynn rated it 1 of 5 stars

Great food writing...but I feel that the story suffered from poor character development. I don' t feel that the author understsnds women, or at the very least, his main character. Depressing and sad, amid mouth- watering food writing, I would not recommend this book unless you really have nothing else better to do...although I was craving chicken paprika after reading this.....

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Jun 25, 2012 Rachael rated it 2 of 5 stars

I was very surprised at how little I cared for this book. From the synopsis I expected to love this book, but unfortunately, I didn't enjoy it until the last quarter or so. I usually try not to write a review that is all negative, but other than the book being tehnically well-written, there isn't much positive for me to say. The story held a lot of promise, but the characters were unrelatable, the subplots unfinished and there was a lot of unnecessary background/side story information that didn'...more

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Apr 18, 2012 Anna rated it 2 of 5 stars

This was a goodreads giveaway that I won. I was excited to read this book because I have worked in kitchen for years. But, the only thing that I really liked in this book was the restaurant, like the food and the odd things that happened in a kitchen.
I couldn't get into liking the people. Other then the main girl, Elza, everyone one else has titles instead of names. Like the Sous-Chef, The Professor of Sauces and The Professor of meats. I just couldn't connect with the people in the story. And...more

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Aug 06, 2012 Shari Henry rated it 4 of 5 stars

Well written but felt a bit ominous, does a good job introducing a little-known culture to most American readers. The lead character was not just sympathetic, but somewhat pitiful so I can't say I liked the work as much as I appreciated it.

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Sep 08, 2012 Jean Brazil rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: general-fiction

Freebie from Netgalley. This was pretty good. Lots of little stories from all points of view about a restaurant in Hungary. A little confusing at times, but overall a good read.

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Jul 05, 2012 Mary rated it 1 of 5 stars

Poorly developed characters and plot. I was intrigued by the premise of a female chef & businesswoman in post-socialist Hungary, but Fitten did little to explore the deeper themes of personal loss and hard lessons learned in the transition to capitalism, aside from a few platitudes about competition.

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Aug 29, 2012 Stephanie rated it 3 of 5 stars

Quirky romance takes place in a small town in Hungary. Loved the restaurant descriptions, didn't enjoy the gypsy part as much. Slightly reminiscent of Benny and Shrimp.

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Apr 18, 2012 Nichole rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: first-reads

Although this was not a book I would buy myself (won as a first reads giveaway) I really enjoyed this book! It had a nice flow & was well written. I think the character development was fantastic, I didn't know TOO much about the characters, as I shouldn't in this type of book, but I knew enough about them to enjoy their stories & not be confused.

In my opinion, I didn't find this story to be earth shattering, or even very exciting, but it delivered a good message....you can always start...more

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Sep 12, 2012 Michael rated it 4 of 5 stars

Marc Fitten's second novel follows the difficulties of a middle-aged woman working a successful neighborhood restaurant in Hungary, rife with romantic entanglements, magical cooking, and a fearsome gourmet food critic. Part fable, part life-affirming story, Elza's Kitchen is a beautifully-written, lovely tale about a real, complex, independent woman.

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Apr 10, 2012 Jenee Rager rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: general-fiction

Elza's kitchen got off to a slow start and I wasn't sure if I was going to like it. Throughout the first 50 pages or so Elza remained an unlikeable character for what seemed like no reason. As the book moved on you began to understand her standoffishness and her drive to succeed and the book became much better. One of my favorite minor characters was Dora's dad, and I would have loved to read more about him.

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Dec 01, 2012 Julia rated it 3 of 5 stars

meaningful little book with a foreign flare and lots of literary aspirations (one of The Critic's dislikes was chefs with aspirations!)

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Aug 30, 2012 Miranda rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: owned-books, first-read-in-2012, cover-porn

I received this as a goodreads giveaway.
The first five or six chapters are pretty meh, I paused after that for about four months before picking it up again. But I'm glad I did! It goes a lot of unexpected places, although I would have loved if the character of the Critic was more prominent, he was the most interesting one. I also like how most of the characters have titles ('the Sous-Chef', 'the Professor of Sauces') instead of names. It's not a long book, so it can't hurt to read. I wasn't for...more

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Apr 29, 2012 Jennifer rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: 1st-reads, indies, wouldn-t-recommend

This is probably the first book that I have won from goodreads that I just really didn't like. In fact had I not won it, and felt obligated to finish and review it, I probably wouldn't have. The book is not poorly written, but it just doesn't seem to have a plot. Elza, the main character is probably one of the most unlikeable characters to ever grace a novel. There is just nothing good to say about her. She takes those around her for granted, and throughout the book refers to everyone by their j...more

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Dec 12, 2012 Kara rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2012

I hate books that use titles instead of names, and this book has it in scores- "The Sous-Chef" "The Critic" "The Professor." Honestly, it took away from the book in my opinion.

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Sep 19, 2012 Brooke Traister rated it 3 of 5 stars

Cute book - was pleasantly surprised to enjoy it since Chris picked it out! If you enjoy food, foreign cultures and pseudo romance novels, I'd recommend it as a light read between larger books.

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About Marc Fitten

Marc Fitten has published nonfiction in The New York Times, the Atlanta Journal Constitution and the International Herald Tribune. VALERIA'S LAST STAND, his debut novel, was published in ten countries, was a German bestseller, and was shortlisted for The Boeke Prize in South Africa. His second novel, ELZA'S KITCHEN, was published in June 2012.

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