"Gabriel Lightfoot is an enterprising man from a northern England mill town, making good in London. As executive chef at the once-splendid Imper... read full description
reviews
Feb 08, 2011
Paul
rated it: 
I would never want to get all that pally
With the brilliant (and gorgeous) Miss Monica Ali
We’d be dining on oysters on the left bank of the Seine
Or we’d be flying over Bali in her own private plane
And she’d say “Hey, what did you think of In The Kitchen?”
And I’d go hot and cold and my skin would be itchin’
I’d say “Brick Lane was great! Such characterisation!”
She’d say “That smacks of something like tergiversation –
Come, come, what did you th More...
With the brilliant (and gorgeous) Miss Monica Ali
We’d be dining on oysters on the left bank of the Seine
Or we’d be flying over Bali in her own private plane
And she’d say “Hey, what did you think of In The Kitchen?”
And I’d go hot and cold and my skin would be itchin’
I’d say “Brick Lane was great! Such characterisation!”
She’d say “That smacks of something like tergiversation –
Come, come, what did you th More...
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(11 people liked it)
May 24, 2009
Stacie
rated it: 
Goodreads win!
It is official...I give up. I tried. I kept reading, but I can't go on. I feel bad...I won this. I am a "first reader" and am starting the reviews. But, sadly, I can't give it resounding applause as a book. It felt like it was going nowhere and I got nowhere VERY slowly.
It should be a telling sign for me (who fancies herself a fast reader) that it took 4 days to get only 77 pages in. I just didn't care...I didn't know what I was supposed to care a
It is official...I give up. I tried. I kept reading, but I can't go on. I feel bad...I won this. I am a "first reader" and am starting the reviews. But, sadly, I can't give it resounding applause as a book. It felt like it was going nowhere and I got nowhere VERY slowly.
It should be a telling sign for me (who fancies herself a fast reader) that it took 4 days to get only 77 pages in. I just didn't care...I didn't know what I was supposed to care a
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May 30, 2011
Lulu
rated it: 
I did not, unfortunately, love "Brick Lane" but after enjoying a small slice of kitchen life in Anna Gavalda's "Hunting and Gathering", I was tempted by the title of this book when I found it at a church book sale and thought I should give Ali another try. What I found was a compelling novel about...hmm, how to describe this, contemporary labour in a multicultural commonwealth country, perhaps? Immigration, racist ideologies, the end of industry (textile mills - my next topi
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Jul 30, 2011
Carole
rated it:
I read this with great anticipation, having heard great things about Monica Ali, and having an interest in cooking and what goes on in a professional kitchen. I found the novel brutally disappointing, however, and actually struggled to finish it.
I didn't like Chef Gabriel, and couldn't understand the motivations behind his actions and desires. The characters seemed under-developed and generally unlikable on the whole. Ali's frequent addition of long-winded sociological philosophizing on th More...
I didn't like Chef Gabriel, and couldn't understand the motivations behind his actions and desires. The characters seemed under-developed and generally unlikable on the whole. Ali's frequent addition of long-winded sociological philosophizing on th More...
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Jul 11, 2011
Richard
rated it:
The book was beautifully written. The author creates an absorbing decline into madness as the chef loses his grip on reality. Monica Ali cleverly gets the reader to invest in the protagonist's blossoming future, his own restaurant, his forthcoming marriage and the reader then shares his inexorable decline into helplessness. From a personal point of view I did not entirely buy into his obsession with Lena. men are simple creatures and when given a way out (the payment of money for the sin of
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Jul 01, 2010
Bayshore
rated it:
A brief synopsis might state this is a novel about a middle-aged chef in London who hopes to run his own restaurant but first has to deal with an employee’s death. That would be doing short shrift to the underlying themes. The obvious sub-theme is the trafficking in illegal workers. Although this is set in England, we Americans shouldn’t fool ourselves that it doesn’t happen here. Another, more subtle, theme has to do with the lies we tell ourselves, and how much our lives are influenced by
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Mar 02, 2010
Jhoanna
rated it: 
Although this book is set in modern day London, I'm categorizing it as world lit for Ali's command of the immigrant community, especially those working in the kitchens of fancy-pansy restaurants. Having worked tangentially to a hotel kitchen, I can vouch for her behind-the-scenes portrayal which peels back the seedy, high-tension, machismo nature of the hotel business. The book itself is a bit of a mind-fuck (pardon my French), as you follow the at times nauseating, brain-bending decline of ex
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Jan 09, 2010
Ruth
rated it:
I read Monica Ali’s Brick Lane a few years ago, didn’t feel it lived up to its hype. Therefore when I saw this book on the New Books shelf at the library, I almost didn’t pick it up. I’m glad curiosity got the better of me.
This was one of those I-can’t-put-it-downers. Gabriel is a chef, making good in his first high-rent restaurant in a fancy hotel. It’s a high stress job, what with all the various nationalities and personalities represented in his kitchen, some of them legal imm More...
This was one of those I-can’t-put-it-downers. Gabriel is a chef, making good in his first high-rent restaurant in a fancy hotel. It’s a high stress job, what with all the various nationalities and personalities represented in his kitchen, some of them legal imm More...
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May 25, 2009
Ashley(oddler09)
rated it:
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers.
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Jun 09, 2010
Bonnie
rated it:
Actually, I didn't finish this book. I got not quite halfway through and thought, why am I bothering with this? It was somewhat interesting, but the main character, Gabriel, does enough irresponsible, dishonest and foolish things that I lost patience with him. Gabriel is the executive chef at the Imperial Hotel. His ambition is his own restaurant, but his backers want him to finish a year at the Imperial to prove that he's worthy of their backing. One of the kitchen porters is found dead, p
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Nov 04, 2011
Abby
rated it:
This is Monica Ali's third book, following a brilliant debut, “Brick Lane,” and a not-very-well-received second effort, “Alentejo Blue.” She is a wonderful writer, whose talents are on vivid display in “In the Kitchen.” I've never been in a high-end restaurant kitchen or watched a reality show set in one but the world Ali has created -- a volatile mix of polyglot personalities and just-barely-contained chaos – strikes me as completely realistic and beautifully rendered.
The Imperial More...
The Imperial More...
Apr 12, 2009
Anne
rated it:
Executive chef Gabriel Lightfoot runs the kitchen of the Imperial Hotel in London. He is under constant pressure to juggle the demands of the hotel management whilst secretly attempting to set up in business on his own. His kitchen staff consists of weird and wonderful characters from all over the world, he also has the added pressure of worrying about his Dad, back up north and dying from cancer.
When one of the hotel porters is found dead in the basement, Gabe's world starts to un More...
When one of the hotel porters is found dead in the basement, Gabe's world starts to un More...
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Feb 19, 2011
Melody
rated it:
I wasn't impressed with In The Kitchen. The story follows executive chef Gabriel Lightfoot, who finds his life plans (marry his girlfriend, open his own restaurants) upended when he finds a dead porter in the basement of the restaurant and a mysterious girl with no where to go. Gabriel takes her in, and the trouble starts from there.
My main problem with this book was the lack of focus. There were so many issues to be dealt with: Gabe's ill father, his issues with his deceased mother, More...
My main problem with this book was the lack of focus. There were so many issues to be dealt with: Gabe's ill father, his issues with his deceased mother, More...
Aug 25, 2011
Lucy
rated it:
Okay, time to be honest, I pretty much bought In the Kitchen because I remembered really liking Brick Lane. I was waiting for it to come out in paperback for so long I eventually gave in and brought it in hardback when Borders was closing down, but it’s still one of the books which has been on my To Be Read list for the longest amount of time. I did start it shortly after buying it but decided I wasn’t in the right mood for reading it, so it has sat on my TBR pile staring at me ever since. Ever
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Oct 03, 2010
Teresa
rated it:
The main character of In the Kitchen, Gabriel Lightfoot, is the executive chef at the Imperial Hotel in London. He s hoping to start a restaurant of his own, and he s found a couple of backers to provide the funds. His relationship with his girlfriend, a nightclub singer named Charlie, is getting serious, but his relationship with his family is complicated, and made more so by his father s recent cancer diagnosis. With just these ingredients, Gabe s story seems like a pretty typical tale of
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May 18, 2009
Lauren
rated it:
The author called it herself when she said, "All plot, no story. Nothing unfolds, everything is forced." which so accurately describes this work.
It started well, with a brilliant character description, "His eyes were pale blue and disreputably alert. His hair, by contrast, he wore with a sharp side part and a fervid rectitude, as if all his phony honor depended on it." I had hoped to see more of this character and his eely slither in the novel. But, as it hap More...
It started well, with a brilliant character description, "His eyes were pale blue and disreputably alert. His hair, by contrast, he wore with a sharp side part and a fervid rectitude, as if all his phony honor depended on it." I had hoped to see more of this character and his eely slither in the novel. But, as it hap More...
Jul 02, 2009
i found Brick Lane breathtaking, and if anyone is deciding whether or not to read Brick Lane based on this book, i really think they should reconsider, if for no other reason that they are so different, they could be written by different authors. they really should be judged independently.
i would finish this book if i were reading it at another time. but this is not a good time for me to slog through a writer's experiment with a genre she -- it seems to me -- doesn't quite inhabit. w More...
i would finish this book if i were reading it at another time. but this is not a good time for me to slog through a writer's experiment with a genre she -- it seems to me -- doesn't quite inhabit. w More...
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Nov 10, 2010
Adam
rated it:
Post Listen Review:
I can give this a very solid average. I thought it was good but not great. It follows the story of Gabriel Lightfoot who is a chef in London and is trying to open his own French restaraunt. Not the high-end kind but the kind that serves regular French food that regular French people eat. Apparently it is very hard to do that. It was entertaining to hear him go through lots of relationship difficulties and amble about trying to get his life together so he can a More...
I can give this a very solid average. I thought it was good but not great. It follows the story of Gabriel Lightfoot who is a chef in London and is trying to open his own French restaraunt. Not the high-end kind but the kind that serves regular French food that regular French people eat. Apparently it is very hard to do that. It was entertaining to hear him go through lots of relationship difficulties and amble about trying to get his life together so he can a More...
May 19, 2010
Kathy
rated it:
I really, really wanted to like this book. The premise sounded interesting...London chef in multi-cultural hotel restaurant tries to combine a long-time girlfriend with a desire to open his own restaurant and be the kind of son his dying father needs. Alas, the author weaves in a story about a runaway young woman from Eastern Europe and gangster restaurant backers that gets so convoluted I lost interest. I got almost two-thirds of the book finished, but yet I still didn't care much for Gabrie
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Jul 10, 2011
Priya
rated it:
I like Ali's writing style though this is only the second book of hers I've read (after Brick Lane, which I presume everyone who reads read. Or so it seemed). I didn't like this much: too much food talk, stereotypical characters (Gabriel Lightfoot seemed like a name that belonged to a fantasy/SF novel rather than a chef. All right, I know that's my own problem but still!) and more food talk.
The food in question is French--a cuisine of which I know little/care less and I think that infl More...
The food in question is French--a cuisine of which I know little/care less and I think that infl More...
Jul 30, 2009
Bookmarks Magazine
rated it:
"In the Kitchen, Ali's third novel, received mixed reviews from critics who couldn't help but compare it to the brilliant Brick Lane. Interestingly, although American critics found much to reprove -- including an exasperatingly slow start, stereotypical characters, and a surfeit of moralizing that drains the narrative of momentum -- they also praised Ali's crackling, vibrant prose and her meticulous research into the inner workings of restaurant kitchens. British critics, on the other hand,
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Jul 06, 2010
RJ
rated it:
This book is filled with beautiful, descriptive turns of a phrase that made me envious of Ali's talent. This is the tale of a British chef, working to prove he can manage his own restaurant to two rich backers and along the way meanders the multi-cultural kitchen/hotel staff, navigates the changes in English culture and social psyches while falling into a detached sexual obsession for a ghost of a girl who might hold the key to illegal labor activities among the hotel's management.
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Aug 01, 2009
Mark
rated it: 
This may not be everybody's cup of tea, but I found this story to be at times absolutely excruciating -- and I couldn't put it down.
I got the book on the strength of my great admiration for "Brick Lane," and as a writer and storyteller, Monica Ali continues to be impressive. In this case, her main character goes through a midlife crisis to end all midlife crises, and the critical moments in the book are most likely the manifestations of bipolar disease, from which his mothe More...
I got the book on the strength of my great admiration for "Brick Lane," and as a writer and storyteller, Monica Ali continues to be impressive. In this case, her main character goes through a midlife crisis to end all midlife crises, and the critical moments in the book are most likely the manifestations of bipolar disease, from which his mothe More...
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Jun 01, 2009
Nicole
rated it:
Overall, I enjoyed reading this book. In the restaurant kitchen of the main protagonist, Chef Gabriel Lightfoot, at what was once a more illustrious hotel in its prime, he is the main dish of an interesting mix of characters thrown into the stew by Monica Ali. While there was less development of the kitchen staff, they did add some spice to the story. After a lower echelon member of the staff is found dead in the basement of the kitchen, instead of driving the narrative towards police investiga
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Apr 04, 2010
Sara
rated it:
The more I read the more uncomfortable I became.
I picked up this book because this author is featured by Talking Volumes, Minnesota Public Radio's literature spot. It traces the downfall of a chef in modern London. Learning about the multicultural flavor of London was an eye opener. I knew a little bit about it, but I enjoyed stepping into it via someone else's shoes.
The protaganist suffers from bi-polar disorder and every chapter he just kept making more and more a More...
I picked up this book because this author is featured by Talking Volumes, Minnesota Public Radio's literature spot. It traces the downfall of a chef in modern London. Learning about the multicultural flavor of London was an eye opener. I knew a little bit about it, but I enjoyed stepping into it via someone else's shoes.
The protaganist suffers from bi-polar disorder and every chapter he just kept making more and more a More...
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Oct 14, 2011
Simon
rated it:
For about the first two thirds this slipped down painlessly. Smoothly written with enough neat turns of phrase and observation to hide the fact that not much of any interest was happening. But after a while I grew tired of the cluelessness of the protagonist. Then in the final third it swerved off in another direction. A little abruptly and unconvincingly, but at least the story perked up a little and I started to actually care about what was going on. Still, it was a little irritating that some
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Sep 12, 2010
Moira
rated it:
Thoroughly enjoyed this. Yes, there's a plot, but it's more fun for her wickedly accurate ear for dialogue. Every sentence speaks volumes about the entanglements of class, age, ethnicity and personality. This isn't your father's Britain, where the English mutter and fuss about the "coloureds" while new south Asian and West Indian immigrants carve themselves niches in urban society. This is millenium England, where the English and Asians both grumble about how their children just do
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Feb 22, 2010
Janice
rated it:
For some reason, it took me forever to get through this book. I think Monica Ali is a wonderful writer, and I like the character, Gabriel, that she has created here. But Gabriel's story isn't a pretty one. He's a seemingly talented, upwardly mobile chef on the brink of opening his own restaurant. But when a body (that of one of the night porters) is found in the basement of the hotel restaurant Gabriel runs, things begin to go awry in his life. He becomes very drawn to Lena, a woman who was
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Aug 11, 2009
Jennifer
rated it:
This book was not bad, it just wasn't what I wanted. Which is my own fault for not reading the synopsis more carefully. I wanted sort of a fictional Kitchen Confidential , a picture of life in a high-pressure restaurant kitchen, focusing on the different cultures and backgrounds of the people who work there. Instead, Ali focuses almost solely on the executive chef and his spiral into a nervous breakdown, which frankly, is just not that interesting. And it's really hard to read a book writt
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May 28, 2009
Megan
rated it:
*Whew* I feel better after reading some of the other reviews. I, too, won this from Godoreads and I really wanted to like it. I like cooking, I like chefs, I like mysteries...wait a second, it's not a mystery? For some reason I thought it was a mystery. Ok, that's ok, it's not a mystery, so it's about...um...people who are bipolar? Restaurant kitchens? Cancer? The illegal trade of people in London? Prostitutes? Childhood memories? The mills closing in England? I mean, there are so many stories
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