Skip to main content

Niki Nakayama: A Chef's Tale in 13 Bites

By


Niki Nakayama: A Chef's Tale in 13 Bites
By Jamie Michalak
New York : Farrar Straus Giroux, 2021. Biography.

Niki Nakayama is a chef that has been awarded two Michelin stars during her career for her incredible food. She is specifically a kaiseki chef, which means that every dish she creates tells a story. Just like her food tells a story in 13 dishes at her restaurant, this picture book biography also tells a story, but in 13 bites. Niki grew up in Los Angeles but because her parents were born in Japan, they often had food that incorporated both cultures. As Niki grew up she always had a dream of becoming a chef but was told constantly that she wouldn't be able to. She adopted the saying, Kuyashii, which means, I'll show them, and she certainly did. Niki learned, grew, went to culinary school, traveled to Japan, and then opened her own restaurant, becoming the first female kaiseki chef in the world. 

This picture book biography is inspiring, well-written, and beautifully illustrated. It is perfect for elementary school-aged children who enjoy biographies or cooking. It teaches the reader about the art of kaiseki and how food can tell stories and create a wonderful journey for those who join in the feast. Niki's story is a great example of never letting others tell you what you can and cannot do. Niki demonstrates that hard work, determination, and passion can take you far when accomplishing your dreams.

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Review: The New Girl

By
The New Girl By Cassandra Calin New York: Graphix, 2024. Comic. 261 pages. 12-year-old Lia and her family have just moved from Romania to Montreal, and she's doing her best to keep up with the changes. But, she's homesick. She misses the rest of her family, her friends, and her favorite Romanian treats. She doesn't speak French and her English is shaky, which makes it hard to make friends, even in her international immersion class. And she's dealing with super painful menstrual cramps every month. But before long, Lia starts to hit her stride. She befriends the other bilingual girls in her class, she gets a spot as the artist for her school's magazine, and even has a new crush -- Julien. Though she may be the new girl, Lia is starting to fit in. This slice of life graphic novel is an adorable choice for middle grade readers and young teens. Lia is a likable protagonist and readers will have little difficulty relating to her adjustment to school. The text speaks to a...
Post a Comment
Read more

Review: Cincinnati Lee, Curse Breaker

By
  Cincinnati Lee, Curse Breaker By Heidi Heilig New York: Greenwillow Books, 2025. Fiction. 291 pages. Thanks to Cincinnati Lee's no good, dirty rotten, artifact stealing great great great grandfather, Cincinnati's family is now cursed and Cincinnati feels like it's up to her to break the curse. Which involves trying to steal the artifacts back from museums that her grandfather robbed from graves and archeological sites around the world and return them to their countries of origin. But when Cincinnati's first artifact stealing mission goes awry, she decides it might be more effective to steal an all-powerful artifact herself that she can use to break the curse - The Spear of Destiny. Unfortunately her race for the spear will pit her against art smugglers and thieves intent on finding the ancient artifact themselves. If you are looking for an Indiana Jones read-alike, this is the perfect for you! Heavy on the adventure with similar levels of mysticism to those seen in th...
Post a Comment
Read more

Review: The Factory

By
The Factory By Catherine Egan New York, NY : Scholastic Inc., 2025. Fiction. 306 pages.  Thirteen-year-old Asher Doyle has been invited to join the Factory, a secretive research facility in the desert which ostensibly extracts renewable energy from the electromagnetic fields of its young recruits. But Asher soon realizes something sinister is going on. Kids are getting sick. The adults who run the Factory seem to be keeping secrets. And the extraction process is not only painful and exhausting, but existentially troubling. Asher makes a handful of new friends who help him with an investigation that turns into a resistance, which turns into...a cliffhanger! The Factory is a page-turning sci-fi with multidimensional characters, an intriguing plot, and refreshingly straight-forward writing. Egan weaves in detail about climate crises and social unrest, making the story's dystopian setting feel rich and plausible. With its sophisticated themes and accessible storytelling, I would recomm...
Post a Comment
Read more