Review: Bread and Butter by Michelle Wildgen

Title: Bread and Butter
Author: Michelle Wildgen
Format: egalley
Pub. Date: February 11th 2014
Source: Netgalley & Doubleday Books

★★★

Three stars.

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Bread and Butter is a novel that follows three brothers running competing restaurants in Pennsylvania. It shows what happens behind the scenes in restaurants, from drama between chefs to strange customers and everything in between while all the while demonstrating what it really means to be family.

I have to say first off, that I am a huge foodie. To the point that my girlfriend sometimes implies that I'm a snob. I'm always on the search for good eats, and I'm a sucker for a good chef story. This can be contributed to the fact that I was raised by a professional chef, who taught me how to love food. When I saw Bread and Butter, I knew I had to check it out.

Unfortunately, this fell a bit flat for me. I hate to use the b-word here, but when I was reading this, I was often bored. The interactions between characters felt forced at times, and at best seemed strangely put together. Though written fairly well, pages seemed to drag on at parts, and it made it hard to continue onward to the end of the book.

One thing I did love, however, were the author's descriptions and preparations of dishes throughout Bread and Butter. These were excellently written, though they were torture to read on an empty college-budget stomach. These were the shining moments in the text, and made the rest seem dull in comparison. Have a snack nearby for when you get to these vivid descriptions.

Plus, I adore the cover of this one. Isn't it darling? It's one made to lure you in from the start.

This is a solid book that is worth a read if you get it. Despite the lagging and characters at times, the overall story is interesting and the foodie bits are worth it alone. I didn't get much of a Kitchen Confidential vibe from it as the blurb suggests, but fans of chef reality shows would probably enjoy this one. Thanks to Netgalley and Doubleday Books for the chance to read this.