A real cute feelgood story!

Ben is a soft sweetie with a talent for cooking and checking out hot guys, like his mentor, Liam. He's also stressed about life choices - trying to get a job in what he majored in without any experience, then getting a job as a chef and ending up loving it.

This book is a bit bonkers and a lot cute. I loved the friend group, both in the house and in the restaurant. It's also queer (we know of at least two men who are attracted to men) and includes BIPOC characters, which is always a major bonus for me.

Keep an eye out for this next year!

/ Denise

This was utterly perfect from beginning to end! I loved the characters immensely, especially Ben & Liam. I was rooting for their love story from the minute that Liam walked into the picture.

Chef and Watson were both ADORABLE! Well Chef was more Daddy than adorable!😂 But I loved them so much!

I really hope this becomes a series, because I could read about the restaurant for many books to come! Plus Liam without his shirt was not seen enough IMO! Idea for Book 2, Liam can not fathom the use of a shirt!! Health Inspector, Smealth Inspector! 🤣🤣🤣

Super sweet, super romantic and super charming. What a joyous, light hearted and fun read - my students will love this!

Simple and sweet, Chef's Kiss is an easy and charming read. Relatable to young college grads trying to navigate the "real adult world" and find themselves outside of parental expectations, Chef's Kiss is a fun story about friendship, finding yourself, and a little bit of romance. Also, there's a food critic pig!

This was a cute, enjoyable little graphic novel. Like everyone else has said, the taste-testing pig absolutely stole the show and my heart. The art was beautiful, especially where the food is concerned. I did feel like there was too much happening in the story and very little of it was original or fleshed out. In a rather short period of time, our MC Ben conflicted with himself, his parents, his potential boss, and his roommate. He was very indecisive throughout which led to a lot of turmoil. And while all of this is happening, the author is also trying to give us brief insights into the lives of every character, of which there were too many. Overall I think it was cute and fun but it tried to do too much — perhaps it should have put more focus on the romance element or been written as a series to accommodate the many facets of the character’s lives.

Really adorable and easy to fly through! Was very relatable for someone who feels stuck after graduating with their degree and changes what they thought they might do. The food descriptions made me hungry and I wish there was more!

I seriously loved everything about this graphic novel. Ben and his friend group were so diverse and fun, and I liked all the chefs too. Even the relationship Ben had with his parents was very relatable. You really got to know each and every character throughout the story. Watson, the food critic pig, stole the show though — what a unique concept!

Loved this book! The story was so relatable and one of the few that I have read about the realities, struggles and hardships of being a recent graduate.
Following Ben as he receives a multitude of rejections from writing jobs, he decides to take a kitchen job. What starts as a inbetween job turns into a full blown passion for cooking, making new friends and a journey of self discovery... with a very distractingly attractive colleague thrown into the mix.
This was a whimsical and sweet story, with some very real struggles thrown into it. And who doesn't love a tale where a Pig named Watson is in charge of your destiny?
Will reread for sure and be buying on release.

The artistic style of Chef's Kiss is absolutely beautiful. Each character was so distinct, both in how they were drawn and their personalities. I thought the build-up to Ben and Liam's relationship was adorable, and even Ben's interactions with his roommates and fellow chefs were a joy. While the storyline was generic and predictable (in that it follows the very relatable struggle of post-college students looking for work), I didn't mind at all because I was so entranced by the beautiful layouts and art on each page. I definitely recommend this graphic novel, especially for fans of Heartstopper and Check Please.

ARC via Netgalley. This is a cute coming of age story -- recent college grad in English literature can't find a job in journalism or publishing, so he applies for the only "no experience required" position he can find and discovers that he actually has a real talent for cooking. It's very much a pastoral fantasy version of restaurant work (for one thing, it makes ZERO sense for the "no experience required" opening be for a chef, a job which unlike most entry level positions in publishing actually DOES require a highly specific set of skills and training, and the restaurant doesn't seem to employ waiters, dishwashers, or busboys) and never really addresses the classism cooking away underneath the main character's friends and family's negative view of his new career path. (In this world four new grads, only two of whom are employed, are able to afford a very nice house and nobody ever talks about student loans and financial assistance is only ever a phone call to mommy and daddy away and working in a restaurant is somehow more degrading than working as a copyeditor so we're dealing with a very specific worldview here.) The romance (between the protagonist and the hot midtwenties Danish chef who takes him under his wing) is likewise very idealized -- Liam exists to be an attractive and supportive love interest and has no character development whatsoever. That said, the art is GREAT, the food sounds delicious, and I imagine there's a lot of potential readers out there who would find this specific fantasy (you can't get a job because you don't have job experience which you can't get without a job and then you get rescued from the hell of job applications by a hot blond who offers you an alternative career path in a creative industry) very appealing! If the tone-deafness about class issues is going to bother you, give this a pass; if you can ignore that, it's a cute little book.

This is exactly the sort of graphic novel that our Year 7 book club members would love. Unfortunately it is marred by the unnecessary inclusion of drug paraphernalia on several occasions. A cute, fun read with pleasing illustrations, which would be suitable for older teens but not appropriate for our school library.

I received this arc from netgalley in exchange for my honest review.

You're going to want to try making all of the dishes mentioned in this! The food looks incredible and the story is so freaking cute. Ben and his friends moved into their new place. They're all trying to figure out what's going to happen next for them. He finds himself in front of a restaurant that's got nothing to do with his English degree.

A very fun read! The story tackles the struggles of leaving academia and trying to fit your education into the real world workforce. An enjoyable story, it has some really strange yet funny elements that remind you of the absurdity of the whole situation, including the characters breaking the fourth wall!!

Delightful!

I received an electronic ARC from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Chef's Kiss is a quick and charming read with so much heart. Recent English grad Ben Cook is at a crossroads when he finds himself overly enthusiastic but apparently under qualified for all the jobs in his career path. After a series of disheartening interviews, he lands a preliminary job at a local restaurant and must pass a series of culinary challenges to secure it. But along the way he has to wrestle with his warring desire to pursue work in the career path he initially planned, or decide to pursue a growing passion. Add in the complication of Liam, a dreamy chef at the restaurant, and the choice is further complicated.

As a recent English lit grad myself, I saw so much of myself in this story and I couldn't help but relate to Ben's struggle between expectation and warring passions. The series of interviews he undergoes are all so entirely realistic that I've sat through some of them. I particularly loved the relationships Jones cultivated between Ben's group of friends, who helped keep the Ben's character centered while also spurring forth his growth throughout the story. They were so lovingly crafted. That, and throw in the delightful absurdity of a taste testing pig and a beautiful art style, and I was completely hooked. I flew through this graphic novel and had so much fun doing it. I would recommend Chef's Kiss to anyone who's looking for their place in the post grad world, but also for anyone who is looking for just a really light and fluffy way to spend a couple hours.

This was very cute and I really wish I'd loved it, but it was a tad too silly for my tastes. It's also crowded with too many characters, and while I really liked the central conflict (Ben's career choice pressure) it felt very surface-level and underdeveloped. (That yoga scene was wayyy too long for the length of this comic.) But the artwork is adorable, the layout is clean, and some of the dialogue was quite funny. 2.5 stars

TW: overbearing parents, unemployment

So very fun and cute. I had a great time and it was the perfect refresher to read right before a month of horror.

4.5 stars.
Thank you so much Netgalley and Oni Press for this e-arc.
Ben Cook just finished his English degree on university and now is looking for a job. But no one will hire him unless he has professional experience first, so Ben has to look for whatever job he can get now to make some money and keep looking for his dream job. He stars working on a restaurant where he meets Liam, one of the chefs there. His work there makes him question everything he has prepared for and to decide what path he wants to follow now.

This was such a beautiful, heartwarming graphic novel. I wish it was longer! The illustrations reminds me of some the modern Marvel comics, realistic and visually amazing.
The story focus mainly on cooking and friendship and I really liked that but I wish it had focused more on the romance. There is some romance though and it's so cute! I really ship this couple and smiled like a dork while reading this comic.
The friendship between Ben, Liz, Rachel and Tom was so adorable! I love a good group of friends that are like siblings. I really liked that they were so supportive of each other.
The ending was short and I really wished there was an epilogue. I know this is a standalone comic but I'm crossing my fingers so there will be a volume two focusing on Ben & Liam relationship and Liz, Rachel and Tom careers and lives.
I really recommend this beautiful graphic novel to anyone! It's tagged as New Adult because of the "after university" life but you can read it as a young adult since it's G rated (all audiences).
Can't wait to read more of this author!

This was so good! I had a blast reading this amazing graphic novel about young Ben, recently graduated from college and trying to make his way in the world. Nothing goes as planned, but he stumbles upon a restaurant job, a cute chef named Liam, and an even cuter pig named Watson! This was a heartfelt story about finding your passion, being there for your friends, and falling in love. Perfect for fans of the Heartstopper series!

A super sweet (pun intended) graphic novel about one boy, his three friends, a surprise job, and a pig. If that doesn’t get you, what will?

Ben is trying to find a job as a writer after finishing his English degree. He quickly learns this is harder than it seems. He decides to settle for working in a restaurant until he finds something better. There he meets Liam...

super quick easy and fun read. The book was very quirky — this is probably the first time I use that word in a positive way. I love the concept of new adult comics. The entire story was quite relatable, but written in a fun way. Oh and I absolutely LOVE Watson. The only thing is that I wish the story was longer, because I NEED MORE!!!!