Witch Hat Atelier Kitchen is a spin-off series of Witch Hat Atelier. It's not necessary to read the original series to understand this manga, I believe you can still enjoy this as a comfy fantasy cooking manga on its own. However, this manga doesn't really give context to who the characters are (beyond the magic teacher-student-"watcher" roles) or go into the beautiful worldbuilding and magic system that Witch Hat Atelier has. Regardless, the characters' personalities come through really well and each of the students are easy to tell apart even without the context of what drives them in the main series. The character writing is so good--you /know/ what kind of girl Richeh is even if she is more of a support character in the spin-off. Funnily enough, I think the focus on Quifrey and Olruggio's relationship actually deepens what's shown in the original series lol.

As a spin-off series that involve the same main characters, it should be understood that nothing with lasting consequences can happen here otherwise it would have to effect the main source material or create a sense of dissonance in the spin-off. So any comments about how "nothing happens" or it doesn't "have the same depth as the original series" are misunderstanding the point of the spin-off. This isn't My Hero Academia: Vigilantes where they can still tackle high stakes because it centers original characters that are completely separate from the source material. This series is for the people who read Witch Hat Atelier and wanted to see more of the characters in their setting.

As a cooking manga, I think it's fun. Most cooking manga--even the extremely good ones--are going to be formulaic and follow "step 1: present a problem, step 2: solve it with food" every chapter. I still love cooking manga as a genre, so I'm not going to knock off a star for something that's just a common form of storytelling in the genre. The dishes are all replicable with full recipes at the end of each chapter, which I think is really neat. I personally think they could've pushed the ingredients more beyond like "fantasy carrots", but I understand that goes against the desire to make dishes that the readers could actually make.

The series is a delight and it's gorgeous to look at. Sato-sensei did a good job in replicating the same storybook feel in the art that Shirahama-sensei is praised for. It's evident that there's a lot of respect and love for Witch Hat Atelier, and really what more can you ask for in a spin-off.

Loved the style it was done. Like extras from the story or even a glimpse to their daily lives. It also gives fans of Witch Hat Atelier a way to know their characters betters and hopefully learn and make some of the food.

In my role as junior managing editor at Comics Beat worked on this review penned by contributing writer Yazmin Garcia:

“VERDICT: 5 stars (Highly Recommend) After making the croquettes, I’m excited to try to make the “Flying Shrimp & Witch Hat Dumplings.” If you love cooking or are missing the Witch Hat Atelier characters, pick up a copy. Kodansha licenses Witch Hat Atelier Kitchen, Vol. 1, now available in print and digital for $12.99.”

This was effing cute. If you love the Witch Hat Atelier series, you'd probably love this one. Just a cozy, feel-good cooking spinoff of the magical series.

This spinoff is just Qifrey and Olruggio cooking and taking care of each other and their four adopted children. I love how they all are so tender and loving with each other. I know that Qifrey and Olruggio are platonic, but reading this made me see them as a married couple than just "friends" (as the historians would say).

If you like cozy magical reads that will make both your eyes and mouth water, definitely pick this one up.

Many thanks to Netgalley and Kodansha Comics for this e-ARC!

As a practicing witch, I can attest that recipes are like magic; the cauldron, the ingredients, the creativity. All of that flows into the kitchen as well.

I loved that the authors chose ingredients within the universe. It felt more natural than including only ingredients found in our world. Thankfully, there is a list of suggested substitutions and suggestions listed in the back if you are inspired to try making any of the recipes at home.

I think there would have been better flow to the recipe instructions if there was a mix of narration and voiced text bubbles.

I loved seeing a behind the scenes peek into the mundane tasks of Qifrey and Olruggio. It gave a deeper insigbt into their personalities and relationship.

For returning fans, there are no major spoilers to the storyline. If you have a general grasp of the early world building, you’ll have no problem understanding it.

A delightful addition to the World of Witch Hat Atelier- I will say that this makes little sense without the context of at least the first volume of witch hat atelier, it throws you right in with little recap of who Qifrey and Olruggio are but as a fan of the series it was great to see tender moments between the two. It's primarily about cooking with the fantastical recipes having substitutions in the back to allow the reader to make them in the real world and they all look very appetising though with my cooking ability I'm not confident I could make them 😂

I highly enjoyed reading this volume! It was such a good introduction to the characters and their personalities. The teachers are hilarious in the small ways that they made mistakes but made up for them. I wish I had seen more of the kids’ and the way that they mesh together. It showed that they’re different people based on their food preferences so I would love to see how they work together.

This is a fun little recipe book that infuses a little bit of magic into each dish. The artwork is incredible - even without color I am super enticed by each recipe! I love the narrative through-line that includes the recipes! Also, I firmly believe that the two main characters are in love. Thank you to Netgalley for this ARC!

Very cute, quick read which is essentially a cookbook with plenty of illustrations and a soft, domestic setting. The magic/witch elements are used less than I expected, but it’s still some lovely worldbuilding. Also, the list of real-world substitutions for the magical ingredients used in the recipes was very clever.

I’m not sure in what ways this series relates to its predecessor as I’ve never read it, but this was easy enough to understand and didn’t feel like it is necessarily a sequel series. All in all it’s a cute and cosy little story, even if it’s a bit lacking in plot.

This was my first Witch Hat Atelier book so I'm not sure how typical this one is of the series. It was a bit strange, just chapters of them making food, but I liked the artwork and will be trying out the recipe for Fluffy Cheesy Egg Melt!

The story is very cute and funny, it's a smooth and very enjoyable read. I can't wait to continue the story and see how it progresses. I absolutely recommend.

This was super cute and fun! I love fantasy cooking and stories around food. The manga is a mix of recipes and the stories of how food brings us together and is a way to be creative. The way the characters care for each other through food is very sweet!

While I probably wouldn’t try to cook any of the recipes in this manga, it’s super cute that they have the real ingredients listed at the back to sub for the fantasy food.

Really loved this book. It's cute, it's cozy and makes you want to learn how to cook and eat. Loved the characters, loved that every chapter has a recipe and how each story goes with it. Although I suppose you will enjoy it more if you have read the main manga, I don't think it's a requirement to read this manga.

Recommended for those who want a simple story driven more by vibes than plot.

Loved this! It was such a cozy read. I love the recipes at the end of each chapter. It was done in a very creative way. Of course the art was perfection!

Thanks for the arc NetGalley

Recipes based The Witch Hat Atelier series featuring Qifrey and Olruggio cooking for their charges.

This is a fun series and the recipes that were created for it are tasty and mostly easy to prepare.

For fans of the original books.

This was such a fun experience. It's a collection of short stories about making different recipes and they give the recipe at the end of each chapter. I really liked using the fantasy ingredients in the recipe and giving the substitute at the end of the book.
I haven't tried the recipes yet, a few were familiar so I'm sure they are tasty, and they are quite simple (at least for me, a person with a bit of experience since I cook my meals at home, so nothing too fancy). Since they were presented in such a unique way, I'll try some soon for sure.
If you are a fan of the Witch Hat Atelier manga this would be a fun little extra to the story, and if you don't know the manga but like cooking or stories that involve cooking, this might be good for you. While there are recipes in the book, there are not a lot of them (12 to be exact), so if you're only interested in that, you might be disappointed

This is not just a spin-off from "Witch Hat Atelier', it really is cookbook or cookery book. It has a few recipes in it and before every recipe we get a little story and the way they prepare it in the book. It's not really a complete story, more like a collection of different little stories ending with a recipe. I enjoyed it at first but it became repetitive really fast. I would have preferred one main story and some recipes at the end or just a regular cooking book with some information or a picture or scene from the books, but that's me.

I did enjoy the drawing style and the characters, they where cute and fun.

"and they were roommates..."

this was so darling! you don’t have to have read the manga at all to enjoy this little manga/cookbook baby, though it does help you enjoy the magic of it that much more. the illustrations are stunning and the characters are all just so cute. on top of that, i made the Glowrose Tarts and they were delicious! cannot wait to try the rest of these recipes.

Thanks NetGalley for providing ARC version of this book!

Attention: I recommend that you have a good meal before you start reading this manga, as you may have an uncontrollable desire to eat a few pages.
A magical comic book cookbook is definitely something extraordinary. Each short story on how to cook a particular dish ends with a recipe. You can try it, but... some ingredients will take a long time to find... or you'll have to look for ordinary analogs.
Fun, fast-paced, and delicious. This manga deserves the attention of readers, especially fans of this style.

This spinoff of Witch Hat Atelier is a cute, cozy little read, We find the apprentices learning more than just spells from their masters and this time learning recipes and new flavors to add to their palate. Each chapter focused on a new recipe that one of the mater witch comes up with for a particular situation. It’s all very cozy and found-family focused. They all take care of each other and learn from one another which is very refreshing to see. I loved that each recipe is fully written out after each chapter for us to reproduce in our kitchen if we want to (with magical ingredients substituted of course). It is not necessarily my favorite type of story but it is really cute cozy story.