The Curious Kitten at the Chibineko Kitchen Review

There is a small restaurant in a remote seaside town outside of Tokyo that serves remembrance meals—kagezen—rumored to reunite loved ones with the departed. The restaurant is home to a cute orange and white kitten named Chibi, who will sit with patrons as they are enjoying their remembrance meals and seems to have a sixth sense for when the deceased will make their return. A young, handsome man named Kai is the restaurant’s chef. Kai always ensures that every customer’s remembrance meal is prepared to their exact specifications and is quick to make changes should something seem off.

A young woman named Kotoko travels to the restaurant after the sudden death of her brother Yuito. She learns of the mysterious restaurant from her brother’s theater director and decides to see for herself if the kagezen she orders will allow her to speak to her brother again. Kotoko is feeling lost and wants to know her true purpose in life. She regrets being the surviving sibling and feels she was the one who should have died in the accident. When she gets to the seaside town of Uchibo, the meow-like calls of black-tailed gulls—also known as sea cats—greet her. A beautiful seashell-lined path takes her to the restaurant where she meets Kai and Chibi. After receiving her remembrance meal—simmered fat greenling fish her brother used to cook for her—she feels a shift in the air. Chibi the kitten senses someone's presence, and then Yuito walks through the restaurant's door. Kotoko’s time with her brother can only last until the steam evaporates from their meals.

After Kotoko’s remembrance meal with her brother, she begins to get a sense of what her purpose is in life. When her brother was alive, he was interested in acting and joined a theater troupe. Kotoko tried to follow in her brother’s acting footsteps and joined the troupe as well but quit soon after his death. To honor her brother’s wishes, she decides to join the troupe again and continue her brother’s legacy. It’s during her time with the troupe that she meets a young boy named Taiji. Taiji has just learned that a female classmate he was friendly with and was crushing on has died. A misunderstanding caused him to say some mean things to her, but she died before he had a chance to apologize. Kotoko tells Taiji to book a reservation at the Chibineko Kitchen so that he might see his school crush again and tell her he is sorry for hurting her feelings. After helping Taiji, Kotoko learns that her troupe is putting on a play. She decides to invite Kai to the performance and travels to Uchibo to give him a ticket. Kotoko runs into Kai as he is leaving the restaurant, and before she has a chance to formally invite him to her play, he asks if she would like to accompany him to the house of a man named Yoshio. Kotoko accepts the offer. Through her meeting with Yoshio and helping Kai prepare the old man’s remembrance meal, Kotoko realizes that her true purpose might not be in following in her brother’s acting footsteps but in something much deeper and more meaningful.

I absolutely loved this book! The themes presented—grief, love, family, purpose—resonated with me on a personal level. Kotoko and Kai were great characters; they felt like real people you actually wanted to meet and hang out with. Chibi, the restaurant kitten, was adorable. Kai talked to the kitten as if it were human, which is how I talk to my cat Ariel. There were so many touching moments in this book that had me crying and wishing I could visit the Chibineko Kitchen to have a remembrance meal in the hopes of seeing my mom again.

I also enjoyed the mini history lessons that author Yuta Takahashi sprinkled throughout the book. Each chapter introduced a delicacy or specialty known to Chiba Prefecture, the region Takahashi is originally from. Each chapter ended with a special recipe from the Chibineko Kitchen, my favorites being the omelet sandwich and sukiyaki-don (beef hotpot). There was also insight into Japanese funeral practices and rituals that I found very fascinating.

This is a comforting book for anyone who has lost a loved one and is struggling with finding their true purpose in life. Kotoko’s story comes to life with warmth and a touch of magical realism.