Girl Cook: A Novel [Paperback]

Hannah McCouch (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 8, 2004

I, for one, have piled enough skyscraper salads to be given some consideration. I’m not working my way up the kitchen ladder for my goddamn health. I know all too well the sting of vinegar in an open cut. Oh yes, that salad you’re eating as a light appetizer? My bare hands have massaged dressing into every leaf. Lettuce loves me. But I’ve got ambition and, I don’t mind saying, a decent palate. I want to be The Chef. And the only way to do this is by becoming the greatest cook I can be. Which means kicking ass on the line, not just salads and desserts. These are my hopes. These are my dreams.

Layla Mitchner is a twenty-eight-year-old Cordon Bleu graduate trying to carve out a space for herself in the fast-paced, high-pressure world of Manhattan’s top restaurant kitchens. She knows she’s got the talent to be a great chef, but there she is slaving for a misogynistic boss who’d sooner promote the dishwasher than give a woman the chance to prove her sous-chef mettle. And while Layla knows that the dwindling balance in her bank account won’t begin to cover what she owes her roommate, she’s desperate not to seek help from her self-absorbed, serially divorced, soap-opera-actress mother.

Her romantic prospects seem no brighter. She gets set up with a nice enough guy, but his tassel loafers and corporate demeanor reek of the WASP aristocracy she’s determined to leave behind. After continuously striking out, she meets a musician who appears to be the bohemian Mr. Right of her dreams, only to find he may be more deadbeat than heartthrob. But Layla refuses to settle for anything short of true love and success, and she ultimately finds both where she least expects them.

Hannah McCouch’s fresh and animated voice leaps off the pages of Girl Cook, a deliciously modern Cinderella story of love, sex, chefs, and the city.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

First-time novelist McCouch adds an intriguing element to an otherwise typical contemporary romance plot: she takes readers inside the New York restaurant scene, where men rule the kitchen and a female sous-chef is seen as a glorified hostess. A graduate of Le Cordon Bleu, 28-year-old Layla Mitchner dreams of becoming a chef, but has to settle for working garde-manger-in layman's terms, tossing salads. When her chauvinistic boss, Noel, refuses to let her move up the restaurant ladder, Layla quits her job and takes a hard look at her life outside of the kitchen-she can barely pay her bills, has major problems with her quasi-famous actress mother and hasn't been on a date in months. She allows herself to be fixed up with Dick Davenport, an upstanding guy whom she quickly dismisses because he wears loafers with tassels. She then falls for sexually adventurous Frank (his black work boots pass muster). At first Layla believes she's in heaven, but an excess of quality time with Frank during a weekend away finds her reconsidering: "What I say I want is true love, just like every other human being on the planet. I want men on their knees holding little blue Tiffany's boxes. So why am I here in this two-bit motel getting handcuffed by Frank?" A number of chance run-ins with Dick remind her of his virtues, while a bit of r‚sum‚-doctoring promises that her career might revive as well. The ending is a bit abrupt, but this light and witty fare will leave chick-lit fans sated.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

“Like an athletically inclined Bridget Jones with walk-in freezers and more edge . . . [McCouch] gives the reader the sense of peeking inside the world of professional cooking.”
—USA Today

“Highly entertaining . . . Hannah McCouch blends equal parts humor and sass to serve up a voyeuristic behind-the-scenes look at the male-saturated world of professional cooks and chefs, proving once and for all that women do belong in the (professional) kitchen.”
—JILL A. DAVIS, author of Girls’ Poker Night

“Delightful . . . [McCouch’s] characters are hilarious.”
—Newsday

“Satisfying . . . Layla’s adventures are served up toasty warm with a sassy drizzle of Manhattan romance.”
—The Tampa Tribune

“[A] tart and spicy roman à chef . . . a dishy romantic comedy.”
—New York Daily News

“McCouch’s four-star narrator, line cook Layla Mitchner, not only brings home the bacon and fries it up in a pan, she also slices the inflated male ego down to size with her laugh-out-loud, dead-honest commentary on Manhattan’s dog-eat-dog dating world.”
—CAITLIN MACY, author of The Fundamentals of Play

“Mixing equal parts singleton in the city romantic adventures with behind-the-scenes kitchen action sequences, McCouch comes up with a recipe for literary success.”
—Elle.com

“[Girl Cook] could be described as the kitchen grunt’s version of The Nanny Diaries.”
—Vogue

“[A] raunchy tale of overheated kitchens and blendered hearts.”
—The Miami Herald

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 240 pages
• Publisher: Villard (June 8, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0812968409
• ISBN-13: 978-0812968408
• Product Dimensions: 7.9 x 5.1 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,857,980 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Girl Cook, but not Girl Chef, June 26, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Girl Cook: A Novel (Hardcover)

This book is full of many laughs and many unbelieveable situations! It shows that men still feel they dominate the world and woman are still struggling to break through the glass ceiling. This book is also enjoyable for anyone who loves being in the kitchen.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Delicious Blend of Food and Romance, July 18, 2003

By 

Bookreporter (New York, New York) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Girl Cook: A Novel (Hardcover)

Treat your taste buds to this delightful book from first time author Hannah McCouch. Enter the kitchens of New York restaurants with Layla Mitchner, a Cordon Bleu graduate who is desperate to move from salads up to finer cooking. The degree of chauvinism she encounters is frightening in modern times, and readers will be rooting for Layla as they enjoy the scrumptious descriptions of food throughout the book.

Layla has relationship problems as well, with bad dates after almost humorously bad dates with a decidedly Mr. Wrong. Mr. Right is in the picture, but Layla will see it long after readers do.

GIRL COOK is refreshing. Fans of the young woman/diary/relationship genre will literally eat this up, but it has an edge not always seen in those titles. In addition to the fun setting of kitchens and cookery, Layla is passionate about her work and not obsessed with men. She is more interested in making this career work than waiting by the phone. But readers looking for romance will not be disappointed.

McCouch has a gift for creating a believable cast and setting. This book will leave readers hungering for more of her work.

--- Reviewed by Amy Alessio

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Occasionally entertaining but forgettable, August 6, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Girl Cook: A Novel (Hardcover)

This book is not altogether unpleasant, but the narrator lacked the redeeming qualities necessary to hold my sympathy for an entire novel. The book also seemed to take more than a few ideas from Helen Fielding's "Bridget Jones' Diary," but Helen Fielding does it much, much better.