The Kosher Delhi - Ivan Wainewright

This book kind of has everything I would go for: early 90’s setting, working in restaurants, riot grrrls, great music, coming of age, activism, and my home for longer than any other (NYC), and working in restaurants in NYC... I also found the writing style to be more memoir than fictional narrative, which often made me wonder if this was a true story or not, something that I kind of liked. I felt like I could hear Vik’s voice telling the story in my ear.

Set in the early to mid-1990’s in England and then NYC, The Kosher Delhi is the story of Vik and Yvonne: their relationship, their aspirations, their successes, and their failures, in life and with each other. Vik is an aspiring chef of Jewish and Indian descent, and Yvonne is an outspoken Scottish woman with a drive to fix injustice in the world. Vik lands a pretty sweet job in a trendy London restaurant, where he is forced to work under constant racist aggressions every day, something that he has had to deal with most of his life. Yvonne joins a band with moderate success, but after a particularly violent attack on Vik the couple ends up moving to NYC where Yvonne has a chance to further her career. In NYC Vik ends up with the chance of a lifetime to head his own kitchen.

I loved Vik. He’s such a great character and it’s easy to imagine him as you read through the book, living his life with him, discovering his craft, and rooting for him all the way. Unfortunately I didn’t like Yvonne at all, and I really wanted to because I related to a lot of her anger and actions. I was disappointed in how her character turned out, her actions too predictable and selfish. For such a strong, outspoken female character her continuous dependence on the male gaze and hand was troublesome to me. I would have loved to have seen her storyline a little less male-focused. But in the end she was a good addition to Vik’s character, and as a couple they worked.

Having lived and worked on the LES in NYC for years, and having a long term partner who is a line cook, I related to a lot of the back and front of house goings on in the novel. There was a glaring lack of Mexican line cooks, but I forgive the author that for the diversity of the cast in Vik’s restaurant. I liked that the author was able to bring up some very important topics such as racism, homophobia and gun control (but wished the mental illness aspect had been left out - it’s too frequently used as an excuse for mass murder), and I loved all of the references to 90’s culture (riot grrrl for life!). The descriptions of food were amazing, as were the outfits Yvonne wore - she totally fit the part!

This is a 3.5 rounded up to a 4 for me, rounded up as I read it in less than 24 hours because I couldn’t put it down! I think I should add a trigger warning for some graphic violent scenes that I wasn’t expecting in the novel, just because they came as a shock to me. The violence isn’t gratuitous though and I think it adds depth to the novel - I can’t say any more without adding spoilers! Also – the title is brilliant.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the advance copy of this novel in exchange for an unbiased review.