Omg , I loved it . It's so adorable and the love interest is so believable. Mind you, don't read it if you're hungry, the food they cook here looks amazing plus I between can replicate some of them. Definitely a graphic novel for those who are trying to find their place in the world. There's no Right or Wrong only what makes you Happy.

So I had been looking forward to reading this. It looked like a cute story with a sweet romance, and a pig. What more can you want? And despite it starting off great, sadly it took me ages to read this because I couldn’t stay invested at times.

The art was lovely. It had great panels and the interesting characters design, and the pig was adorable. Most of the issues lay in the story.

Like I said before, the beginning was great. As a literature student myself, the job search was way too relatable. It brought back flashbacks of me trying to find a job myself, but how the hell is the position of a chef requiring no experience at all? Really? That was a stretch.

And the romance was not developed enough to make me buy it. This isn’t a long graphic novel, so the romance didn’t have much time to develop outside of their working relationship.

Overall, it’s a cute graphic novel that needed more development.

A young man straight out of college tries to figure out what he wants to do with his life after he discovers a love for cooking at a restaurant ran by a very strange man and his pig. This book is ADORABLE! It's brightly colored, full of sweet boys crushing, and friendships that feel authentic. Meanwhile there is a crazy pig that apparently is also a food connoisseur, which is hilarious. It balances that feeling of being completely untethered with the fear and excitement that comes from finding your place somewhere other than where you thought you would end up.

The character design is very manga-inspired, making this book even more adorable, and the bright coloring makes it a joy to look at. All together, this book made me transform into a giddy teenage girl as I crossed my fingers for Ben's future in cooking and in love.

wowwww I loved this so much! Ben is so sweet and endearing and also a bit of an idiot but I loved him. And Liam? I would also abandon my career path to go cook with Liam all day. The characters are diverse, funny, realistic and interesting! I liked that everyone had their own little quirks that made them human and even more likeable.

The development of Ben over the course of the book was done really well and felt organic. The same could be said about the chemistry between Ben and Liam which was so so sweet. I love a slow-burn romance and this one was so well done.

The art style was great and I really enjoyed the little details the individual characters had. I felt like it really fit the mature but cute vibe of the book!

I really loved this book, and was really blown away by the art, which perfectly captures in many unique ways each character's personality and all the nuances of social interaction and internal dialogue. I thought the journey of self-discovery as being one of career and future, rather than a coming out story, was amazing. It can get tiring to just read queer struggle stories that are centered around coming out and being queer. Here, this is a story about a common issue that many young adults have - the crisis of figuring out what you want to do with your life, how to forge your path independently as well as with family and/or chosen family, and ultimately navigating relationships in your life and how to grow within and without them.

I loved this graphic novel!
Ben is adorable and I really cheered him on. His crush on Liam and the story from there was well written. Watson the food critic pig is everything! How many books have a good critic pig???
A good quick read.

Very adorable! Not as focused on the romance as I thought it would be but still cute. Loved the friendships and the focus on rounding out the supporting characters. The art work is amazing and im very impressed at how well the yoga poses were drawn. Overall a cute, wholesome read that will get you out of a reading slump.

I loved this. So much. This was the New Adult graphic novel I didn't know I needed.
It's a romance but it's also about finding one's way after finishing school, about finding what we truly want to do, about the fear of disappointing parents, about friendships, about finding something you love, about love, about attraction, about crazy bosses and also about FOOD.
I just loved this so damn much. I will without a doubt buy it when it comes out reread it over and over. It felt like the big gay hug I needed.

I loved this story !
Becoming an adult, the difficulties of find a first job, know what we really want to do after out studies : all this things talk to me a lot ! It’s not always easy to make choices with all the pressure around us. Parents, friends, anybody else.
In this story, we have all of that. But really well done. And with a lot of humor (I loved the really cute pig !), our hero, would like to be journalist but no one give him his chance. But he likes to cook. So, when he found a job in a restaurant, it’s like a revelation : THIS is what he want to do. Or maybe, it’s because of the chief : his ndw crush.
I really appreciate this story, how we can see the main caracter grow and makes his own choices. And the drawing too, And the romance, in fact, everything !

This was such a lovely comic.
It's about growth, romance and best of all: food, which looks ridiculously good.

Ben Cook (yeah, I know) has just finished school and moved in with his friends, ready for new adventures in the grown up world. Unfortunately it doesn't go as planned as finding a job proves more difficult than he imagined.
One day he walks by a restaurant looking for a new cook, and here his life gets turned upside down with the help of a good looking chef, an angry manager and a pig who's a really picky eater.

It was just a really good slice of life comic, with a splash of romance and a ton of cuteness!

This graphic novel is a sweet treat of a coming of age read. Newly graduated and feeling the pressure of his parents to succeed in the field they chose for him, Ben Cook is desperately looking for a job in publishing. Unfortunately he finds himself in the catch-22 of needing experience to get hired, but cannot get hired to get that needed experience. Then he sees a help wanted poster in the window of a high end restaurant. Since he enjoys cooking for his friends (and potential boyfriends), he thought it would make a nice stop-gap job until something better comes along. That the sou-chef Liam is sweet candy both for the eyes and the heart is an added bonus. But first, he must prove himself to the gruff and grumpy chef. . . and the chef's pig.

Ben "Cook the Cook" is so easy to identify with - on the cusp of adulthood with so many choices to make that will have consequences on the rest of his life. He loves reading and writing, but is copy editing what he really wants to do forever? Or is it what his parents want? Is his new passion for cooking and baking fueled by a drive to have more life experiences and learn about other career paths. . . or a passion of a different kind aimed at Liam? What is it he really wants, and will his best friends be left behind as he moves forward? His struggles with lack of confidence, shyness, and overbearing parents add to his human believability. He also learns that he cannot hold his alcohol. . . much to his embarrassment. As a reader, I just wanted to give him a hug, or cheer for him when he succeeded.

I also loved the cadre of Ben's friends and roommates. They are so different and diverse, yet are the best of friends. They support each other, even if they have no clue what the other is talking about. From practicing "Shakespeare Speech" to yoga poses to cheering for free food, they are the added spice that brings life to Ben's world. And when Ben begins to change, that spice can sometimes be hard for each of them to swallow.

The art is beautiful, the story engaging and fun, and the characters are well rounded and easy to care about. It is definitely for the Older Teen and older range, as there is some strong language, consumption of alcohol, and references to drug use. Warning - you will be soooooo hungry when you finish this book!

Recommended for fans of Ngozi Ukazu and C.S. Pacat.

* I received this book as an eARC through NetGalley. The opinions in this review are my own. *

This was such a cute and adorable graphic novel. The storyline was interesting, the art was adorable, and I quickly fell in love with all the characters. All in all I absolutely adored this cute, funny, queer graphic novel.

I literally have no words. First of all. Thank you for letting me read this in advance. I have to say it was one of the sweetest graphic novels I've read in a while and all the recipes make me so hungry. The characters are well written. I wish there was more about Liam but other than that I really enjoyed reading it. I love Liz and Mel and obviously Watson the pig, who was a great addition to the little gang. Even the head chef was charming in his own way. I like that the main character is torn between his writing and working in an area that uses his degree, and following his passions. It's a struggle that most young adults and 20+ year olds go through. So in that sense it was extremely relatable. The art style is stunning and I can't wait to buy a physical copy of this book.

Once again. Thank for letting me read this in advance. I had an absolute blast reading it.

I received this eArc through NetGalley for review.

Let me start off by saying that this story hit home for me. It’s about the male lead and his friends figuring out what to do with their lives after undergrad. Ben is a lovable main character and all the side characters had unique personality traits that made it easier to love their friend dynamic. This graphic novel is humorous, realistic, and romantic. I especially appreciated the LGBTQ+ romance and some of the diversity in the characters.

Please please read whenever you get the chance!

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for providing me with an early copy in exchange for an honest review!

This was such a sweet graphic novel with some truly delicious looking food. I loved the romance as well as the exploration around figuring out career paths after university. All of the characters were super interesting and the friendships were really at the heart of the story.

I really enjoyed reading this! It was so refreshing to see a young person going through some tough times that a lot of us can relate to, dealing with roommates, crushes, falling out with friends. But alongside that see the joy and passion come through in the job they have. I’ll certainly be hunting down a physical copy to buy!

Thank you NetGalley for providing me this ARC for an honest review!

This was the oh-so-lovely, arrow-to-the-heart type of book.

Searching for your true passion, as well as finding your role in the world are two of my favorite tropes.

Ben's adventures were so funny and over-the-top. The entire cast had me laughing all the way through.

For this being my first graphic novel, I really, really enjoyed it!

What happens after college? After you have your degree and there’s no more school left? You go find a job, that’s what!

Ben is fresh out of college, moved in with his roommates and best friends and anxiously looking for a job. The only problem? Everyone wants someone with experience. Then Ben stumbles upon a restaurant hiring people with zero experience and it’s like fate. He goes in and it’s nothing like what he was expecting.

I LOVED this book. Graphic novels have a special place in my heart and Chef’s Kiss absolutely deserves its’ place there. I fell for Ben and Liam so fast and as much as I tried to space out readng this book, I finished it in one day and then just hugged my iPad for a bit once it was over. That’s the kind of story this is: warm, cozy and full of food. I think I was snacking the entire time while reading this, and once you read it, you’ll know why, it’s hard not too when the art is so well drawn and the food is just everywhere.

Another reason I truly loved this book was because of the post-college work conflict. It’s something I worry about constantly, and just like Ben’s parents push him to get a job in his field and he worries constantly, I know I’m going to be the same. I truly loved his attitude shift as he got more and more comfortable with his surroundings and how he began to see his new job as a “I’m doing this because I like it and not because I don’t have any other options.” Also the food critic pig: yes there was an actual food critic pig. I shall say no more. Just that this book is the best thing to read when you need a smile on your face or a reading slump broken.

Chef's Kiss was a book that, much like many of the dishes covered in it, acted like a perfect comfort food. While I'm often someone that clamors for more complicated depictions of queerness and queer characters in media, there is always something to be said for queer media that really captures the feeling of putting on a comfortable romcom.

While the plot wasn't complicated, it really didn't need to be: it spared space for the emotions of the characters (especially Ben) to really blossom into life, and also allowed for the truly stunning art to take center stage. Ben's struggle with figuring out where to go after college felt truly so understandable, it was captured in a way that really pointed to both the joys and the flaws in attempting to do that. Furthermore, the romance was sweet, with all the usual complications of being a person built in, and I genuinely enjoyed watching it progress.

Overall, I found this a truly charming story, that acted as a gentle emotion balm and a bit of comfort media on a dark fall day.

Ben Cook is searching for a job to gain experience but, as it happens, he can’t get a job with no prior experience, so he ends up getting the job he never thought would be such a perfect fit for him: a job at a restaurant.
But this is not ordinary restaurant, either. Among the delightful characters who wander these walls, there are two who get Ben’s attention from the start. Liam, a colleague covered in dreamy tattoos and muscles; and Watson, a pig. A literal, pink, four-legged animal who “works” as the judge in the different challenges Ben will have to go through in order to maintain his new job.
Oh my goodness, was this comic cute. Like, so, so, cute. I loved Ben’s personality and his insecurities were depicted in a really realistic way. His roommates were not as fleshed out as him, but they felt like real people with real struggles too. I kind of doubted if everything is seen from Ben’s point of view, because if not, Liam is quite literally perfect in every single way. They were really cute together and I thought the pacing of the relationship was just perfect.
And the food seemed so tasty! I must admit I do have this tendency to really like food in comic book and animation, but the plates here were on another level. It made me so hungry!