The Secret French Recipes of Sophie Valroux

The Secret French Recipes of Sophie Valroux by Samantha Verant  352 pages

Sophie Valroux is a graduate of the Culinary Institute of America. She’s got the chops to work in a Michelin-starred restaurant.  When this story opens, the New York restaurant where, Cendrillon, is waiting to hear that they have been awarded a third Michelin star.

Tensions are running high in the kitchen. Eric, the chef de cuisine, and Sophie’s former lover, are not exactly having a lover’s spat, but Eric is hard on her, making her re-season the Executive Chef Dan O’Shea’s recipe for roasted potimarron, a chestnut-flavored squash, soup.

When the call comes, it isn’t the one they are expecting. Not only was Cendrillon not awarded a third start, but one was taken away.  Imagine the disappointment in that kitchen.

Eric accuses Sophie of sabotaging the restaurant; O’Shea has no choice but to let her go. Sophie is crushed. It has been her dream to be part of the one percent of female chefs running a Michelin-starred restaurant. Word spreads through the city’s restaurants. Sophie has no chance of ever working in New York again…unless of course, she takes Eric up on going to work for him in the new restaurant he is planning to open.  Sophie would rather be homeless than that.

Sophie licks her wounds by returning to France where her grandmother lives. The grandmother she was exceptionally close to whom she has hardly talked to, much less visited in thirteen years.  Grand-mere has suffered a stroke.

Sophie learns that Grand-mere has been busy in Sophie’s absence---opening two restaurants in “the simple family home…is now luxurious chateau.”  Two highly regarded and highly successful restaurants.  Although Sophie’s confidence has been shaken to her core, she learns that while life isn’t fair, good can come of every betrayal and disappointment.

I fell in love with the opening paragraph…so beautifully written that I read it three times to savor the imagery. This novel is about family secret, learning to dream again and family is this people that can always be depended upon, even when there is disagreement. There is also a secondary plot line of romance. Between food (complete with recipes) and romance, this is the perfect escape novel and a way to see France without leaving your favorite chair.

I was disappointed that author Verant used so many French words that I could not put into context, but they added authenticity to the story that I would experience if I was in France.

 The Secret French Recipes of Sophie receives 4 out of 5 stars in Julie’s world.