I knew the ending before I even started writing-I knew that the story would end with a carefully curated dinner party and I wanted to work backwards and tell the story of some of the most important guests.

Did your novel start out as short fiction, or did it originate as a novel? Could you talk about how you came to structure the novel in this way? Each chapter works as a complete short story. I love the structure of Kitchens of the Great Midwest. I also love food and wine, and was compelled to write about a part of the country I love that I feel is comparatively underrepresented in literature.

Ryan about his debut novel.Ĭould you talk about the inspiration for the novel?Īt its core, this book is a conversation with my mother, who died ten years ago, and my attempt to write a novel that she would’ve loved, were she still alive. It has been named a July Fiction Pick by Barnes and Noble and is an American Booksellers Associations Indie Next Great Pick for the month of August.ĭead Darlings was delighted to talk to J. While Kitchens of the Great Midwest hits the bookstores today, it has already been one of the most buzzed about books of the summer, making the must-read lists of Fodor’s, Martha Stewart Living, and the BBC, just to name a few. His debut novel, Kitchens of the Great Midwest, is the story of a young woman with a once-in-a-generation palate who becomes the iconic chef behind the country’s most coveted dinner reservation. Ryan Stradal is the fiction editor of the online magazine The Nervous Breakdown and the acquisitions editor at Unnamed Press in Los Angeles.

Kitchens of the great midwest book