Slumdog Millionaire meets Ratatouille (The New York Times Book Review) in this delicious
fairytale-like read (NPR) about family nationality and the mysteries of good taste. Born
above his grandfather's modest restaurant in Mumbai Hassan Haji first experienced life through
intoxicating whiffs of spicy fish curry trips to the local markets and gourmet outings with
his mother. But when tragedy pushes the family out of India they console themselves by eating
their way around the world eventually settling in Lumière a small village in the French Alps.
The boisterous Haji family takes Lumière by storm. They open an inexpensive Indian restaurant
opposite an esteemed French relais-that of the famous chef Madame Mallory-and infuse the sleepy
town with the spices of India transforming the lives of its eccentric villagers and
infuriating their celebrated neighbor. Only after Madame Mallory wages culinary war with the
immigrant family does she finally agree to mentor young Hassan leading him to Paris the
launch of his own restaurant and a slew of new adventures. The Hundred-Foot Journey is about
how the hundred-foot distance between a new Indian kitchen and a traditional French one can
represent the gulf between different cultures and desires. A testament to the inevitability of
destiny this is a fable for the ages-charming endearing and compulsively readable.
