Ruthie Cohen is stuck in a boring data entry job, daydreaming about food, her best friends, and whether her vacation fling, Dean, could have been something more. Then, her beloved Bubbe leaves her a surprise inheritance with one rule: follow her passion. A few drinks later, she’s signed up for culinary school, rocking chef’s whites, and ready to chase her foodie dreams. But things heat up fast—especially with Jeff, her swoon-worthy cooking partner. I was into this at first—I liked the chemistry and friendship between Ruthie and Jeff—but somewhere along the way, it started to lose me. Some chapters dragged, though I can’t quite put my finger on why. That said, there were a few surprises that kept things interesting. By the end, I really felt for Ruthie, and I was glad her friends helped her figure out what she needed to do. Not my favorite read, but it had its moments! Thanks to NetGalley for the chance to check this one out

After Ruthie’s much-loved grandmother passes away and leaves her $62k, she quits her boring office job and decides to follow her passion for cooking by enrolling at culinary school. I’m going to start with the parts of the book that I really enjoyed and those were the scenes where she’s learning about the techniques for French cuisine and later when she’s working at the café and devising new recipes. I also liked her friendships with Trish and Lily and how they helped Ruthie prioritise herself outside of her relationships. Off Menu is written diary-style a la Bridget Jones’s Diary and this was where it fell short for me because Ruthie’s two boyfriends: Jeff and Dean lack any of the charm of Bridget’s love interests. When Ruthie meets Jeff at culinary school, he’s already got a girlfriend, Katie. Despite all this, Jeff still tries to hook up with Ruthie when they’re travelling for a competition. He also has a drug habit and steals half her grandmother’s inheritance because the password for her bank account could be guessed by a stranger who spends fifteen minutes in her company. I thought it was really strange that her family tried to encourage her to forgive him on the basis that he cooked them an amazing fried chicken once. Dean, who Ruthie met on holiday in Thailand and reconnects with after Jeff goes to rehab lives down to all the worst stereotypes of vegans. He’s also arrogant enough to think that Ruthie should just quit her job and leave behind her friends and family in Toronto to move to Chicago for him because his career is so-called more important. I don’t know, maybe it’s an age thing but I just couldn’t understand why Ruthie bothered with either Jeff or Dean. It’s a shame because her experiences at the culinary school with Chef Antoine and her travels with Trish and Lily were really fun and I’d have liked to read more of them.