Chop Chop

This book was nominated for the 2014 Costa First Novel Award. Outrageously funny and completely original, Chop Chop by Simon Wroe is the story of a hapless young chef in the crazed world of the professional kitchen, featuring lust, revenge, neurosis and haute cuisine. "A greasy, hilarious tale of loyalty, revenge and dark appetites. A gripping look behind the kitchen wall." (Shortlist). Two months behind on his rent, young graduate Monocle swallows his dreams and takes the only job he can find: the lowest-rung chef in a gastropub in Camden. Here he finds himself surrounded by a group of deranged hoodlums (his co-workers) and at the mercy of an ingenious sadist (the head chef, Bob). What follows is a furiously-paced, ribald, raucous and unexpectedly touching tale of loyalty and revenge, dark appetites and fading dreams, and a young man finding his way in the world as he is plunged into the fat and the frying pan and everything else besides. "Perfectly baked [with] a rich, gooey pool of dark comedy hiding beneath the surface." (Independent). "Lively, amusing and alarmingly informative." (Daily Mail). "Arch comedy ...Dave Eggers channels Anthony Bourdain." (Kirkus).
"Twisted, surprising and above all genuinely funny." (William Sutcliffe). "Raucous and inventive, peopled with technicolour characters and savagely funny." (A D Miller). "A complete page-turner. Reminiscent of Kitchen Confidential but with an entirely fresh voice." (Thomasina Miers). "A brutally funny look at the world of professional cooking." (Gary Shteyngart). "Furiously funny, fast, surreal." (Anya von Bremzen). Simon Wroe is a former chef who writes about food and culture for Prospect and the Economist, and has contributed to a wide range of publications including The Times, Guardian, Telegraph and Evening Standard. In 2014 Chop Chop was nominated for the Costa First Novel Award. Simon Wroe is 30 and lives in London.