Soon to be a major motion picture starring Helen Mirren and Om Puri directed by Lasse Hallstrom and produced by Oprah Winfrey Steven Spielberg Juliet Blake DreamWorks Studios and Participant MediaThat skinny Indian teenager has that mysterious something that comes along once a generation He is one of those rare chefs who is simply born He is an artist And so begins the rise of Hassan Haji the unlikely gourmand who recounts his lifes journey in Richard Moraiss charming novel The Hundred-Foot Journey Lively and brimming with the colors flavors and scents of the kitchen The Hundred-Foot Journey is a succulent treat about family nationality and the mysteries of good taste Born above his grandfathers modest restaurant in Mumbai Hassan 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 Lumire a small village in the French Alps The boisterous Haji family takes Lumire by storm They open an inexpensive Indian restaurant opposite an esteemed French relaisthat of the famous chef Madame Malloryand 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 agescharming endearing and compulsively readable.
