Sadie on a Plate by Amanda Elliot

Narrated by Emily Lawrence

Standalone. Women’s Fiction with a little romance.

As a Jewish romance book blogger, I try to pick up books that appeal to me with Jewish representation. Though religion was not a part of this book at all (which is great, because I am not even a little religious), Jewish cooking was. If you enjoy cooking competition reality shows, Sadie on a Plate by Amanda Elliot will appeal to you no matter what religion you practice. But if you go into this expecting romance with a side of cooking, you’ll be disappointed, because it’s totally the other way around. The romance is a small subplot.

Sadie is a 27-year-old Jewish chef from Seattle. She was just fired from her job because of an asshole boss, and she thinks her reputation is in tatters and nobody will hire her. Lucky for her, her application to be on Chef Supreme (like Top Chef) was chosen, so she headed to NY to film. Her seatmate on the flight just happened to be another chef, and Sadie and Luke hit it off instantly.

Sadly, in a reality show, you give up your phone, so she couldn’t communicate with him for 6 weeks…or could she?

“We’re not trying to feed people food,” I said. “We’re trying to feed them feelings.”

Each contestant for the show has to face the weekly challenges while showcasing their personal style. Sadie wanted to elevate Jewish food (non-kosher), and each chef had their own ethnic spin on things. I really enjoyed the cooking competition even though I don’t watch many on TV. I would definitely describe Sadie on a Plate as a behind-the-scenes cooking competition rather than a romance, but that’s OK with me. I think I would have preferred if Luke was another contestant or a producer or something so they would be able to have more screen time together without it feeling wrong.

Likes:

Non-stereotypical Jewish representation
I loved Sadie and her confidence growth throughout the story.
The very diverse cast of characters both in color and sexuality.
All of the different ethnic dishes.
The cooking show play-by-play.
The relationships between the competitors.
Lots of fun and funny moments.
The reality of women chefs vs men.

Dislikes:

There wasn’t enough romance.
You don’t have enough screen time of the couple together to get to know them.
I would have liked if Luke played a different part on the show so they could have more screen time.

The Narration:

Emily Lawrence did a great job with Sadie. Her voice acting definitely added to the story and I recommend the audiobook, though I think both the book and audiobook would be pretty equal.

The Down & Dirty:

As long as you don’t go in expecting a major romance, I think any foodie or cooking show lover would love Sadie on a Plate. You absolutely do NOT need to be Jewish to appreciate this book, it’s just her style of cooking. Though I’m not much of a cooking show person, I still found myself glued to the story wanting to know who gets eliminated each week. Amanda Elliot’s next book, Best Served Hot releases this month, and I think I’ll be grabbing that one as well because I enjoy her writing style.