A great mixture of food and relationships, food, and a good helping of Jewish Grandmother wisdom and food.
Also some lovely recipes at the back of the book that tie in with the story - inspired.
The book has an epic ending.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC of this book which will be published in June of 2025. I requested this book because of the title and description as I love reading novels centered around food, restaurants, recipes, etc. Think The Paris Novel or Delicious by Ruth Reichl. This is no Ruth Reichl, however, and perhaps it is an age thing that I did not enjoy this book. I really wanted to like Ruthie, but she seemed to be quite immature and somewhat self-centered. Even her best friend Trish seemed to make better life choices than Ruthie. I don’t think I am a prude as I do read lots of romcoms and romance-styled novels where things are spicy and relationships move quickly in that regard, but I found this novel to be a bit coarse. Maybe I’m just a bit too old for this kind of lifestyle, and maybe you will like this book much better than I did!

Firstly, I wanted to say that the cover of this title is super cute and caught my eye straight away. Whoever says that they don’t judge a book by it’s cover must be fibbing just a tiny bit ;)

Secondly, I loved the description of this book – as a long time fan of Bridget Jones and a fan of Food fiction, I was very excited to read this book.

I think that the book was a fun read, but I found that I couldn’t really relate to the main character at all in the book and also found that I was getting rather exasperated with her as she seemed to be quite focused on herself a lot of the time.

I did really enjoy the dynamics that she has with her friends. I guess that I wanted more depth to the story and see Ruthie develop more as a character. Even though the book is a light and engaging read, I didn’t feel emotionally connected to the characters.

What I did love was the author’s depiction of food and the process. It was so detailed and made me hungry whilst I was reading this book a number of times. Also really loved the recipes at the end of the book!

Thank you to Amy Rosen, Netgalley and the Publisher for the eARC copy of this read in exchange for an honest review.

This novel was a fun quick light read for me and I enjoyed it. The main female character shares her life in a new diary and we are along for the ride. Loved the cooking school experiences, her relationships with her best girlfriends and her parents and reminders of wise words from her Bubbe
She does have romantic experiences too but I felt these were a distraction from the best parts of the book..

Thank you NetGalley and ECW Press for providing me with an eARC of “Off Menu”.

I was excited for this book because of the concept; I am a HUGE food fiction fan, but Off Menu really fell flat for me. Ruthie quits her stable, corporate job after she receives a slim inheritance from her grandmother (?) who had recently passed away. Ruthie continuously shows throughout the book that she is selfishly thinking about herself and only herself.

This had a lot of potential, but could unfortunately rated 1.75/5 stars for me.

I have to be honest this was not my favorite. I loved the food talk and Ruthie’s personal journey with culinary school. But i really didn’t like any of her “love” interests. It felt unbelievable to me, the connection she had with Jeff, and even Dean both felt surface level and unrealistic, we talked a lot about their problems but i felt a lot of Ruthie’s problems were skimmed over, or just disregarded.
Ruthie’s gramma was my favorite thing, the parts throughout with her wisdom and advice made me remeber my two grammas. Otherwise it wasn’t for me.
Thanks for the ARC!

Such a fun and entertaining book to get lost in! I enjoyed the tale Rosen crafted. The story explores friendships, romantic relationships, and chasing your dreams. I thought the author did a good job with the character development and the pacing was spot on. I was not bored while reading! Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.

Off Menu by Amy Rosen had all the makings of a book I’d love—behind-the-scenes food industry stories, personal anecdotes, and a peek into the realities of running a restaurant. While I enjoyed the premise and some of the insider perspectives, I found myself wanting a little more depth in certain areas. Some stories felt like they were just getting interesting before moving on too quickly. That said, Rosen’s writing is engaging, and there are definitely some great moments here for food lovers. If you enjoy light, conversational reads about the restaurant world, this is a decent pick, but I was hoping for a bit more substance.

I was super excited to receive an Advanced Reader Copy of this book from Netgalley (thank you!), and I was not disappointed. This book came at the perfect time after reading books with heavier subject matter. Ruthie made for a great character and I enjoyed the diary entries (I’m a DAY ONE fan of Bridget Jones’ Diary). That format gave the story a more personalized feel, and I felt like I was catching up with a girlfriend over drinks.

The romance aspect was solid and I liked both love interests, but it was her journey of self-discovery that really took center stage for me. I do wish that the relationship with Dean was explored a little more in the beginning of the book- I think this would have helped the reader have a better understanding as to why this guy was so unforgettable for Ruthie and distinguish him from just a random, summer fling.

Overall, this was a fun read. This book is for anyone looking for a fast-paced romance full of funny side characters and lots of yummy food! It would be a great beach read. I would give it 3.5 stars, but will round up for all the free life lessons from Bubbe Bobby Grace.

This was such a good book. I loved the story and the writing so much. The characters were great and the story flowed smoothly. Will definitely read more books by this author in the future.

This had to be one of the most humorous books I've read it quite a while. This story about Ruthie Cohen who changes her life with the inheritance that was left to her Bubbe Bobby Grace was a good read for "foodies". Leaving her boring job, she takes some of her inheritance and goes to a French culinary school. Along with her best friends and her diary we read her witty, and very funny entries into that diary and her heartfelt explanation to her friends.. At school she meets Jeff and she is immediately taken with him and a possible relationship. Along comes Dean who she met 6 months prior while on an exotic vacation with her two besties. Starting a new career and having two relationships with Jeff and Dean, what is a girl to do? Read the book to find out, you won't be disappointed. This book gave me laugh out loud moments as we read the goings on. At the back of the book, you'll also find recipes that are mentioned in the story. My thanks to NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This was a fun quick read. I appreciated how casually Jewish the story was — it made Ruthie’s family and dynamic all the more familiar. I was hesitant about the diary entry narrative at first but it won me over quickly. Ruthie was a solid MC — honest, funny, and so real-feeling — though sometimes I got frustrated with how dating and men focused she was. The food descriptions were so well done and had my stomach growling as I read.

fun and well-written story. weirdly enough the worst part was the romance. our protag was awesome and her journey was cool, but the LIs were rather meh. 4 stars. tysm for the arc.

A fast-paced and fabulously entertaining story of finding yourself through food.
While I found Ruthie frustrating at times, her journey through the grief of losing her beloved Bubbe and her finding independence through cooking was inspiring and thoroughly entertaining.
This book was funny, emotional, infuriating, hopeful, chaotic, and fabulous!

I love books with a focus on food and romance and this book was just what I wanted! The romance was so cute and the reading was so easy to read!

I requested Off Menu on NetGalley in exchange for an honest review because I’m a huge fan of foodie fiction.

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.

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

The original premise of Ruthie leaving her unfulfilling job becomes an anecdote to the deeper story that develops of relationships, friendship, and finding purpose and fulfillment. Ruthie’s foray into cooking school weaves a storyline that doesn’t follow a typical path- maintaining a premise that is both fun to read and unpredictable. The relationship development turns into a storyline that keeps Ruthie’s spirit and character someone you want to root for! The food descriptions and cooking school scenes made this even more enjoyable! I really enjoyed this and would recommend!

Off Menu by Amy Rosen is a delightful and humorous novel that follows Ruthie Cohen, a twenty-something data entry minion for a second-tier movie app. Ruthie spends her days dreaming about the amazing meals she plans to cook for her best friends, Trish and Lilly, while pining for Dean, her vacation fling from six months earlier. When Ruthie's beloved grandmother, Bubbe Bobby Grace, passes away and leaves her an inheritance of $62,873.42 with instructions to "follow your passion," Ruthie decides to pursue her love for cooking. She enrolls in culinary school, where she meets Jeff, a super hunky (but taken) musician who quickly becomes a distraction. As Ruthie navigates her new life, balancing school, cooking, career planning, and her feelings for both Dean and Jeff, she learns valuable lessons about following her dreams and finding happiness. The novel is filled with humor, heart, and mouth-watering descriptions of food, making it a perfect read for anyone who loves a good laugh and a good meal.

Look for my full review in Library Journal
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Quickly, I adored this! So laugh out loud funny. Perfect for foodies and rom-com readers alike.