Weekend Cooking: Before the Coffee Gets Cold by Toshikazu Kawaguchi

If you were to ask me which is the place I would most like to visit in the world, the instant place that came to mind would be Paris. To be honest, I am not sure that would be that big of a surprise to anyone who has been reading my blog for any length of time. It is not, however, the only place I would love to visit, and this week I have been reading/listening to books set in two of those other places. I have been reading Still Life by Sarah Winman, set in Tuscany and I have been listening to Before the Coffee Gets Cold by Toshikazu Kawaguchi.

This book was mentioned in a Discord group I am in and I thought it sounded interesting but the main reason why I started listening to it is that it was a short audiobook at around 6 hours. I have a number of big books that I would like to listen to on audio but the idea of listening to a book that is 30 hours long when I have such little listening time is overwhelming,so this seemed like the perfect length.

Before the Coffee Gets Cold is set entirely within a basement cafe called Funiculi Funicula down an alleyway in Tokyo. Even in the heat of the summer, it remains cool. There are three clocks on the wall, each of which show a different time. The cafe is owned by married couple of Nagare and Kei ably assisted by Kazu, their regular customers come and go, and we get glimpses into small aspects of their lives.

There is something special about this cafe. You can time travel from the cafe but there are very strict rules. 

• You must sit in a particular chair in the corner and the you can't move from the chair
• You can only meet people who come into the cafe
• Nothing that happens in the past will change the future
• You must finish the coffee before it gets cold

It's not that it is as simple as just those four rules either. The particular chair is generally occupied by a ghost who sits quietly reading her book, so the only time you can sit in the chair are in the short moments when she takes a bathroom break. And if you break the other rules there are consequences.

There is an entire ritual associated with the time travel, performed by Kazu. There is a specific coffeepot that gets used, Kazu must be share that the traveller knows the rules, and the transition between times begins as soon as the coffee is poured.

The structure of the story is in effect four connected short stories where the time traveller has unfinished business. For one woman it is the chance to go back to have redo a conversation which happened just a few days ago with her now ex-boyfriend. For another it is the chance to have one last conversation with her sister that she has been deliberately avoiding for many years. Then, there is the nurse whose husband's memories are progressively fading away due to early onset Alzheimers and then finally a chance to say hello that would otherwise never happen.

There is no doubt that this book is a little on the sweet side, but it hit the spot for me this week. I was interested in the stories and characters, as well as the glimpses into Japanese culture that we were given. For example, in one of the stories, they talked about the Tanabata festival at Sendai, and it had me wishing that we would be able to visit. 

While there wasn't a lot of food specifically referenced in this book, but there was plenty of conversation around coffee and sake and the day to day running of the cafe. I am really looking forward to reading or listening to the next book. I would be particularly keen to find out what the deal with the ghost is. Hopefully we find out in the next book.

This book was translated by Geoffrey Tousselot and narrated by Arina II. I enjoyed the narration. I am curious that the second book has a different narrator so now I am not sure if I should jump straight into the next one or maybe listen to something else before going back to it. I do have several audiobooks that I am part way through so maybe I should finish some of those.

Rating 4/5

Weekly meals

Saturday - Dinner with Family

Sunday - Pizzas

Monday - Teriyaki beef bowls
Tuesday - 
Wednesday - Grilled cheese on toast
Thursday - Friday takeaway on Thursday

Friday - Honey chicken rice and broocoli

Weekend Cooking is open to anyone who has any kind of food-related post to share: Book reviews (novel, nonfiction), cookbook reviews, movie reviews, recipes, random thoughts, gadgets, quotations, photographs, restaurant reviews, travel information, or fun food facts. If your post is even vaguely foodie, feel free to grab the button and link up anytime over the weekend. You do not have to post on the weekend. Please link to your specific post, not your blog's home page