Envy of Angels
(Not a review, just some notes to help me remember the things I've read. But written this way because it's the Internet, and some people will stumble across this page.)
This book was a freebie from the Tor dot com reading club.
For the record, my first mention online of "The Sin Cafe" came in a closed writing blog, which was open at that time, back in 2011. It had its origins in a trip to Punta Cana, in the Dominican Republic, several years before that. I mention this because "Sin du Jour" appears to be a series. However, I will continue to write Hell's Diner stories as the moods strike. I have at least two more in mind for whenever I work them out.
I started it a couple months ago. It had my attention but I wasn't sure I wanted to go where it was going. But I went back to it. It was actually a quick read and a short book. (It's actually a novella.)
Lena and Darren are out-of-work chefs in NYC and can't get a job. They get to try-out as substitutes at Sin-du-Jour (which along with the cover should be a massive hint). They are given a hands-on interview by someone who could make Gordon Ramsey cry, but they manage to pass while creating things they've never made before using the hottest of spices and ingredients that they've never tasted before. It's a bit exotic. And there's a forbidden food pantry. If you need something, ask the person authorized to go in there.
Well, they go in there, and all Hell breaks loose. Sort of. A creature is released from a jar that instantly starts growing in size and wreaking havoc.
Rather than fire them, the Chef tells them that their exclusive clientele is rivals groups of demons, and that these get-togethers are funded by the U.S. government, which mediates and helps keep the peace between the factions.
They it starts getting interesting when demons arrive with a special dish that they want prepared -- it's an angel, a spellbound, living angel, although more akin to one of ancient writings than of popular paintings. The crew is split on this because they don't want to slaughter an angel. But they can't refuse, so the best that they can do is fake what an angel tastes like. The crew discovers that angel tastes like Chicken Nuggies from Henley's (a fictional food chain). This leads to some industrial espionage, which leads to something else fantastical. It gets crazy from there.
One thing that doesn't make sense in the resolution is this: [SPOILER] Although the Nuggies have been created through fantastical methods for decades, the magicked Nuggies were based on an actual original recipe. How did those turn out to taste like angel? I guess I would've had an easier time believing that angels taste like "magic chicken" more than that they taste enough like chicken to form a demon.
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