Inspiration for A Taste of Sage By Yaffa S. Santos 

We are living in times where many of us could use the perfect distraction. Times where many of us are returning to the kitchen to experiment, or possibly doing it for the first time. Times when there are many days when all we could use is a fun, romantic story and a laugh. None of this I could have predicted when I began writing the novel A Taste Of Sage.

I started working on A Taste of Sage with the idea of a woman chef living and working in NYC. I had been working on another novel, a very personal project which got a little too heavy. I decided I wanted to do something lighter and more fun. For a while, my sister had been telling me stories about her time in culinary school. The drama, the tears, the throwing things— it all seemed larger than life, and it fascinated me. I decided the kitchen would be a dynamic setting for a romantic comedy.

As I went on with the project, it became important to me that there be an aspect of the story that extended beyond the five senses. I’d long had an interest in the idea of tasting food and feeling a connection to the cook beyond what was immediately available to the five senses.

Some of my curiosity was triggered by comments my son would make as a small child. He is on the autism spectrum, and he would say things like, “this song is orange,” or “this pizza tastes angry.” At first, they didn’t make sense to me, and then I wondered, what if these are facts on another plane of reality outside the five senses, and I just don’t perceive them because I’m not attuned to that information?

In a similar/familial vein, my husband has a long-standing pet peeve where he will not eat a meal he feels was cooked by an angry person or a person in a bad mood. It made me think.

It was important to me that the protagonist be a Dominican-American chef, because I wanted her to represent the Dominican cuisine of my heritage, which has not often had a spotlight in American novels. I lived in Inwood and Washington Heights, NYC during my 20’s, and that became the inspiration for basing Lumi’s home and restaurant in Inwood.

Writing about food and cooking also represented healing in my relationship with food and cooking. I did not always have a healthy relationship with food, and one of the main components of my healing was learning to cook at home. Food went to being something remote and challenging to something positive that I could be a steward of for my family.

As far as where Julien and DAX came into the picture, French food is often upheld as a culinary standard, which is one of the reasons I chose it. Lumi is so creative and she loves to innovate. Going into a traditional French restaurant where she is not allowed to do that was one of the hardest and most frustrating challenges she could have, professionally.

I also wanted to create a scenario where Dominican fusion cuisine would be presented on the same level as French food, and not on a sort of hierarchy where one is practical and one is elegant. Also, having worked in the service industry in New York, I had the opportunity to meet some celebrity chefs, and I was wowed by seeing that they were real people.

Julien came from another project, a short story challenge I was invited to participate in by one of my critique partners. I had started shaping Lumi’s character, but was planning on keeping the two projects separate. But the more Lumi’s arc was revealed to me, it became clear she was going to have a sojourn at another restaurant while she got her business back together.

When I was thinking about what kind of people she would encounter there, I thought of Julien’s character and my first thought was, “but they would hate each other.” And then, “ooh, they would hate each other!” It came together from there.

I decided that Julien would be French-Canadian in a sort of nostalgic vein. My husband and I traveled often from New York to Montreal when I was in my twenties, and I had many good memories of that city. Making Julien from there was a way to pay tribute to it and have it be part of my project.

Although Julien moves to New York before adulthood, there is some awesome cooking going on in Montreal, and I like to think that would have had an impression on him and his career, or at least his inspiration to become a chef and go into the culinary industry.
Lumi and Julien develop a connection that to me feels elemental and energetic. They align on a level that feels almost spiritual and that Lumi would not have been attuned to if it were not for tasting Julien’s cooking.

I am excited that the book is out now, and it is a dream come true. It has been a long road to here for me personally. I hope readers enjoy Lumi’s journey as much as I did. She has come to feel like a best friend to me, and I’m proud of her progress!

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An Entertainment Weekly “New Books to Read May 2020” Pick

From talented new writer, Yaffa S. Santos, comes this unforgettable, heartwarming, and hilarious rom-com about chefs, cooking, love, and self-discovery that is a cross between The Hating Game and Sweetbitter.

Lumi Santana is a chef with the gift of synesthesia—she can perceive a person’s emotions just by tasting their cooking. Despite being raised by a single mother who taught her that dreams and true love were silly fairy tales, she decides to take a chance and puts her heart and savings into opening a fusion restaurant in Inwood, Manhattan. The restaurant offers a mix of the Dominican cuisine she grew up with and other world cuisines that have been a source of culinary inspiration to her.

When Lumi’s eclectic venture fails, she is forced to take a position as a sous chef at a staid, traditional French restaurant in midtown owned by Julien Dax, a celebrated chef known for his acid tongue as well as his brilliant smile. Lumi and Julien don’t get along in the kitchen–to say Lumi is irritated by Julien’s smug attitude is an understatement, and she secretly vows never to taste his cooking. Little does she know that her resolve doesn’t stand a chance against Julien’s culinary prowess.

As Julien produces one delectable dish after another, each one tempting Lumi with its overwhelming aromas and gorgeous presentations, she can no longer resist and samples one of his creations. She isn’t prepared for the feelings that follow as she’s overcome with intense emotions. She begins to crave his cooking throughout the day, which throws a curveball in her plan to save up enough money and move on as soon as possible. Plus, there’s also the matter of Esme, Julien’s receptionist who seems to always be near and watching. As the attraction between Lumi and Julien simmers, Lumi experiences a tragedy that not only complicates her professional plans, but her love life as well…

Buy link: https://www.harpercollins.com/9780062974846/a-taste-of-sage/

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