Review by Frank Plowright

Titled Off Menu when originally released in North America, this was retitled The Restaurant at the Edge of the World for UK publication.

Soup is a Chef, and absolutely loves her job in the restaurant in which she was first found as an infant, in a soup pot, hence her name. Unfortunately, though, she angers the restaurant boss and her life changes.

Oliver Gerlach sets up Soup’s personality and situation efficiently, but doesn’t do the same for chief chef and restaurant owner Heldritch who’s known Soup for over ten years, yet suddenly turns on her, having previously been seen as friendly and pleasant. It leads to a clumsy sequence of her wondering how many others he’s hurt and meeting those he’s wronged. Would she really not have had an inkling beforehand? From there the situation escalates until Soup finds herself challenging Heldritch for a winner takes everything cooking contest.

Kelsi Jo Silva’s art tells the story, but at a basic level, her strength being character design. They stand out, but there’s not enough variety to individual pages, not helped by almost the entire story being given a dreary orangey brown wash. Beyond the design, Da Sliva’s at her best during food preparation scenes, which look different and have a life to them.

Gerlach’s biography lists being a chef among other occupations, so one presumes much of The Restaurant at the End of the World draws on personal experience, and some of it may be belatedly settling some scores that weren’t possible in person. Heldritch certainly exhibits traits we’ve seen when chefs misbehave on TV, and he’s worse for additionally wanting to destroy the local marketplace.

Once the parameters have been established the story runs far more smoothly. Soup seems to have set herself an impossible task, and while everyone likes and supports her they don’t get on so well with each other. It creates conflict and confusion as Soup trials her competition dishes, and that’s a problem even before she discovers there’s greater nastiness to Heldritch. It subsequently turns out Soup has journalistic skills, which run alongside her contest preparations.

Self-empowerment is Gerlach’s theme, and there’s never any doubt The Restaurant at the Edge of the World is going to have a happy ending, but getting there takes a little too long.