Georgia's Kitchen (39 page)

The door shut behind another batch of newly arrived guests. Acoustical tiles hidden in the ceiling kept the noise to a boisterous buzz, and the strains of Wilco were just barely audible on the ACS sound system. Bernard may not have been able to appreciate a hand-cast door pull, but a six-pack of Harman Kardon speakers was another matter entirely.

“Georgia,” said that unmistakable voice. “Sorry I’m late.”

She looked up at Andrew Henderson, cutting a dashing Darcy-esque figure in a dark gray suit, crisp white shirt, and maroon tie.

“Andrew, I’m so glad you made it. I was just wondering if you had forgotten.”

“Forgotten? Hendersons never forget.” Huggy Henderson, wearing nickel-size diamonds clipped to her ears, stepped out from behind her son, grabbed Georgia’s shoulders, and kissed her cheek. “You look gorgeous. And this room, my God. Who did the flowers? They are so fabulously understated.”

“Huggy, it’s good to see you. I’m so glad you came.”

“Larry is here somewhere—you haven’t seen him, have you? Before I rush off to rescue my husband and leave you to my son, let me say congratulations. I knew from the moment I met you that you were destined for great things. That Marco place was just too tacky for you.” Huggy squeezed her arm. “Excuse me, dear. And don’t forget to get me the name of your florist.”

“She’s something,” Georgia said when Huggy was out of earshot.

“She is, but I’m more interested in you right now.” Andrew’s lips curved into a smile. “You pulled it off, Georgia.”

“You know, I’m still not sure how, but I think we did.”

“What are the chances we can squeeze in our third date before you open your next restaurant?”

“I’d say very good. It may have to be a six a.m. power breakfast at the Regency or midnight churros, but if you’ll bear with me for a while, it will get better, I promise.”

Andrew picked up a flute of prosecco from a server passing by and raised it in Georgia’s direction. “I think I can do that.”

Vanessa and Ricky walked over, and Georgia made introductions all around.

“He’s so cute,” Vanessa said under her breath.

“Oh, no, you don’t,” Georgia said, shaking her head. “Those were the exact words you said about Gianni.”

“First of all,” said Vanessa, “Gianni
is
cute. But Andrew’s cuter. And second of all, I wasn’t talking about Andrew.”

“Oh.” Georgia cast a quick glance in Ricky’s direction. “I see.”

Ricky looked at Georgia and grinned. Clem and Lo joined the group and after introductions bent their heads together conspiratorially.

“Who’s that guy you were talking to earlier?” Georgia asked her friends.

“Oh, that’s Brian,” said Clem. “I hope you don’t mind that I invited him.”

“Are you kidding?” said Georgia. “Of course not. Who is he?”

“Just this guy I’ve sort of been dating,” Clem said.

“What? Why didn’t you tell me?”

“You had other things on your mind, George. And I didn’t want to tell anyone about him until, well, you know.”

Georgia played dumb. “Until what?”

“The third date. I wanted to get beyond that damn third date.”

“And did you?” Lo asked. “Get past it?”

“Date number five, baby. Right here at Nana’s Kitchen.” Clem held out her hands, palms up, and Lo and Georgia each slapped one.

“Right here at Nana’s Kitchen,” Georgia said. “I like the way that sounds.” She looked around the room, a smile spreading across her face. Next week she would turn thirty-four, right there at Nana’s Kitchen. She wasn’t married, as she thought she’d be, she didn’t have a baby, or one on the way, as she thought she might, she didn’t even have a serious boyfriend, as she’d always had, but she was exactly where she wanted to be. Right there at Nana’s Kitchen.

H
eartfelt thanks to Stephanie Lehmann, my patient and determined agent; everyone at Elaine Koster; my astute editor Kathy Sagan; Jen Bergstrom, Louise Burke, Jessica Webb, and the wonderful team at Gallery Books. For their invaluable insights into the magical world of restaurants, thank you to Sandra Ardito (for her lightning-fast responses), Jimmy Zankel, and Mike Howell. Peter Marcus, Melissa Chapnick, Jason Carreiro, Jenny Swift, and Susan Breen offered much-needed encouragement early on, and the New York Public Library, the Millbrook Free Library, and Starbucks provided a place to plug in my laptop. My oldest and dearest pals Anne Krumme, Sarah Dillon, Chrissy Drabek, and Merri Hahn never tired of talking about “the book,” and Yuliya Livchak took care of things on the home front so I could get out and write.

I feel blessed to have such an amazing family, starting with my parents, Carol Nelson and Jay Nelson, whose love, support, and encouragement have been constants in my life (plus, they make me laugh), and a sister, Steffie Nelson, whose advice and taste I trust implicitly (and who also makes me laugh). My daughters, Flora and Ava Elghanayan, are the two coolest girls I know; their enthusiasm, curiosity, creativity, and empathy are traits I try to emulate every day. My multilingual mother-in-law, Shoshana Gol, gladly translated everything I needed into Italian. Finally, my husband, Warren Elghanayan, who quietly and persistently urged me on, patiently talked me through plot points and character development (frequently while we were huffing up hills on our mountain bikes), and bucked me up—as he always does—when I felt as if I were writing this book for myself. My love and gratitude are immeasurable.

GALLERY READERS GROUP GUIDE

Georgia’s Kitchen

jenny nelson

INTRODUCTION

Georgia Gray’s life seems close to perfect; she’s head chef at a trendy New York restaurant, recently engaged to her handsome lawyer boyfriend, and on the verge of getting a career-making three-fork review from one of the city’s toughest critics. But when her sleazy boss makes a disastrous decision, Georgia finds herself trying to hang on to her credibility as a chef while her personal life crumbles.

Suddenly unemployed and unengaged, Georgia picks herself up, packs her bags, and moves to Tuscany, where she helps her mentor, a renowned chef, open a new trattoria. The breathtaking scenery and delectable food help clear her head, the success of Trattoria Dia rebuilds her confidence, and romance with a sexy vineyard owner helps heal her heart. But Georgia realizes she can’t stay in Italy forever, and when the summer ends, she returns home to the city she loves, determined to make good on her dream and open her very own restaurant.

QUESTIONS AND TOPICS FOR DISCUSSION

1. The novel begins and ends in New York, yet Georgia has been on “a long journey with more twists and kinks than her hair after a hot summer day at the beach.” (p. 172) Compare the early version of Georgia with the woman she is by the end of the novel. Do you feel she has changed? In what ways?

2. After Georgia confronts Glenn about his cocaine use, he leaves her, first temporarily, and then for good. What might have happened if he hadn’t broken up with her? Would she have left him?

3. At Georgia’s urging, Glenn quits doing coke and cleans up his act. While she is clearly the catalyst for his change, a drug-free Glenn decides that he doesn’t want to marry her. Have you ever helped someone through a difficult time only to find that your relationship suffered or changed as a result?

4. Georgia’s best friend Clem says, “…no one knows what will make them truly happy until they find it.” (p. 100) Do you agree with this statement? Support your argument using other characters from the novel, or even examples from your own life.

5. Though we never meet Grammy, she is an important character in the novel and, in many ways, Georgia’s role model. Discuss Georgia’s relationship with Grammy versus her relationship with Dorothy. Is a grandmother-granddaughter relationship sometimes easier to navigate than a mother-daughter relationship? Why or why not?

6. Dorothy and Georgia’s relationship isn’t an easy one, to say the least. From what do you think the tension stems? Are Dorothy’s expectations for her daughter fair? Do they take into account the
kind of person Georgia is or the kind of person Dorothy wishes Georgia were? Conversely, is Georgia too hard on Dorothy? Does she expect too much from her mother?

7. According to Georgia, neither Clem nor Lo will ever “get what it felt like to grow up in a household where you were a third wheel to your parents” (p. 99) the way that Georgia does. “Her parents were like two teenagers in love, even after almost thirty-five years of marriage.” (p. 50) How does her parents’ tight relationship affect Georgia? How does it shape her relationships with men? Has your parents’ relationship had an impact on your own relationships?

8. When Georgia first meets Sergio, he says, “We used to care more about family. Friends. Life. Now we care about success. Money.” (p. 126) How true do you find this statement? How true is it in regard to Claudia? In regard to the other characters in the book?

9. Claudia tells Georgia to “Stop looking for what you don’t have, and start seeing what you do.” (p. 151) Do you think Georgia has learned how to do this by the end of the book? Is this something that people often forget to do in their daily lives? Can you think of an instance where that advice helped (or could have helped) you?

10.
Georgia’s Kitchen
has a cast of strong, supporting female characters. Think about all the different women who influence Georgia’s life. What does Georgia learn from each of these women at various points throughout the novel? What do you think they learn from her? Think about the women who play important roles in your own life. What have you learned from them?

11. Georgia has three significant romances over the course of the book: Glenn, Gianni, and Andrew. Discuss the impact each relationship,
and each man, has on her and the choices she makes. Which of these men do you think is best suited for Georgia?

12. The title of the novel is
Georgia’s Kitchen
. Discuss the significance in relation to the story. What does Georgia learn in the kitchen? Out of the kitchen? Why is it so important for her to have her own kitchen in her own restaurant?

13. Perhaps the most important lesson Georgia learns is that while “it’s okay to be alone… it’s okay to ask for help.” (p. 254) Do you think she would have succeeded in opening Nana’s Kitchen without Bernard as her partner? Is her success any less meaningful because she shares it with Bernard? Have you ever had to choose between doing something on your own or asking for help in your own life?

14. At the end of the novel, Georgia reflects that even without a husband or a baby “… she was exactly where she wanted to be. Right there at Nana’s Kitchen.” (p. 319) Does Georgia’s happiness resonate with you? Does working hard to achieve a goal make the end result more meaningful? Is there something you’ve worked hard to accomplish in your own life that made you feel the way Georgia does about Nana’s Kitchen?

ENHANCE YOUR BOOK CLUB

1. Georgia is determined to create Trattoria Dia’s signature dish and, with a little help from Bruno, she succeeds. Have a book club banquet by asking each member to create their own signature dish and bring it to the gathering.

2. Tuscany and Sicily are important settings in
Georgia’s Kitchen.
Have each member do some research on either place and share what they discover with the group.

3. If
Georgia’s Kitchen
were made into a movie, whom would you cast?

A CONVERSATION WITH JENNY NELSON

What inspired you to write
Georgia’s Kitchen
?

I’ve always been fascinated by the inner workings of restaurants and the people who make them tick. It’s amazing how a calm, well-run dining room reflects none of the craziness and drama taking place in the cramped, hot kitchen, just inches away. As my ideas about Georgia and the book’s overall themes began to crystallize, I knew that she had to be a chef. I could visualize her in the kitchen, see how she would act, react, carry herself. No other career encapsulated who she was in the same way.

What was the general experience of writing a novel like for you?

I started writing
Georgia’s Kitchen
as a stay-at-home mom. What began as a short story morphed into a first chapter (completely different from the one in the book) and when I was about fifty pages in, I knew that I wouldn’t stop until I’d completed a novel. It was thrilling to see those pages mounting, and even more thrilling when I started getting positive feedback, because for a while I was really writing in a vacuum, not sure whether anything I’d written was any good. Once I’d completed it, I found my agent and soon after sold the book. I’m still amazed at how things unfolded.

You really bring your settings to life, be it the beauty of San Casciano, the rush of New York City, or the heat inside a top restaurant’s kitchen. You currently live in New York, but have you spent a significant amount of time in Italy? Did you need to do much research for the settings of your book—other than eat great Italian food?

I’m lucky to have spent a good bit of time in Italy, all over, really, but mainly in Tuscany. My husband and I were married in Fiesole, at a villa
that once belonged to Dante Alighieri (if this feels familiar it’s because Georgia reflects on a wedding she and Glenn attended that sounds suspiciously like ours). In addition to relying on my own experiences, I did a lot of research on Tuscany and Sicily—on the architecture, the landscape and, obviously, the food and wine. As for food, New York is filled with incredible Italian restaurants, and I make it a point to eat at as many as possible, which is no great hardship! My mother-in-law, who grew up in Milan and still spends a lot of time there, was able to help with all the Italian translations.

There are great descriptions of meal preparations in the book. Do you cook? What was the inspiration for the signature dish Georgia creates for Trattoria Dia?

I love to cook, but with twin six-year-old daughters, sometimes it’s more about getting dinner on the table than preparing a fabulous new recipe I’ve discovered. Luckily, they’re both good eaters and will try just about anything, so I do get to be a little more experimental at times. Italian food is my absolute favorite to make—I love how forgiving it is, and how it all begins with good, basic ingredients. As for the signature dish, I wanted it to be vegetarian, and because I would happily eat risotto for the rest of my life, I thought it’d be fun to come up with something that was a riff on a traditional risotto.