Two New Yorker cartoonists, Roz Chast and Jason Adam Katzenstein, offer a humorous take on apartment kitchens with their new graphic book, The Two Saddest Kitchens. Their ‘comics conversation’ explores the chaos and indifference they feel towards cooking in their own kitchens.
For many, cooking is a necessity, yet it gives rise to feelings of dread and apathy. This sentiment echoes the author’s childhood, where cooking served as a duty rather than a passion. They recollect vivid memories of avoiding meal preparation through spontaneous visits to New York City with their mother. These outings, filled with simple adventures like grilled cheese sandwiches at a coffee shop, cultivated a lifelong appreciation for the city.
The Two Saddest Kitchens playfully dives into their own kitchens’ quirks and issues. It features comic digressions, such as imagining Mr. Clean’s less meticulous twin, ‘Mr. Clean Enough’, and examining forgotten items in the ‘saddest part’ of Chast’s kitchen. Thought bubbles from cartoon take-out sauce containers evoke the whimsy behind everyday kitchen encounters.
Chast’s past work, particularly her memoir about her aging parents, is referenced throughout, providing familiarity and continuity for her fans. It includes anecdotes about vivid childhood experiences, like being fed soft-boiled eggs daily, which contributed to adult food texture aversions.
Beyond personal kitchen tales, they touch on city life, where New York’s rich take-out culture offers both convenience and a chance to explore new comic projects. Chast and Katzenstein embrace this lifestyle, viewing it not as defeat but as an opportunity to create more original and genuine work.