Upstart Pastry Chef ~Territory Management of a Genius Pâtisserie~

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Kurt, born into the impoverished noble Arnolt Viscount family, was a genius pastry chef in his past life. Determined to fulfill his unaccomplished dream of becoming the world’s greatest pastry chef, Kurt becomes a lord and enriches his territory while pursuing his dream.

Engaging in activities such as beekeeping, establishing orchards with elves, and conducting trade to gather ingredients for his pastries, Kurt’s confections boast new flavors unknown to anyone in this otherworldly realm.

As his unique pastries become sought-after commodities, Kurt finds himself making huge profits by selling them as specialty items. He receives rave reviews as he travels to the ducal household as a pastry chef and even establishes his own shop in the capital city.

Surrounded by sweet treats and kind-hearted individuals, this is a heartwarming tale of happiness.

Associated Names
One entry per line
Okashi Shokunin no Nariagari ~Tensai Pâtisserie no Ryouchi Keiei~
お菓子職人の成り上がり~天才パティシエの領地経営~
Related Series
Maou-sama no Machizukuri! ~Saikyou no Danjon wa Kindai Toshi~ (Shared Universe)
The Great Demon Lord’s City Development ~The Ideal City Built with Magic, Science, and Monsters~ (Shared Universe)
The Rise of a Pastry Craftsman: Managing the Domain of a Genius Pastry Chef (Light Novel)
Recommendations
Ascendance of a Bookworm (2)
Death March kara Hajimaru Isekai Kyusoukyoku (WN) (2)
Common Sense of a Duke’s Daughter (1)
Tsuki ga Michibiku Isekai Douchuu (1)
Maou-sama no Machizukuri! ~Saikyou no Danjon wa Kindai Toshi~ (1)
Sweet Reincarnation (1)
Recommendation Lists
  1. Food Lists
  2. Japanese transmigration
  3. Blackrabbit's Japanese Web/Light Novel Recommendat...

Latest Release

Date Group Release
03/24/24 Wook’s Teahouse c10
03/23/24 Wook’s Teahouse c9
03/18/24 Wook’s Teahouse c8
03/16/24 Wook’s Teahouse c7
03/11/24 Wook’s Teahouse c6
03/09/24 Wook’s Teahouse c5
03/04/24 Wook’s Teahouse c4
03/02/24 Wook’s Teahouse c3
02/25/24 Wook’s Teahouse c2
02/23/24 Wook’s Teahouse c1
02/19/24 Wook’s Teahouse c0
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15 Reviews sorted by


CultivationGod
CultivationGod rated it
January 16, 2017
Status: v1c20
Warning, spoilers ahead. The positive reviews and the overall premise of the novel intrigued me into reading the novel. By the first 8 chapters, I was frustrated and constantly sighing over what I was reading. It was as if the author had done massive amounts of research into cooking pastries, yet instead of writing a cooking book, the author chose to write a fantasy novel with the central topic being cooking. The novel reflects that. A great concept is ruined by inadequate writing by the author.

The author cannot write... more>> dialogue between characters nor build their relationship... In hindsight, it seems like the author is sometimes writing the dialogue for us readers and not for the characters themselves. Our two main characters, Arnold and Tina, have very little substance to their 'first impressions' conversations. At chapter 1, our main character says to Tina, "Thank you, Tina. You do know that you don't have to go out with me, right? You work for Arnold family. Helping with these things aren't within your duties. You can just do houseworks inside the house. Shouldn't you return to the main village's mansion? It's inconvenient to be in this pioneering village, right?"

Then we find out that they live together, cook for each other, with Tina cooking his daily meals and him cooking her sweets... And they sleep holding each other... Every day... For 3 years. Not only that, but our Male Lead makes enough money to straight out hire her for life. Then it's transparent that Tina isn't hiding her love for him at all.

"This is because I'm not an existence who can become "a certain genius". The other servants desperately try to curry favors with my younger brother and avoid getting involved with me. Tina is the only one who actively reaches out to me.

"Rather than me, isn't it better to curry favor with my brother Yorg?"

"No way. I love Kurt-sama."

Again, we find out that Arnold is an OP MC and he realizes that along with Tina's love for him. In hindsight, this dialogue seems to be for the readers with the author having no regard for the characters themselves. This is a cardinal sin in my view.

A fellow reviewer, Iris Lazuki, said, "First the novel MC is not dense at all and he knows on what should his top priorities here and he's not also the arrogant type or low key type MC." This reviewer is wrong. On the surface, Arnold doesn't seem dense. He see's the love Tina has for him. He is making plans for his future and his dreams. He knows that he is powerful, and can kill his brother at any moment if he desires. That also means through sheer power, no one should be able to take away his village away from him... Then we find out that he could see his proficiencies with his all-seeing eyes. It took him 10 years... To train with a sword in which he has a S rank proficiency that he knew he had. 10. Years. That is a dense Main Character. In a world of Magic and Monsters... In which the Main Character clearly knows their danger towards him, he chose to risk his life, Tina's life, and his family's life to train in the spear. If our MC was an ignorant boy forced by his father to practice the spear, this would be acceptable. But we know that MC has reincarnated with his previous life's memories.

Our MC is also intentionally negligent in awakening his Earth Element since he was able to see it within himself and had awoken it in a single day. The solution to awakening it was also simple. He's quite a dense character when it comes to his personal safety.

Now I'm going to criticize the Authors use of forced tension. Arnold's brother is a joke of a character. "Forced", is how I would describe the Authors attempt at an antagonist and his dialogue. Again... There is no actual tension in the novel nor their fight. If the author had stuck to the happy, no tension slice of life type writing that seemed to suit this novel, I would have liked this novel. The use of Forced Tension ruined the novel in my opinion... And I can already foresee that there will be more cringe worthy moments of Forced Tension in the future.

That said, I'll give this novel 3 stars for now. Why? Because the novel focuses on cooking. The vast majority of this novel is cooking. As I've previously stated, the Author has done a lot of research on cooking. The level of writing and detail increases tremendously when cooking comes into play. It also vastly increases my enjoyment of the novel. And while the dialogue is cliche and elementary, the premise still feels fresh (I'm only 20 chapters into the novel). That is enough for it to be 3 stars, and I have a feeling that it will feel generous as I continue further into the novel. I hope this review offsets the overwhelmingly positive reviews already written. This isn't an over 4.5/5 star rated novel. Thanks for reading my truthful review of Upstart Pastry Chef ~Territory Management of a Genius Patisserie~. <<less
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lnv
lnv rated it
June 12, 2017
Status: v1c22
I really wanted to like this novel, I started to read this based on same author as Maou-sama no Machizukuri! Which I do like.

The problem is that its really painful to read. The MC has an issue in his family and he reminds you of this issue multiple times in almost every single chapter. But the author neglects to tell you what said issue is. And its not like a literal element where MC is interrupted or something thus not being able to tell you. More like author spends 100... more>> words going around an issue that can be explained in 1 sentence. It would be fine if the author doesn't mention it, but no the author rubs it in your face every chapter or so but doesn't want to tell you what it is.

I'll spoil it for you right now without a spoiler tag because it is s*upid.

THE CHILD WHO IS BEST AT THE SPEAR INHERITS THE FIEF.

There, I said it 11 words that the author spends thousands trying to not say.

Other issues is that MC is practically making out with the beastkin (well not physically), but they sleep together, tell each other how much they love each other, talk about how something they made together is like their child. BUT they are not actually in a relationship. They are just servant and master who claim they see each other as friends. And its not like they are dense or anything... it just feels too unnatural.

The MC also is able to learn things like the sword and magic in 1 week to high proficiency. Not sure why he hasn't done so for 10 years...

I am hoping volume 2 fixes things and moves to actual territory management and makes the whole relationship official. There were hints of that, but somehow I have a feeling the new noble girl is going to make things difficult... <<less
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TheGrapeJuice
TheGrapeJuice rated it
November 30, 2016
Status: v1c2
Wow this is a breath of fresh air. An Iseakai WN that isn't about honing your magic or fighting skills. Becoming the best pastry chef while taking care of your small fief sounds like an amazing retirement plan, except your young and have a cute cat girl to hang out with! I hope this WN will remain chill and not go crazy with politics as we could see from the family troubles that will most likely become the main antagonism in this story. Either way I can wait to read... more>> more chapters! <<less
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udonsage
udonsage rated it
June 26, 2017
Status: v1c22
The characters feel flat. And the plot feels meh. So is the pacing of the novel. The only interesting thing was the main character was trying to bring modern pastries into a fantasy magic world. The downfall of that plot is the main character is over-power. The main character is obviously a mary sue character; thus the reason why the plot just feels boring.
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Kyself
Kyself rated it
December 14, 2016
Status: v1c12
This has absolutely no substance. Feel-good fluff with a functionally flawless protagonist and his fox maid that the author wants you to want to vigorously copulate with. There are no conflicts, only things that pretend to be. There is so much wrong with this self-insert tr*sh and it's 1/100, 000 MC that "somehow" invents things. The translation is good, but this only serves to trick you along with the favorable reviews.
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Sherrynity
Sherrynity rated it
June 24, 2017
Status: v1 epilogue
Pretty sure there should be a harem tag for this novel.....

It lacks character building, and even the management-related topic seems lacking a lot. Please don't expect something like Genjitsushugisha no Oukokukaizouki; expect something like, a mix of food commentary from The Cook of the Mercenary Corp, and (almost) plot-less slice of life story from Kenja no Mago.

Nothing special imo. Just a snack to read when you're bored.
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Tasear
Dream Seeker rated it
December 17, 2016
Status: c14
I was a bit surprised by this one things too a turn all of a sudden than the twisted again. So as to say it's not epic, but it's a weird got a few twists and turns that has you a bit wondering where this well go. So I would recommend this to people who enjoy kingdom building and making sweets on the side.
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HentMas
HentMas rated it
February 29, 2020
Status: v3c17
I like it...

Don't get me wrong, I get what most 1-2 star reviewers are saying... but what were they expecting???

It takes a WHOLE LOT OF BALLS AND WIT to be able to put EVERYTHING on the ability of the MC to make pastries, everything is well portrayed and explained logically and IT MAKES SENSE.

Do people even understand what they came here to read!? it's a fantasy novel about a guy that wants to be the best patissier, most big conflicts? he solves them by being the best patissier... you know... more>> the amount of effort an technique you need as a writer to be able to pull that off?????

Let me put things this way, he's got a cheat ability, he's got an S stat on one of his abilities, and IT'S NOT COOKING... and everything boils down to him COOKING... and he's a rank B on cooking

There is character growth, there is an interesting plot, there is a good portrayal of characters there is an interesting background for the world, there is everything you want in a "competent" story and a bit more because it's well written... yes the dialog is a bit awkward, and I don't want to point fingers but I feel like it's got to do with how things are translated... not that the translation is bad but I feel like something got lost in translation on some scenes.

It's not perfect, of course, but I don't know why people are complaining as if they came here to read a yuusha story and it devolved into something else... the premise is right there in the title, the tags are right there, and it's R-15...

The only thing I got to complain and why I'm not giving this a 5 stars is that the harem is nothing more than girls fawning over him and him being in love with one girl, and not doing anything about it because they are still underage... but ultimately this story isn't really about "that" it's about being a patissier so I don't subtract more from it because it's well within the premise of the story to focus on what's important, the romance is second place because it was never meant to be the main part of the story, everything revolves around cooking and that's exactly the story that was meant to be from the start.

That being said, the stakes are getting higher and higher and it is developing nicely and organically, the seeds planted in V1 take hold and sprout in V2 and become important in V3, nothing is out of place and it's well balanced and the rhythm is well done, it's a very competent and interesting story that doesn't betray what it ultimately is to become something that it's not. <<less
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1life4death
1life4death rated it
December 16, 2016
Status: v1c12
this tag => *slice of life* pretty much said it all about this novel. Don't expect some deep plot, hero vs. Demon king, or "I'm gonna rule the world" background from this novel. This is just about a guy who's trying to achieve his dream of being the best pastry chef in a fantasy like world. If I were to compare this to anything else I would say it gives me the same vibe as Death Marching to the Parallel World Rhapsody, just much less of the hero plot line... more>> and more of the lay back touring/food making chapters from death march. <<less
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Whynn
Whynn rated it
December 9, 2016
Status: v1c10
This is a really great novel so far, with fairly fleshed out characters so far and a descriptive author. Just seeing the MC start on his dream and things he goes through just to make it come true really keeps you going once you've read enough. The MC is not completely without troubles and gives you a tale that keeps you coming back for more. The TL so far is doing a great job at translating, so it's not that hard to read. It's like an addictive cookie that you'd... more>> eat and keep coming back for. Hope my hope isn't misplaced on this as I read more. <<less
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Alfha Robby
Alfha Robby rated it
June 21, 2018
Status: v2 epilogue
Boring that's my thought about this Novel.

it just kinda felt tedious since all MC doing is just like what the Title suggest "Pastry and Pastry" there's clearly lack of World Building and Character Development.

Even Shokugeki Souma, Isekai Shokudou and Izakaya Nobu is better than this since they include the POV and Interesting Setting from those who eat Main Character's cooking which is one of the main reason those typical Cooking Story become Interesting.
2 Likes · Like Permalink | Report
Raneday
Iris Lazuli
January 2, 2017
Status: v1c15
I love this novel cause what's more should I wish for it have the comedy+slice of life genre plus it's also about food it's food hurray. So what's good about this novel? First the novel MC is not dense at all and he knows on what should his top priorities here and he's not also the arrogant type or low key type MC. Secong he's not only good at cooking he's also cheat on some fighting power aside from his poor affinity with spear.
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nad1991
nad1991 rated it
November 26, 2018
Status: v3c11
tl;dr: The rating says it all, honestly: It's not bad but it's not good either. A decent read for the bus on the way to work or school, you will probably forget a lot of it by next week.

With that said, if you enjoy the slice of life genre and some cooking/baking (like me) you'll enjoy this. If you're more into character development, world building, tons of action then look elsewhere. I don't even understand why it has the "action" tag...
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GregLuck
GregLuck rated it
July 4, 2018
Status: v2 epilogue
It's just not my taste.

It's not poorly written as to leaving many plotholes or the act is too random, it's just some parts doesn't fits well. The premise of being the best pastry chef is too bland honestly.

The MC is strong, not too OP, but yeah he got a cheat. The flow of the story just feels slow, although it was actually a normal pace. The story is what I would say, b-o-r-i-n-g, the romance is also fell short.

Author just can't convey want he wants to write concisely.
Basically just... more>> normal novel, not good, but not so bad. <<less
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laclongquan
laclongquan rated it
December 22, 2016
Status: v1c13
Indeed, it's a good similarity to Death March. But with more focus on sweets and pastries than skills, enemies, and items.

If you dont like slice of life, slow, cooking genre you wont like this series. There's only two fights in 13 chapters, and it's nonlethal both.
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