Verging on puberty, Kikuko has just moved to a small Japanese fishing town with her eccentric but lovable mother, Nikuko. But she is ashamed of her wacky mother, whose greatest passion is food. Her gourmet mother cooks all day long, both at home and at her job in a grill restaurant. Kikuko tries to be like everyone else at school, but an argument at recess leads to a falling out with her best friend. Feeling like an outsider again, Kikuko befriends Ninomiya, a boy with strange facial expressions. Will she and her mother still manage to find their place?