How to Start a Cookbook Club: What 14 Events Taught Us
We started with nine people in a party room. Here's how we run a cookbook club for 35 now, and what we'd do differently.

A year of cookbooks, cuisines and people around the table. 14 events and counting.
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We started with nine people in a party room. Here's how we run a cookbook club for 35 now, and what we'd do differently.

What a cookbook club is, how to find one, what to bring, and why most people come alone the first time.

One of the fuller rooms we have had, and a table that ran out of space before it ran out of dishes.

What's inside Masaharu Morimoto's Mastering the Art of Japanese Home Cooking, and how it held up as a group cook.

The park picnic got rained out, so August moved into the party room where Sauté Sundays started.

What's inside Katie Lee's Endless Summer Cookbook, and how it held up as a group cook.

Our July table, cooked from Vietnamese Food Any Day by Andrea Nguyen.

The Stress Free Edition. Pantry-friendly Vietnamese cooking from Andrea Nguyen, back at Jrew's.

Cala fritters, calabaza pancakes and rice cooked four different ways, out of Lesley Enston's Caribbean cookbook.

Our biggest table yet, and four people who all took plantain in completely different directions.

Grilled kefta, chicken skewers, and the first month warm enough that nobody was in a hurry to eat.

What's inside Mourad Lahlou's Mourad: New Moroccan, and how a chef's cookbook held up as a group cook.
Our first night at Danu Social House: tortilla, croquetas, beef cheeks, and an omelette with honey and blue cheese in it.

A cuisine most of the room was meeting for the first time, our first collab with Danu Social House, and an ice cream I never got to try.

The month people went and bought the book afterwards, and two cakes I am still thinking about.

Spanakopita, two competing cakes, and leftovers we ate for breakfast the next morning.

Pork belly in a coffee glaze, quail eggs in corn dog batter, and one of the loudest rooms we have had.

Kwek-kwek, ube-crusted calamari and calamansi caramel wings. February's table turned into a Filipino street food stall.

The most intimidating book we have picked, in the coldest month of the year, and exactly the right call.

We started 2026 with Julia Child. Boeuf bourguignon, quiche Lorraine, and a good excuse to stay indoors.

Black daal, chicken ruby, gunpowder potatoes, and the only compliment I actually wanted.

Our last event of 2025: jackfruit biryani, mattar paneer, kejriwal, and a table that brought Bombay's cafés to a cold Toronto night.

No turkey, and nobody missed it. Our stress-free edition, for people who were not sure they could cook.

A beginner-friendly Friendsgiving: stuffed turkey breast, two separate batches of meatballs, and a very fall table.

Beef rolls, sloppy bao, clams, and a pot of soup that came all the way from Markham.

Scallion pancakes, fried chicken with imperial sauce, and the September table that took on a genuine deep-frying project.

A taco bar built by the whole room, and a brisket that took someone two days.

Danny Trejo's cookbook turned our August table into a build-your-own taco bar, with donuts on the side.

Our first public table. Big bowls, loud dressings, and the discovery that a salad can absolutely be the main event.

The one that started it all. Gourmet salads, surprise banana bread, and a table of people who had never met.
