Letters from the Table Cookbook Club x Culturally Curious Club: Japanese Summer
For our Summer Cookbook Club we're partnering with Culturally Curious Club to explore and celebrate the food and culture of Tokyo.
What to Expect:
For each gathering, we focus on recipes from a featured author's cookbook. For this evening, we'll explore the food of Tokyo as shared by Maori Murota in Tokyo Cult Recipes. Maori Murota is a Tokyo native chef and educator living in Paris. Tokyo Cult Recipes is an introduction to the dishes of the city she grew up in — from memories of family meals at home to restaurant cooking.
In addition to sharing a potluck meal of dishes from Tokyo Cult Recipes, we'll be making Onigiri together. We'll have rice and a few fillings on hand.
Bring:
A dish to share
An empty stomach
An open heart & mind
Agenda:
5:00pm: Gather. Display your dish on our table. Grab a drink and join us to toast a beautiful Summer evening.
6:00pm: Make some new friends. Join us to learn how to make Onigiri. Eat your fill of dishes from our shared feast.
8:00pm: Farewell! Exchange contact info and take some leftovers to go. We'll have take-home containers ready for you.
How to Prepare:
Sign up to attend. Reserve your ticket for the evening here.
Pick a dish to make. Add it to our recipe sign up sheet along with any dietary notes. Recipes from Tokyo Cult Recipes are listed in the 2nd tab.
Make your dish. The standard recipe size is fine. There will be lots on the table to taste and share. If you are coming with a partner or friend, you are welcome to team up. No time to cook? No problem — bring something to share that fits the theme. Consider stopping by Katagiri, Sunrise Mart, or another Japanese grocery in your neighborhood.
Bring your contributions, ready to share – A microwave and fridge are available. We'll have plates, cups, and silverware on hand.
Meet Your Hosts:
Letters from the Table
Letters from the Table is a collection of love letters to people, places & times that changed us. It is a place where sensory memories are expressed through recipes. Most importantly, it is an invitation to the table — to experience intensely personal perspectives expressed through food and to share your own. Sign up for the newsletter to receive periodic letters, recipes, and atmospheric content.
Culturally Curious Club
Culturally Curious Club is...
Fabrik
Welcome to Fabrik! We are on a mission to uplift communities and foster serendipitous connections in real life.
Fabrik is a home for communities where everyone has a place to belong. With spaces designed to feel more like your living room than your office, Fabrik’s third spaces are vibrant hubs where people can come together in real life, explore interests, forge meaningful connections, and build a sense of community.
If you'd like to come early and work for the day, day passes are available for $29 here.
Event FAQ
Do I have to cook and bring a dish to share?
This is a potluck event designed for folks who love to cook and explore the perspectives, cultures and history shared through cookbooks, but we get it. Schedules get busy, and it's not always possible to cook something for a weekday event. In a pinch, pick up something to share that fits the theme. As Ina Garten says, "store-bought is fine"! If you're coming with a partner or friend, you're welcome to bring a pie together, or a pie plus something to go with it.
How do you handle allergies and food safety?
Cookbook Club events are potlucks where we share a meal of home-cooked dishes together. We expect attendees to use common-sense food handling and storage when preparing for and participating in the event. We have a microwave and refrigerator on site for reheating or keeping food cool. However, if you are concerned about food safety or storage during transit, consider bringing a dish that is safe to store and serve at room temperature.
We do everything that we reasonably can to make sure that all who come to our events have enough to eat and don’t leave hungry. There are gluten-free, vegan, and dairy-free options in the cookbook. On our recipe signup list, we ask that folks list allergens so that other attendees can plan ahead.
Can I receive a refund for my ticket?
We use RSVPs to plan for the number of attendees and ticket pricing to cover our costs in hosting. Unfortunately, we cannot grant refunds, but you are welcome to pass your ticket on to someone else.
Is there an age restriction?
Our events are 21+. We will have a selection of non-alcoholic and potentially some lightly alcoholic beverages (think wine and beer) on hand to accompany our shared meals and enhance the experience. The goal is social lubrication, not inebriation. We aim to provide a safe and comfortable space where folks can connect. We will check IDs as needed, and folks who are displaying unwelcome behavior will be asked to leave.
The artwork in the event image is amazing! Who is the artist?
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Where can I find more events like this?
There are lots of other gatherings coming up to keep the good vibes going.
Keep an eye on the Fabrik calendar for more upcoming gatherings in Tribeca and Dumbo.
Follow Letters from the Table on substack and on Instagram to be the first to know about our future events.
We host our cookbook club events as members of the Cookbook Club NY community, which Stephh Lau started to spread the joy of hosting cookbook clubs. Join her Discord group to learn about other Cookbook Club chapters and events! We’re just one of many fantastic local groups.
Please note: By signing up for this event you agree to receive email communication from us and from Fabrik related to this gathering and future offerings. You can unsubscribe at any time. Photos will be taken during the event for promotional purposes. By attending, you consent to your image being used in future marketing materials. If you have any concerns, please let us know.