THE READING TABLE: Recipes & Reading
Bring a book to the table: A sensory supper for book lovers and curious eaters
At GULP, we explore the world through the lens of food. The Reading Table provides a space where books and food come together.
Following two beautifully successful events, the next Reading Table takes the recipe as its subject.
It just so happens that June 3rd coincides with International Egg Day - egg related recipes most welcomed!
Beyond mere instructions, a recipe is a script, precise or poetic, inherited or invented. It holds memory, authorship, and the flavour of cultures and generations.
The invitation: We invite you to bring a ‘recipe’ in its widest sense - be it a dog-eared cookbook, a food-filled poem, or a piece of theory. It could be a personal favourite, your nan’s tried and tested roasties, or something newly discovered whilst travelling.
Some of my inspirations:
Digesting Recipes: The Art of Culinary Notation by Susannah Worth (2015);
Make a Salad, a Fluxus artwork by Alison Knowles (1962);
Like Water for Chocolate, a novel by Laura Esquivel (1990)
The Futurist Cook Book by Filippo Tommaso Marinetti (1932)
To Entertain: Instructions for a Dinner Party, by Jago Rackham (2026)
What are yours? Whether it’s a handwritten recipe, an image, or an entire book, you’re welcome to bring your references to the table.
Hosted in GULP’s intimate dining space, The Reading Table is an open and welcoming environment, sitting somewhere between a reading group, a supper club, and a cultural salon — a place for curiosity, generosity, and shared appetite.
Places are limited.
£40 per person includes an inspired grazing table. Drinks additional.
Bring a book to the table: a sensory supper for book lovers and curious eaters
At GULP, we explore the world through the lens of food. The Reading Table is a gathering place where books, ideas and food come together around a shared table.
Following a series of successful events, our next Reading Table takes death as its subject.
Food and death have always been deeply entwined. We remember those we have lost through the foods we shared, the places we ate together, the recipes they cooked for us, or we cooked for them. We inherit recipe books, handwritten notes and culinary traditions that carry memories across generations.
In many cultures, food plays a central role in ceremonies of mourning and remembrance. Perhaps most famously, during Día de Muertos, loved ones are honoured with offerings of their favourite foods and drinks. Historically, in parts of Britain and Wales, the 'sin eater' would consume bread placed upon the body of the deceased, symbolically taking on their sins and helping their soul pass on. Closer to home, there is the familiar beige buffet of the funeral wake — a quietly enduring tradition woven into the fabric of British mourning.
For this gathering, we invite you to bring literature in its widest sense. It might be a dog-eared cookbook, a food-filled poem, a novel, an essay, a piece of theory, a family recipe card, or a text discovered on your travels. It could connect directly to loss, memory and remembrance, or simply offer a perspective that feels relevant to the conversation.
We'll share extracts, stories and reflections while gathering around an abundant grazing table inspired by the themes of the evening.
What tales and traditions will you bring to the table?
Hosted in GULP's intimate dining room, The Reading Table sits somewhere between a reading group, a supper club and a cultural salon — a space for curiosity, conversation and shared appetite.
Places are limited.
£40 per person, including an inspired grazing table. Drinks available to purchase separately.