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 turns towards winter, dying and remembrance.
Winter invites us to reflect on cycles of growth and decline, abundance and scarcity, endings and renewal. As the year draws to a close, many cultures mark the season through rituals of gathering, remembering and sharing food. We commemorate those we have lost through the meals we shared, the places we ate together, the recipes they cooked for us, or those we cooked for them. We inherit recipe books, handwritten notes and culinary traditions that carry memories across generations.
Across the world, food plays a central role in ceremonies of mourning, remembrance and ancestral connection. During Día de Muertos, loved ones are welcomed back with offerings of their favourite foods and drinks. Historically, in parts of Britain and Wales, the 'sin eater' consumed 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 buffet of the funeral wake — a quietly enduring tradition woven into the fabric of British mourning.
For this midwinter 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, seasonal change and remembrance, or simply offer a perspective that feels relevant to the conversation.
Together, we'll share extracts, stories and reflections while gathering around an abundant grazing table inspired by the themes of the evening.
What tales, traditions and tastes 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.
£65 per person, including an inspired grazing table and drinks.
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 turns towards winter, dying and remembrance.
Winter invites us to reflect on cycles of growth and decline, abundance and scarcity, endings and renewal. As the year draws to a close, many cultures mark the season through rituals of gathering, remembering and sharing food. We commemorate those we have lost through the meals we shared, the places we ate together, the recipes they cooked for us, or those we cooked for them. We inherit recipe books, handwritten notes and culinary traditions that carry memories across generations.
Across the world, food plays a central role in ceremonies of mourning, remembrance and ancestral connection. During Día de Muertos, loved ones are welcomed back with offerings of their favourite foods and drinks. Historically, in parts of Britain and Wales, the 'sin eater' consumed 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 buffet of the funeral wake — a quietly enduring tradition woven into the fabric of British mourning.
For this midwinter 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, seasonal change and remembrance, or simply offer a perspective that feels relevant to the conversation.
Together, we'll share extracts, stories and reflections while gathering around an abundant grazing table inspired by the themes of the evening.
What tales, traditions and tastes 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.
£65 per person, including an inspired grazing table and drinks.
