These Playful Recipes Transform Literature into Sweet Treats

I started Tables of Contents in 2012 with a one-off dinner inspired by The Sun Also Rises—five courses paired with five different scenes in the book—and discovered that using literature as a creative jumping-off point for cooking was (as a writer-turned-chef) kind of my dream come true. Over the years TOC has grown beyond one-off meals and into an arts organization of its own, one that allows us to create really unique gatherings and collaborations digging into the intersection of food, literature, and culture. We’ve collaborated with over 250 artists, cooking meals inspired by novels, poetry, visual art, music, and more. Our reading series, held monthly in New York City, is the event we’re best known for, where we welcome three contemporary authors to read from recent work while we make dishes inspired by their readings.

In 2023 our friends Sammi Katz and Olivia McGiff joined us to bring literary cocktails to the monthly TOC experience, and as we were looking back on the year, we really wanted to try to share some of the food, drinks, and spirit of the reading series with a wider audience. So, with Olivia’s design and illustrations breathing life into our recipes, we made The TOC Digest, our first zine (and hopefully not our last!) featuring some of my dishes from the past year alongside dessert recipes from Tanya Bush and drinks from Sammi Katz. It’s the best way we’ve figured out, so far, to share the feeling of a TOC event outside of actually being at the readings.

Leaky Panna Cotta Breasts
Dessert recipe by Tanya Bush, inspired by Leslie Jamison’s memoir Splinters