The Sisterly Love Collective has been hosting events around the City of Brotherly Love for years, and recently, the local alliance of women restaurateurs and food entrepreneurs has announced a new series that will give everyone a taste of what they are serving up.
Titled ‘Cookbooks & Convos,’ this series already has 20 events on its roster for the fall, with the first beginning Friday, Sept. 22. The activations will span a variety of events surrounding cookbooks—and it may all seem familiar to some. This new series is based on the beloved Philadelphia program, “The Book and The Cook,” which took place for 23 years from 1984 to 2007.
In that particular series, cookbook authors collaborated with Philadelphia restaurants, a release states. What the Sisterly Love Collective is looking to do, however, is to reinvigorate the essence of this program in Cookbook & Convos with the added twist of largely featuring female authors and talent—an extension of the 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization’s mission to empower and foster connection among women in hospitality.
The Collective is helmed by co-hosts Jennifer Carroll (Carroll Couture Cuisine), Sofia Deleon (El Merkury and Tenango Rum), Jill Weber (Sojourn Philly), and Ellen Yin (High Street Hospitality Group), and they are inviting other culinary female forces to join in on book signings, happy hours, demos, collaborative dinners, and more.
Every event will feature nationally acclaimed female cookbook authors at different and local women-owned restaurants, bars, and businesses alongside male allies. The month-long initiative will celebrate its last event on Tuesday, Oct. 24.
‘Cookbooks & Convos’ currently has a large variety of talent coming to the City of Brotherly Love. Kicking off the series will be Mariana Velásquez, author of ‘Colombiana: A Rediscovery of Recipes and Rituals from the Soul of Colombia’, with Jezabel Careaga at Jezabel’s Cafe (206-208 S 45th St.). Then, Reem Assil, the JBFA-winning chef and author of ‘Arabiyya: Recipes from the Life of an Arab in Diaspora’, will join Ara and Fimy Ishkhanian of Apricot Stone (1040 North 2nd St.) two days later on Sept. 24.
The month of September will then round out with Tanya Holland, a celebrity chef, restaurateur, podcast host, and author of ‘Tanya Holland’s California Soul: Recipes from a Culinary Journey West’, with the Collective’s own Jill Weber at Rex at the Royal (1524 South St.). October will kick off with Nasim Alikhani, chef and author of ‘Sofreh: A Contemporary Approach to Modern Persian Cuisine’ with Ellen Yin and George Madosky at Fork (306 Market St.).
Throughout the series — a full schedule can be found online — Philadelphians can also check out activations with Shari Bayer, host and producer of ‘All in the Industry’ and author of ‘ChefWise, Life Lessons from Chefs Around the World’ with Sofia Deleon of El Merkury (2104 Chestnut St.), Bricia Lopez, Chef and co-owner of Guelaguetza, an Oaxacan restaurant in Los Angeles with Jill Weber at Sor Ynez (1800 N. American St.) and the finishing event with Nancy Singleton Hachisu, a JBFA-winning author of five books, including ‘Japan: The Vegetarian Cookbook’ with Kate Jacoby and Rich Landau at Vedge (1221 Locust St.)—among many others on the docket.
This series is presented by OpenTable and sponsored by Philadelphia Magazine, Visit Philly, DiscoverPHL, Barnes & Noble, and others. The complete list, event descriptions, tickets and reservations for Cookbooks & Convos will be released on Monday, Aug. 21. More information on the series can be found on cookbooksandconvos.com and @cookbooksandconvos
