You’ve heard of a book club, but what about a cookbook club?

Featured photo: Hali Rose Kohls and Kady Evans started the Greensboro Cookbook Club to try new foods and meet new people. (photo by Carolyn de Berry)

Hali Rose Kohls can’t stop thinking about her friend’s duck and goat cheese quesadillas.

Made from an Anthony Bourdain recipe, Kady Evans basically used just two ingredients to create the dish.

“They were delicious,” Kohls recalls. “It’s been my favorite thing that anyone has made.”

Since May, the two friends have been getting together in Greensboro to create recipes out of cookbooks and inviting others to share as well. It’s a kind of planned potluck with a theme — it’s a cookbook club.

The idea came from a model which has taken off in other cities. 

“I kept seeing all these Instagram reels,” Evans says. “And I thought, We need to start a cookbook club.”

The premise is simple: every month Kohls and Evans pick a cookbook to feature and people from the community are invited to make something and share it at an in-person gathering.

“A lot of major cities have them,” Evans explains.

When they first started, it was just the two of them showing up to Pig Pounder, where Evans works, and eating stuff that they had made. But as the word got out, a few more people joined the fun.

In May, they chose Benny Blanco’s Open Wide cookbook featuring recipes for lobster rolls, sandwiches, chicken cutlets and breakfast burritos. In June and July, they picked cookbooks by Molly Baz and Tiffy Chen. In August, they chose Bitter Honey by Letitia Clark and for September, they chose recipes by Anthony Bourdain in recognition of Suicide Prevention Month.

“I’ve always loved to cook,” says Kohls, who is half Greek. When she and Evans became friends in line at CVS last year, they started cooking meals together, including Greek treats like tzatziki and kolokithokeftedes, or zucchini fritters. It became a central part of their friendship and one they wanted to share with others.

“It’s more fun to cook with other people,” Kohls says. 

“It tastes a little better,” Evans adds.

In addition to watching her mother cook when she was growing up, Kohls took a culinary class in high school, which sparked her interest. Evans made chocolate chip cookies with her grandmother as a child and as an adult, worked on a crab-cake food truck and then in a restaurant.

“We both love food and culture,” Evans explains.

For their first event in May, Evans and Kohls were the only ones who attended the meet-up. But in the past few months, more and more people have found out about their club and have shown up to the events. In June, they had their first stranger join them. And in July, six people showed up.

“It’s hard to make friends as an adult,” Kohls says. “So, it’s kind of fun to come together for a purpose because you like to eat and probably like to cook.”

Getting together at a place like a bar makes it easier to relax, to start casual conversations with strangers. For this month, they chose Home Kitchen by Celtic cook Donal Skehan. On Oct. 22, they’ll meet at Bitters Social House at 7 p.m. to taste what they made. In November, they plan to cook Japanese recipes and, in December, maybe soups.

So far, neither of them have decided what they’re going to make for this month’s meetup. Kohls says she’s considering trying the blood-red velvet cake or maybe the Irish soup; Evans has yet to hone in one recipe. But that’s part of the fun, the two say. Getting to look through the book — which participants can either buy, borrow from the library, or find recipes online — is part of the experience. Thus far, they said that they haven’t had anyone make the same recipe.

In addition to the quesadillas, Evans has made a cured fish dish, coated with brown sugar and salt from Letitia Clark’s Bitter Honey book; Kohls chose a saffron risotto.

“It’s been interesting using different methods,” Kohls says. “Depending on the cookbook, the recipes are made for more novice cooks or sometimes not.”

She says that during the pandemic, many people took up baking or cooking, but four years later, may have fallen off those hobbies. By having a low-pressure monthly meet-up, the two hope that people can reignite their love of cooking and food.

“I think everybody loves to eat,” Evans says. “Most people do it two to three times a day…. We like to taste really good things. There’s got to be some type of chemical that’s released in your brain when you eat something good.”

And that’s why, even if no one shows up to their meetings, they don’t mind.

“I feel like even if it’s just us, I eat all of Hali’s food, and it’s just so good,” Evans says.

Learn more about the Greensboro Cookbook Club on Instagram at @greensborocookbookclub. The next meetup takes place on Tuesday, Oct. 22 at 7 p.m. at Bitters Social House.