Guest-made Cucumber Grape Gazpacho and Golden Apricot Chicken.
PHOTOGRAPHY BY MOLLIE KIMBERLING
Before she was hostess extraordinaire of the Cookbook Club of Palm Springs, Victoria Starr was hostess extraordinaire of the Cookbook Club of Portland. Before then, she threw elaborate, menu-driven dinner parties for her epicurean inner circle. The get-togethers, she explains, allowed her to celebrate friendship, experiment with ingredients, and feature bountiful local and regional produce.
The author, pharmacist, and travel adviser never meant to pop the cork on a foodie pursuit. Health challenges limited both her diet and her ability to host in 2016, when a friend mentioned having read about the concept of a cookbook club. “She sent me the article; I think it was in The New York Times,” Starr says. “I read it and I said, ‘I’m doing this.’ ’’
From the Garden leapt from the page and onto the table during Victoria Starr’s Cookbook Club meet-up in January.
Eight years and a move to the desert later, Starr and her husband, Jason, let us slip into their most recent “elevated potluck” to see how it’s done. “When I post the menu on social media before the party, people I don’t know start sending me messages,” she says. Often they’re hoping to join, but with an average of 30 guests per event, that door has closed. “If they want to start [a cookbook club], I have some past cookbooks I could suggest that I thought were particularly good.”
CHOOSE YOUR BOOK. January’s guest of honor was Flamingo Estate: Fridays From the Garden Cookbook. “I was traveling, and I saw it in a shop,” Starr says. “Once I looked through it, I was obsessed. The pictures are so beautiful. It’s seasonal and very approachable, too. It’s pretty straightforward, and it’s Southern California–centric. For me, it’s an art form to pick the right cookbook. It has to resonate with me and be something I think would be valuable to others. I want to be very passionate about the ingredients and the recipes and maybe get people to think outside of the box and try something a little bit different.”
PLAN THE MENU AND INVITE FRIENDS. To avoid requiring guests to purchase the book, Starr curates the evening’s menu then shares a link to her chosen recipes on a Pinterest board. Invitations go out virtually, accompanied by a PDF of the menu. “The group is very eclectic,” she says. “They know each other only through us. They’re not people who normally hang out with each other. We’re connected by a love of beautiful and delicious food.”
Starr readies the drink table before guests arrive.
Self-serve Hot Pink Rose Margaritas flow on the terrace.
GUESTS PICK THEIR DISH. Some crave a challenge; others fear one. Each person or couple selects one dish to make and doesn’t need to double the recipe unless desired. (It’s more of a sampling than a gorging.) Starr guides them as needed and chooses her own dish or two at the end to “round things out nicely.”
THE GAME IS AFOOT. Guests scurry to source ingredients and any special tools. Some do a dry run, and others wing it on the big day; it’s all part of the fun. Elusive ingredients appear just in time thanks to a helpful staffer at Jensen’s market or even an eleventh-hour dash to Los Angeles. “Sometimes you can’t find the ingredient, but that doesn’t mean you can’t do the recipe,” Starr notes. “It just means you have to shift. Then you’re making the recipe your own.”
PREP THE PARTY. The Cookbook Club receives Starr’s doting attention. Colorful flowers in tablescapes by Lucie Doughty at House of Florals make January look like a spring day. Starr hires a kitchen assistant to collect plates and help with cleanup. She planned the flow to move from mountain views and margaritas on the patio into the open kitchen and dining areas.
Guest Lori Rodgers samples the Shrimp and Leek Mini Pie, prepared (and modified into a group dish) by her husband, Kenny.
GUESTS ARRIVE, DISHES IN HAND. Nerves run high as guests finish last-minute preparations. They dress salads, give sauces a final stir, and place garnishes with care. Fourteen works of culinary triumph line the buffet and dessert tables.
LIDS OFF! The dishes get an HGTV-style reveal to great fanfare. Here we see the “hyper-local” grapefruit, picked earlier in the day from neighborhood trees, resting on bitter greens. A beet and berry salad complements the colors of its pottery bowl, which the same guest crafted by hand.
Her Garden Focaccia Bread is fragrant and beautiful.
Guests catch up alfresco.
SHOW AND TELL. Starr thanks her guests and explains her reasons for choosing the cookbook. Anticipation (and hunger) build as guests go around the room sharing a few words about the dish they made, any substitutions, and their anecdotal trials or victories. “We’re not there to judge anybody because each of us has had something go wrong,” Starr says.
NIBBLE AWAY. Small appetizer plates allow guests to try a bite or two of everything. They mingle while refilling their plates, admiring the presentations and appreciating the flavors.
Dressed to match her Sprouted Wheat Carrot Cake, Hilary Super was later pleased to see not a crumb remained on the pedestal.
Octavio Rojas visits the main table.
Starr and her husband, Jason, pose for a photo before slicing his birthday cake.
TIME FOR DESSERT. A second round of storytelling (and decadence) unfolds around the dessert table. A sizzling sparkler in the two-tier carrot cake honors Jason’s birthday.
SEE YOU ON SOCIAL. Goodbyes run long as guests linger, knowing it may be months until they see each other at the next gathering. The following morning, however, they relive the excitement on Instagram, where posts regale the festivities in observations, photos, and video.
. Guest Nancy Joseph shares her artful version of filling a small plate with variety.
A sculptural arrangement by House of Florals.
REPEAT. Starr has hosted about two dozen events, from a brunch with mimosas to a theme that departed from a particular cookbook: last meals of famous people. The next is always a surprise to the guests — another chance to cook, sample, and learn in the process.