Tastemakers: Alice B. Toklas

Food
Black and white cartoon-like drawing showing a person in a broad-brimmed straw hat standing in a verdant garden holding a basket of vegetables

The Vegetable Gardens at Bilignin (detail), 1993, Natacha Ledwidge. The Alice B. Toklas Cookbook (The Folio Society, 1993). Courtesy the artist

Sunday, Nov 23, 2025

6pm

Getty Center

Getty Center and Restaurant

$75

Tickets required for event entrance. Your event ticket will also serve as your Center entrance reservation. Please note, there is a fee for parking.

Get tickets

About

Join us for a literary and culinary journey inspired by The Alice B. Toklas Cookbook (1954). This unique evening will feature select recipes from Toklas’s iconic text, paired with a conversation led by award-winning author John Birdsall. Through the lens of Toklas’s life and work, Birdsall will explore how food has long served as a form of self-expression, celebration, and pathway for community-building among queer and creative circles throughout history.

This event is part of the Getty Research Institute’s Tastemakers series, featuring communal gatherings inspired by cookbooks from the Getty Library. Presented in partnership with Del Vaz Projects.

Visit the Getty Research Institute's Exhibitions and Events page for more free programs.

    Partners

    1. John Birdsall

      Author

      John Birdsall is a writer working at the intersection of food and queerness. He’s the author of What is Queer Food?: How We Served a Revolution (Norton, 2025) and The Man Who Ate Too Much: The Life of James Beard (Norton, 2020), which looks at the iconic American celebrity chef’s complicated sexuality and public identity. It was an Amazon Top 100 Best Book of the Year, as well as a finalist for a James Beard Award, a Lambda Literary Award, and the Publishing Triangle’s Randy Shilts Award for Gay Nonfiction. Birdsall has received two James Beard Awards for food and culture writing, and is the co-author, with chef James Syhabout, of Hawker Fare (Ecco Press, 2018). His bylines include The New York Times, Food & Wine, Saveur, Bon Appétit, and more. He publishes a newsletter, Shifting the Food Narrative, and is on Instagram @john_birdsall. He lives in Tucson, Arizona.

    Know Before You Go

    What's Included

    Tickets include wines, hearty appetizers, and good company; parking is additional.

    Age Restrictions

    Guests must be 21+.

    Approximate Duration

    2 hours.

    Planning your arrival

    Please bring your tickets with you and have them open on your mobile device or printed. Your event ticket is also your entry to the Getty Center and will be checked upon arrival as you go through security before taking the tram or walking up the hill. Your ticket will also be checked at the event entrance.

    Seating

    Unless otherwise noted, all seating is available on a first-come, first-served basis. We recommend arriving early to select your preferred seat.

    Accessibility

    Wheelchairs are available for free rental on a first-come, first-served basis at the Lower Tram Station above the parking structure and at the Coat Check Room in the Museum Entrance Hall.

    Assisted listening devices are available for this event. Please request one from our Visitor Services associates when you check in.

    For more information on how we can support your visit to the Getty Center, learn about accessibility at Getty.

    Need help?

    Contact us! 9 am–5 pm, 7 days a week
    (310) 440-7300

    Email Us