About us
Have you ever looked at a recipe and thought, I’d really like to try that? That’s what the Test Kitchen is all about. Everyone brings a dish they’ve never made before. Simple.
Make something experimental, something you’re genuinely excited about exploring—take a culinary risk. Occasional failures are part of the experience, so don’t hold back. As Julia Child said, “Always bring it to the table!”
The Test Kitchen is a 5-star meetup where folks consistently say the vibe is welcoming, engaging, and inclusive.
In 2025, we landed in the top 16% of Gay Singles events in California—while, of course, welcoming our coupled cuties, too.
Upcoming events
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The Test Kitchen Does Litquake
Nosh Box, 1116 Folsom Street, San Francisco, CA, USOut on the Table: Writers on Food with Garrett Schlichte
Cooks! The Test Kitchen is taking on Litquake! Forget the kitchen—we’re hitting the streets for books and boys. Get a ticket (it’s pay what you can) and join your fellow cooks in celebrating the upcoming release of Garrett Schlichte's debut collection of essays, Dinner Party Stories, the Kitchen Table reading series and curator Micheal Foulk bring Schlichte together with chef Gaby Maeda and writer Jennifer Barone to discuss food, writing, identity, and the secrets to living life as deliciously as possible. Doors at 7:00 PM.3 attendees
The Test Kitchen Does Litquake
Omnivore Books on Food, 3885 Cesar Chavez St, San Francisco, CA, USUkraïne: Recipes and Stories from Kyiv to the Black Sea
Cooks! The Test Kitchen is doing Litquake. Let’s get out of the kitchen and into the streets. Join your fellow cooks in experiencing the joy and resilience of Ukrainian cuisine in a visually rich, travelogue-style cookbook filled with 100 traditional and modern recipes highlighting the comforting dishes, distinctive flavors, and time-honored techniques that make this food so extraordinary.Ukrainian chef Anna Voloshyna traveled across the diverse regions of her homeland―from the mountains to coastline, cities to grasslands, forests to wine country―collecting recipes, stories, and friendships to answer the question: What is Ukrainian cuisine? Joining Voloshyna on this appetizing and fascinating journey is Resy’s editor-in-chief, Paolo Lucchesi.
Show up early because it’s first come, first served seating.
1 attendee
October Test Kitchen
Gary's, Dolores Street & 18th Street, San Francisco, CA, USCooks! The October Test Kitchen is happening on Sunday the 18th in San Francisco’s Dolores Park neighborhood.
This month’s optional Test Kitchen challenge is our annual spooky food theme with our first-ever subgenre challenge: Vampire’s Bane—dishes that feature garlic!
We’re talking garlic dishes like 40-clove garlic chicken, shrimp scampi, garlic mashed potatoes, garlic and olive oil pasta or spooky dishes like last year’s bell pepper jack-o-lanterns filled with mac-and-cheese, zombie intestines (pork-filled puff pastry with cherry-beet sauce), monster wraps, and jack-o-lantern bao. It’s your choice, something spooky, something that could repelling vampires, or whatever new recipe you feel like trying.
As always, this is a test kitchen, not a potluck. The goal is experimentation. Make something you’ve never made before, something ambitious, weird, technically challenging, or just deeply intriguing.
Maybe your garlic masterpiece emerges from the oven fragrant and a ward against Nosferatu. Maybe your dish arrives cloaked in the unmistakable aroma of carbonized garlic. Either way, "bring it to the table." You'll be among friends, and we celebrate both triumphs and defeats.
Please post your dish at least two weeks before the Test Kitchen. Head to the event’s Comments section and let the other cooks know what you’re planning to make.
Bring your culinary curiosity, your appetite, and perhaps a wooden stake—just in case!
Previously at the Test Kitchen
September’s Test Kitchen turned the humble casserole into a global affair, with comfort food getting dressed up in flavors and techniques from around the world. We had the meat-and-potatoes coziness of Shepherd’s and Tamale Pies alongside Egyptian Macarona Béchamel, Hong Kong Baked Pork Chop Spaghetti, South African Bobotie, harissa-spiced chicken, and a German-Minnesotan bratwurst hotdish. And naturally, dessert had to get in on the action, with a Malt Chocolate Delight bringing some retro sweetness.Check out pics from this and other past Test Kitchens on Instagram.
8 attendees
The Test Kitchen Does Litquake
Omnivore Books on Food, 3885 Cesar Chavez St, San Francisco, CA, USFive Tastes: Delicious Recipes for Chinese Flavors with Fuchsia Dunlop
Cooks! The Test Kitchen is doing Litquake. Let’s get out of the kitchen and into the streets. Join your fellow cooks in learning about how over thousands of years, Chinese chefs have mastered how to combine the five tastes―sweet, sour, salty, bitter, and pungent―harmoniously in a dish.In her latest cookbook, Five Tastes, Fuchsia Dunlop shares with home cooks 120 easy recipes inspired by culinary traditions across China. She includes both old-fashioned favorites and her freshly invented dishes that combine Chinese flavors with produce found in any Western market or supermarket.
Show up early because it’s first come, first served seating.
4 attendees
Past events
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