Di Bruno Bros. Piazza
920 South 9th StreetFor April's Cookbook Club, we'll be exploring Obsessed with the Best by Ella Quittner and Will This Make You Happy by Tanya Bush. That means you can choose either one to spend time with this month!
These books have taken the spring release season by storm, lauded for their recipes, their writing, and the innovative way each combines the two. In addition to discussing the experience of cooking, baking, and eating, we'll spend a little more time on the writing than ususal—though there's no pressure to “do the reading.” (Learn more about the narrative writing in both books here.)
We're being kindly hosted this month at the Di Bruno Bros. Piazza (around the corner from the shop on 9th and Montrose), with many thanks to them! Please take note of the following before purchasing tickets:
We have a rain date of Monday, April 27. We will make a final decision on the date by Saturday, April 18 so attendees can plan their cooking/baking accordingly.
The Piazza is uncovered (no umbrellas, etc). We strongly endorse overpreperation with anything you'll need to stay comfy for whatever weather the spring offers.
We encourage folks to hit up the Di Bruno Bros 9th Street Bottle Shop for wine, beer and aperitivo—including nonalcoholic and by-the-glass options! Binding Agents will provide water.
Cookbook Club is a potluck event where everyone contributes a dish from the selected book(s). Here's how it works:
1) You purchase your ticket(s) from this page, with or without a copy of one of the books. We highly encourage book sharing, use of libraries, and the publicly available recipes from the books online! But if you'd like to pick up a copy from Binding Agents, please select the discounted Ticket + Book option and then add the book of your choice to your cart on the next screen.
Or, you can have a copies of either Obsessed with the Best or WIll This Make You Happy shipped to you directly via Bookshop.org, which also supports the store.
2) One week before the event, we'll send out a Google Doc with a set number of slots per book and category. Each person will claim a slot with the recipe of their choice. This ensures a good spread and a cross-section of what these books have to offer!
3) On event day, you'll bring your dish to Binding Agents, prepared to feast. We'll talk about our experience cooking, baking, and eating, and leave with lots of great tips and new friends. All tickets include a container to take home any leftovers.
Please do sign up for the waitlist if the event is sold out! We're often able to get a few folks in closer to the event date. To receive updates about future Cookbook Clubs (hosted monthly)—make sure you're on our mailing list.
About Obsessed with the Best
A charmingly obsessive, thoroughly tested exploration of the best ways to cook and bake your favorite foods.
Some might think the “best” roast chicken means “most efficient without sacrificing juicy meat,” while others might think “best” is the one that you won’t be able to stop thinking about for years, no matter how long it takes in a sous vide bag. When writer Ella Quittner (creator of Food52’s “Absolute Best Tests”) is cooking or baking something, she cannot rest until she’s tested every method she can to arrive at the best result. Even if that means traveling to Tokyo to learn the trick to extra juicy tsukune for her tender meatballs or spending time in the Alabama Black Belt gathering intel from the pros for her flakiest biscuits.
In Obsessed with the Best, Ella walks you through the results of 24 head-to-head tests of cooking methods to help you find the perfect choice for your palate. From these building blocks, Ella shares more than 100 recipes, grounding you in minimalist techniques that maximize flavor, and sharing creative options as jumping off points for your own favorite flavors.
Punctuated with reported essays on people, places, or things obsessed with “the best”—be it a bacon evangelist from Iowa who flies annually all the way to Kofu, Japan, to throw a “Porktober Fest” in the middle of a seasonal celebration of a feudal lord, or an international spin through different pasta-making methods from Osaka to Tuscany—Obsessed with the Best is precise, informative, personal, and fun in equal measure.
About Will This Make You Happy
Tanya Bush is adrift in the uncertainty of her early twenties--unemployed, uninspired, and stuck in a long-term relationship that's lost its spark. One day, just to do something, she decides to bake a cake. It's gooey in the center, woefully underbaked, an absolute disaster--but it also reminds her of the pleasures of baking: sugar crystals under her fingernails, flour in her hair, and the hard-earned satisfaction of following the steps of a recipe to the end.
Over the course of a year, Tanya embarks on a journey that carries her from her tiny apartment to the sunlit kitchens of an Italian agriturismo to the basement of a bustling Brooklyn bakery, where she rediscovers her appetite for pleasure, indulgence, and meaningful work.
A culinary memoir and love story, interwoven with over fifty innovative and approachable baking recipes, Will This Make You Happy is for readers and bakers looking for something messier, more experimental, and honest than the typical aspirational cookbook.
From the co-founder of the James Beard-nominated literary magazine Cake Zine, pastry chef at Little Egg, and contributing writer for the New York Times T Magazine, this part propulsive and witty coming-of-age story, part baking book is as satisfying to read as it is to cook from. It's meant to be devoured curled up on the couch or with the mixer whirring in the kitchen.
Mon, Apr 20, 2026 6:00 PM - 8:00 PM
Di Bruno Bros. Piazza
920 South 9th Street
Binding Agents is Philly's bookshop for cooks and eaters. Located in South Philly’s culinary epicenter, the 9th Street Italian Market, we’re your go-to source for new cookbooks and food-focused reads, plus gifts and goods for making, serving and enjoying. We’re independent, women-owned, fun & funky. Learn more at bindingagentsphilly.com.
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