San Ángel to become a feast of letters and flavors with the first Comestible Book Fair. This unique event, born from the Gallina de Guinea bookstore, celebrates thought, memory, and spoken word around food.
From Book Fairs to Culinary Conversations
There are book fairs where you buy paper, and others where a conversation is cooked. Comestible belongs to the latter.
From November 7 to 9, 2025, San Ángel will smell of ink, corn, paper, and yeast. The first Comestible Book Fair will gather chefs, publishers, artists, journalists, and readers to celebrate that gastronomy is also written, illustrated, and shared.
The idea was born at Gallina de Guinea, a bookstore created by Andrea Arbide, a cozy haven for book lovers that has since become a meeting point for those who read with their palate.
A Fair That Smells of Paper, Corn, and Curiosity
For three days, Comestible will be open from 11 AM to 7 PM at the Gallina de Guinea Garden, right next to the bookstore.
There, amidst trees, wooden tables, and book covers that look like visual recipes, 26 publishing projects from Mexico, Japan, Spain, Argentina, and Canada will gather.
“You’ll mainly find what you’d expect at a book fair: exhibitors. In this case, 26 projects from different countries, mostly Mexican, which is incredible to support local projects. It’s also a pleasant surprise that, despite being the first edition, so many projects have joined,” Andrea shares with a smile evident in her voice.
No dishes or tasting menus will be served. Instead, visitors can flip through newly edited books, converse with authors, and discover publications that celebrate food from the perspectives of science, tradition, or memory.
Cooking a Book: The Public Program
The theme of this first edition, “Cooking a Book,” couldn’t be more accurate.
In collaboration with N0VO, a publisher specializing in culinary culture, the program will offer a series of talks, workshops, and tastings ranging from conventional recipe books to digital journalism.
Among the guests are Juan Escalona, with his Pulque Alive: Fermentation, History, and Tasting workshop; Enrique Pacheco and Jorge Lestrade with La Cocina Impresa: Memory and Evolution of the Mexican Recipe Book; or the table “Who Gave You Permission to Opinion,” where Scarlett Lindeman, Alonso Ruvalcaba, and Jair Téllez will debate about social media and gastronomic journalism.
“We want it to be a space for talking, meeting, and discovering new ways of narrating food. It’s a fair that celebrates ideas, not just flavors,” Andrea summarizes.
Gallina de Guinea: Where Books Also Nourish
The fair is also a way to celebrate the first anniversary of Gallina de Guinea, the bookstore that Andrea opened without knowing it would become a nursery for a new gastronomic publishing ecosystem.
“When I started thinking about the bookstore, everyone told me there was no one buying books anymore. But maybe not on a large scale, but at least here we are selling many books, and that’s very exciting. We’re going to celebrate one year in December, a bit like an anniversary, by organizing this fair.”
Behind the success is a silent effort: searching for books that are almost non-existent in Spanish, importing them, translating them, and sharing them.
“I opened a bookstore without knowing anything about the publishing world. What I’ve encountered, and keep encountering, is that there are very few cookbooks edited and published in Mexico. Almost 80% of the catalog is imported.”
Andrea dreams of investing that figure…
“It would be amazing to have 80% of local publications, books edited in Mexico. If I limited myself to what’s available, I’d have the same as large bookstores. Plus, imported books are very expensive; they don’t go below two thousand pesos. Here, people are surprised to find affordable hardcover books with incredible photos for 700 pesos.”
The public’s enthusiasm has allowed the bookstore to grow beyond expectations.
“Luckily, we’re selling; people come, and that’s allowed us to grow in terms of team: now we’re three people. More than bragging about sales, what excites me is that so many books are going into other hands.”
A Culinary Ecosystem Cooked Slowly
Comestible is the natural conclusion of this first year of learning, a gesture of gratitude and community.
“This fair is like the conclusion of this year. It’s a small but significant grain of sand, from my perspective, to strengthen that specialized bookstore ecosystem that already exists but perhaps needs to be known better, have meeting points, and organize itself better.”
The event is free and open to the public. It’s a stroll among books, ideas, and voices that confirm gastronomy is not only eaten but also written, thought, and printed.
Event Details
- Dates: November 7-9, 2025
- Location: Gallina de Guinea Garden, General Aureliano Rivera 4 and Le Petit Lola Amargura 14, San Ángel, CDMX
