Please Wait to Be Tasted: The Lil' Deb's Oasis Cookbook

Lil’ Deb’s Oasis is an artful, queer-run, hugely popular restaurant in New York's uber-cool Hudson Valley, so naturally, their first cookbook would be wildly creative. To bring Please Wait to Be Tasted: The Lil' Deb's Oasis Cookbook to life, the publisher commissioned Jessica Pettway to shoot vivid, surprising images that serve up anything but ordinary food photography. A lap full of spaghetti, condiments as colorful props, a crown of laurel and a toga to show off delectable dishes… Jessica and her collaborator, superlative food stylist Victoria Granof, really went there, and the book is unforgettable as a result.

For issue 4 of Gigantic magazine, Jessica, Victoria, and ace retoucher Zach Vitale interviewed each other—in a series of videos—about the making of the book. Read the story here.

Please Wait to Be Tasted is in stores now; order your copy here. In 2023, the book was nominated for a James Beard Media Award.