Gloria Steinem, who died Wednesday at age 92, was no cook but understood the power of gathering around the table to build relationships and political power. She regularly hosted events in her Upper East Side apartment, relying on takeout and catered platters while friends like Padma Lakshmi noted the food was unremarkable. "Eating wasn't the point," Lakshmi said. In the 1980s, Steinem and three feminist authors—Marilyn French, E.

M. Broner, and Carol Jenkins—formed a group they called her "coven," meeting for dinner on solstices and equinoxes for over 30 years. Steinem was also a regular at New York restaurants like Chez Josephine and Union Square Cafe.

She understood the political power of food, marching with Cesar Chavez and Dolores Huerta for farmworker rights and participating in protests against gender-based exclusions at restaurants like the Berghoff in Chicago and the Oak Room at the Plaza Hotel in New York. Steinem connected food rituals to gender hierarchies, noting how children learn who eats first and gets larger portions. Ultimately, she found freedom in communal spaces where people could speak openly and feel valued—a portable community of talking circles she called "the most important discovery of my life.".