Cookbook Stores

There is nothing quite like a good cookbook store

A good cookbook store is an invitation into the world of cookbooks. There are no giant chains of cookbook stores; no big box retailers. By their nature, cookbook stores are a labour of love and devotion; their owners are cooks, readers, aficionados; they are experts. Increasingly, stores are destinations too - many put on cooking classes and special events. Visit them. Buy cookbooks.

The following is a list of every cookbook store in the world (I could find) with at least some information online. These are specialty cookbook stores only - no chains and no bookstores which happen to have good cookbook sections, but also sell other books.

Please contact me if you have any corrections or updates (I've listed stores I couldn't confirm as being in operation at the bottom of the page). If you own or work for one of these stores, drop me a line - I'm planning on enhancing this section of the Cookbooker site in the very near future with the help of bookstores.

Last updated: June 29, 2010.

America

Bonnie Slotnick Cookbooks
163 West Tenth Street
New York, NY
America   10014-3116
Tel: 212-989-8962
Fax: 212-989-8102
bonnieslotnickbooksearthlink.net
Visit website »

Cook Books by Janet Jarvits, Bookseller
1388 E. Washington Boulevard
Pasadena, CA
America   91104
Tel: 626-296-1638
cookbkjjcookbkjj.com
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Cookbooks Plus
24267 Main Street
Santa Clarita, CA
America   91321
Tel: 661-296-4455
Toll free: 877-352-9713
Visit website »

Craig Claiborne Bookstore
Culinary Institute of America 433 Albany Post Road
Hyde Park, NY
America   12538
Tel: 845-452-7648
Toll free: 800-677-6266
Visit website »

Kitchen Arts and Letters
1435 Lexington Ave.
New York, NY
America   10128
Tel: 212-876-5550
Fax: 212-876-3584
letterskitchenartsandletters.com
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Kitchen Witch
631 Toulouse St. (French Quarter)
New Orleans, LA
America   70130-2125
Tel: 504-528-8382
kwitchen1aol.com
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Omnivore Books on Food
3885a Cesar Chavez Street
San Francisco, CA
America   94131
Tel: 415-282-4712
infoomnivorebooks.com
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Rabelais
86 Middle Street
Portland, ME
America   04101
Tel: 207-774-1044
Fax: 207-774-1055
inforabelaisbooks.com
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Stir
102 Waltham Street
Boston, MA
America   02118
Tel: 617-423-7847
infostirboston.com
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The Cookbook Stall
Reading Terminal Market 12th and Filbert St.
Philadelphia, PA
America   19107
Tel: 215-923-3170
Visit website »

The Cookbook Store in Kensington
4108 Adams Avenue
San Diego, CA
America   92116
Tel: 619-284-8224
cookwithbabscox.net

Australia

Books for Cooks
233-235 Gertrude St.
Fitzroy, VIC
Australia   3065
Tel: 61-3-8415-1415
Fax: 61-3-8415-1418
shopbooksforcooks.com.au
Visit website »

The Cookery Book
44 Sailors Bay Rd.
Northbridge, NSW
Australia   2063
Tel: 02-9967-8211
Fax: 02-9967-8578
cookerybookcookerybook.com.au
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Vintage Cookbooks
79 Monbulk Rd.
Kallista, VIC
Australia   3791
Tel: 03-9755-3890
barbaravintagecookbooks.com.au
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Austria

Babette's Spice and Books for Cooks
Schleifmühlgasse 17
A-1040 Wien
Austria
Tel: 43-1-585-5165
Fax: 43-1-585-5165/4
infobabettes.at
Visit website »

Belgium

Labyrint Culinaire Boekhandel
Dr. M. Timmermanslaan 13
B-2170 Antwerpen - Merksem
Belgium
Tel: 32-03-646-48-01
Fax: 32-03-646-48-31

Mollet Kookboeken
Volkstraat 9
B-2000 Antwerpen
Belgium
Tel: 03-238-89-59
Fax: 03-238-88-1
contactmolletkookboeken.be
Visit website »

Canada

Appetite for Books
388 Victoria Avenue
Westmount, QC
Canada   H3Z 2N4
Tel: 514-369-2002
Fax: 514-369-2902
appetitebooksbellnet.ca
Visit website »

Barbara-Jo's Books to Cooks
1740 West 2nd Avenue
Vancouver, BC
Canada   V6J 1H6
Tel: 604-688-6755
Toll free: 866-688-6744
Fax: 604-688-6759
bookcookintergate.ca
Visit website »

Good Egg
267 Augusta Ave.
Toronto, ON
Canada   M5T 2M2
Tel: 416-593-4663
Fax: 416-593-4669
Visit website »

Librairie Gourmande
Marche Jean Talon, 7070 Henri Julien
Montreal, QC
Canada
Tel: 514-279-1742
Fax: 514-279-9822
Visit website »

The Cookbook Company Cooks
72-11 Ave SW
Calgary, AB
Canada   T2R 0E4
Tel: 403-265-6066
Fax: 403-262-3322
cookcooktelus.net
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The Cookbook Store
850 Yonge Street
Toronto, ON
Canada   M4W 2H1
Tel: 416-920-2665
Toll free: 1-800-268-6018
Fax: 416-920-3271
cookingican.net
Visit website »

France

Henri-Pierre Millescamps
7, rue Saint-Front
24000 Périgueux
France
Tel: 05-53-09-53-25

La Cocotte
5 rue Paul Bert, 11th
75011 Paris
France
Tel: 09-54-73-17-77
andrealacocotte.net
Visit website »

La Librairie Gourmande
90 rue Montmartre, 2nd
75002 Paris
France
Tel: 1-43-54-37-27
Fax: 1-43-54-31-16
Visit website »

Rémi Flachard
9 rue du Bac, 7th
75007 Paris
France
Tel: 01-42-86-86-87

Germany

BuchGourmet
Hohenzollernring 16-18
D-50672 Köln
Germany
Tel: 0221-2574072
Fax: 0221-255305
buchgourmetnetcologne.de
Visit website »

Frank Petzchen Kochbücher & Kochseminare
Benrather Straße 6
40213 Düsseldorf
Germany
Tel: 0211-152-09-71
Fax: 0211-152-09-72
servicefrankpetzchen.de
Visit website »

Koch Kontor
Karolinenstrasse 27
20357 Hamburg
Germany
Tel: 040-43-21-60-36
Fax: 040-43-21-60-78
infokoch-kontor.de
Visit website »

kochKuntz
Siegfriedstrasse 46
33615 Bielefeld
Germany
Tel: 0521-9620277
infokochKuntz.de
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Kochlust
Alte Schönhauser Str. 36/37
10119 Berlin
Germany
Tel: 49-0-30-24-63-88-83
Fax: 49-0-30-24-63-88-85
infokochlust-berlin.de
Visit website »

Siedepunkt
Warendorfer Strasse 167
48145 Munster
Germany
Tel: 0251-7608022
Fax: 0251-7608023
infosiedepunkt-buch.de
Visit website »

Italy

'Gusto - Emporio Libreria
Piazza Augusto Imperatore
7 - 00186 Roma
Italy
Tel: 39 06.32.36.363
lalibreriagusto.it
Visit website »

Netherlands

Cook & Book
Zwanenstraat 5a
6811 DD Arnhem
Netherlands
Tel: 06-55751413
Visit website »

De Kookboekhandel
Haarlemmerdijk 133
1013 KG Amsterdam
Netherlands
Tel: 020-6224768
infokookboekhandel.com
Visit website »

De Sperwer
Gerard Doustraat 226
1073 XC Amsterdam
Netherlands
Tel: 020-6736896
Fax: 020-675779
julietkookboekenleslokaal.nl
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Kookboek.nl
Walstraat 10
7511 GH Enschede
Netherlands
Tel: 053-4804515
infokookboek.nl
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Kookboekenshop
B. Diazstraat 25 - III
1057TA Amsterdam
Netherlands
klantenservicekookboekenshop.nl
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New Zealand

Bookfeast
173 Jackson Street
Petone
New Zealand
Tel: +64-4-576-0486
Fax: +64-4-576-0487
infobookfeast.com
Visit website »

Cook the Books
81 Ponsonby Road
Ponsonby, Auckland
New Zealand
Tel: 9-360-6513
Fax: 9-360-6514
bookscookthebooks.co.nz
Visit website »

Sweden

Connoisseur Cookbooks
Goteborgsvagen 89
431 30 Molndal
Sweden
Tel: 46-31-201096
Fax: 46-31-7116201
infoconnoisseur.se
Visit website »

Switzerland

Bibliotheca Gastronomica
Winzerstrasse 5
8049 Zurich
Switzerland
Tel: 44-3-41-97-84
Fax: 1-3-41-97-90

United Kingdom

Books for Cooks
4 Blenheim Crescent
Notting Hill, London
United Kingdom   W11 1NN
Tel: 020-7221-1992
Fax: 020-7221-1517
infobooksforcooks.com
Visit website »

Cooking: The Books
Unit 2, The Courtyard, Montpellier St
Cheltenham
United Kingdom   GL50 1SR
Tel: 44-1242-577-908
cookingthebooks.fslife.co.uk
Visit website »

The CookBook Shop
Unit 11, Albion Mills, Miry Lane, Thongsbridge
Holmfirth, HD9 7HP
United Kingdom   HD9 7HP
Tel: 01484-685030
Visit website »

Thanks

I'm indebted to the list posted online at Sally's Place for giving me some starting points, but it appears to be at least 10 years old, and there are some wonderful new stores (and some sad disappearances) not reflected in her list. Thanks also to Jason at the Food in the Library Blog for a handy map. Thanks to member Friederike who sent a useful list from Valentina's Kochbuch (German) as well as a list of several stores in Belgium and the Netherlands. Thanks to Celia at Omnivore Books in San Francisco, who let me know about Kitchen Witch and also about the vanishing of La Librairie des Gourmets from Paris.

Gone, but not forgotten

There have been some classic cookbook stores which have been gone longer than my list of 'vanished' stores, but deserve to be remembered. I'm listing them as I hear of them. Many thanks to Susan Betz for getting me started on this.

United States
Cook's Library, Los Angeles, CA: closed in April, 2009, after 30 years in operation.
Corner Book Shop, Manhattan, NY: A few years after opening in 1940, Eleanor Lowenstein began to carry primarily books on food, cookery, and wine. Until late 1980, her shop was the one to go to in the US for culinary publications. She was also known for her two revised editions (1954 and 1972) of Waldo Lincoln's bibliography, American Cookery Books, both published by the American Antiquarian Society in Worcester, MA.
Wine & Food Library, Ann Arbor, MI: After closing this bookstore, former proprietor Jan Longone has been the curator of the culinary collection (much of it donated by her) at the Clements Library on the University of Michigan campus for the last 10 years, and is retiring.

Notes on vanished/left-out stores

The following stores were not included in my main list. They are either closed or I was unable to find confirmation that they were still operating, or they are not true specialty cookbook stores. Let me know if I'm in error about any of them:

Canada
Books for Cooks, London, ON, Canada: closed in 2009.
Bon Appetit Cook Books, Montreal, QC, Canada - now known as 'Appetite for Books'

United States
The Kitchen Shelf, Brookline, MA
Specialty Books Company, New York, NY
Cookbooks & Lavender, Pittsburgh, PA
Hoppin Johns, Charleston, SC
Hervey’s, Richardson, TX: wholesale only, if it's still in operation.
Cookbook Cottage, Seattle, WA

Europe
Thrill and Chill, Vienna, Austria: apparently has a good cookbook section, but is not primarily a cookbook store.
Menu Plaisir, Redu, Belgium: was an antiquarian bookstore in an old house; can't confirm it is still a cookbook specialist.
Kunst & Kokkentoj, Copenhagen, Denmark: has some cookbooks, but is mainly a kitchenware store
Kookpunt, Netherlands: has about 700 cookbook titles, but is mainly a kitchenware store
Food, Paris, France
Tour du Monde, Paris, France
La Librairie des Gourmets, Paris, France
Librairie Montaut, Bordeaux, France
Librairie Jeanne Laffitte, Marseilles, France: still there, but not primarily a seller of cookbooks.
Libraire les Mots Bleus, Trouville-sur-Mer, France: appears to still be there, but not primarily a seller of cookbooks.
Mataes Buchhandlung, Frankfurt, Germany
Buchhandlung Fuer Essen und Trinken: Munich, Germany
Literatur Moths, Munich, Germany: Not a specialty cookbook store, though an interesting store.
Goldhahn & Sampson, Berlin, Germany: More of a deli and specialty food store, with some cookbooks, than a cookbook store.
cri.cri Kochbuch, Frankfurt, Germany: Website last updated in 2003; seems to be a lifestyles/dept store at the address now.
De Gustibus, Bologna, Italy
The Cook's Bookshop, Edinburgh, Scotland
Clarin Libros, Madrid, Spain
Bofinken, Oslo, Sweden
Food for Thought, Holt, UK

Elsewhere
Golgottia, New Delhi, India
Exclusive Books, South Africa: a chain of regular bookstores
The Antique Bookshop & Librería de Antaño, Buenos Aires, Argentina: not primarily cookbook stores.

*Image from Barbara Jo's Books to Cooks in Vancouver, BC. Photo used under Creative Commons license from Flickr user Roland