Visit these charming cookbook stores dedicated to all things food
Cookbooks are usually found on one lonely shelf in your local bookstore, but food lovers know they deserve their own shop. These independent bookstores across the South (and a bit beyond) celebrate the culinary arts with intention, offering curated, food-focused books to readers with big appetites.
Bold Fork Books
Washington, DC
Located on a charming street in DC’s Mount Pleasant neighborhood is Bold Fork Books, a quaint cookbook store. The shop holds community events like the monthly Cookbook Club and Bake Club and offers travel experiences. Co-founder Clementine Thomas, who grew up in DC, opened the shop in 2020 to create a hub for food lovers. “We didn’t have a space like that in DC,” she says. “It felt like we could really use a place to connect all these different people thinking deeply about food.” Open Monday to Friday, 12 p.m. to 8 p.m., Saturday, 10 a.m. to 8 p.m., and Sunday, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Bold Fork Books
3064 Mount Pleasant Street NW
Washington, DC 20009
Food Temptress Cookbook Store
Virginia Beach, Virginia
In Virginia Beach, stop by Food Temptress Cookbook Store to shop cookbooks by Black authors. Rekaya Gibson, freelance writer and author of numerous books including The Food Temptress, opened the store in 2023, sharing culinary traditions with the community and celebrating Black writers and chefs. The shop holds regular events including book signings, bookstore crawls, cookbook swaps, and live chats with chefs and authors as well as sales and shopping events. Browse books from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. daily.
Food Temptress Cookbook Store
1624 Laskin Road
Virginia Beach, VA 23451
Binding Agents
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Inside 9th Street Italian Market in Philly readers will find Binding Agents, a cookbook store with culinary reads spanning cookbooks to memoirs to children’s books. Come hungry for your new favorite recipe or next foodie travel adventure. The shop is also a community space, with events like book talks, Collectors Corner, and a monthly Cookbook Club and potluck dinner hosted by owner Catie Gainor. Drop in Wednesday to Friday, 10:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., Saturday, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Sunday, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Binding Agents
908 Christian Street
Philadelphia, PA 19147
Plott Hound Books
Burnsville, North Carolina
In 2022, food writer and cookbook author Ronni Lundy opened Plott Hound Books in Burnsville, North Carolina, and the bookstore has since become a beloved part of the community. Here shopgoers find an impressive, curated collection of Appalachian writing and cookbooks, with great reads “from fact to fantastic fiction, poetry, foodways, byways, and more.” Visit Tuesday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Sunday, noon to 4 p.m. to support this local gem and find culinary inspiration in South Appalachia.
Plott Hound Books
102 West Main Street
Burnsville, NC 28714
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Tate Jacaruso
Tate Jacaruso loves celebrating Southern food, travel, and culture as associate editor at the Local Palate. She is based in Charleston and is currently making her way through every bowl of pasta and oyster on the half shell in town. Her work has appeared in Charleston Living Magazine and CHStoday.
