By Jess Eng

For The Washington Post

Nestled in Washington, D.C.’s Mount Pleasant neighborhood, Bold Fork Books is an epicurean’s paradise. Inside the 500-square-foot shop, there’s a treasure trove of cookbooks, kitchen kitsch and glossy food magazines. The store holds nearly 2,000 titles, a collection that spans anthology and memoir, fiction and nonfiction, including stories from local D.C. chefs and writers. Everything can be opened, touched and read. It’s a place where a fanatical home cook or voracious food history buff could easily spend hours perusing.

Since owners Clementine Thomas and Sam Vasfi opened its doors in 2020, Bold Fork has become a hub for home cooks, chefs and food enthusiasts. The seeds for this idea were first planted during a trip to Appetite for Books in Montreal more than a decade ago, while the pair were working as co-owners of Georgetown restaurant Chez Billy Sud. Thomas, 41, remembers feeling awed by the store’s extensive collection of culinary literature. What stood out most, however, was how it used a back kitchen for demonstrations and classes. “It really clicked that a bookstore could be something more than just a retail spot,” she says. “And that it could be a kind of community space, too.”

Bold Fork Books owner Clementine Thomas, in Washington, D.C. (Craig Hudson / For The Washington Post) Author Paula Johnson gives a talk at Bold Fork Books in Washington, D.C. (Craig Hudson / For The Washington Post)

Bold Fork and Appetite for Books are not alone in this pursuit. More than 15 cookbook-specific independent bookstores like them exist across the country, and the number is on the rise. Among them are Kitchen Arts & Letters, Bonnie Slotnick Cookbooks and Archestratus in New York City; Omnivore Books on Food in San Francisco; Kitchen Lingo Books in Long Beach, California; and Book Larder in Seattle. Just this fall, a handful more have opened across the country, including Philadelphia’s Binding Agents and Buffalo, New York’s Read It & Eat. Anchovy Book Co. will open in early November in St. Louis. With so many titles to choose from, no store is quite the same, and each sells a distinct blend of new releases, local guides, food memoirs, and rare and vintage cookbooks.

Stores dedicated to food literature have existed for decades, but the demand for cookbooks has surged in the past few years. BookScan data shows that cookbook sales grew 8 percent year over year between 2010 and 2020. Growth continued in 2021, with cookbook sales for baking books rising by 42 percent from the previous year, a number probably buoyed by the pandemic baking craze. This year, conferences such as Philadelphia’s Cookbooks and Convos and Napa Valley’s inaugural Cookbook Fest have only reinforced this burgeoning fandom. And at Bold Fork, Thomas says 2024 book sales are projected to be 35 percent higher than sales recorded in 2021.

When it comes to actually selling cookbooks, Amazon dominates the marketplace, accounting for an estimated 60 to 70 percent of all book sales and at least 40 percent of print books. (Amazon founder Jeff Bezos owns The Washington Post.) But compared with the world’s largest online bookseller, culinary bookstores have a unique advantage. These stores, and the staff behind them, excel at curating their collections and knowing their customer base.

Book Larder in Seattle. (Abigail Cerquitella / Book Larder)

New York City’s Kitchen Arts & Letters, which opened in 1983 and remains the country’s oldest operating bookstore dedicated to food, has more than 12,000 carefully culled titles from around the world and knowledgeable staff to guide customers through them. At Bold Fork, Thomas diversifies her shelves with new titles, perennial favorites and suggestions from regulars. “People have so many recommendations, and that’s how the inventory has really evolved,” she says. These days, many stores offer their own online shops and direct customers there, too.

Molly Stevens, cookbook author of “All About Dinner” and host of the “Everything Cookbooks” podcast, finds the personalized in-store experience far better than browsing Amazon and perusing anonymous reviews. “You go on Amazon and can’t tell whether it’s going to strike your chord,” she says. “But if you go into a cookbook store, someone who knows and has cooked from the books can talk to you about them.”

TikTok baking star Coinneach MacLeod takes a selfie with fans at Book Larder during a talk about his book “The Hebridean Baker at Home.” (Lara Hamilton / Book Larder)

At Book Larder in Seattle, which opened in 2011, owner Lara Hamilton, 55, draws from her encyclopedic knowledge of food literature whenever she recommends books.

“Talking to someone is just so much better than relying on an algorithm,” she says. “Even 13 years into this, people still walk in and are surprised.” As at other culinary bookstores, Book Larder’s most popular shelf often highlights local authors. The support for hometown talent is evident: This year, its best-selling cookbook, “Sunlight and Breadcrumbs,” is by Renee Erickson, a James Beard Award-winning chef from Seattle.

Even as social media cooking videos have surged in popularity, Hamilton has noticed a younger audience seeking out cookbooks at her store, particularly young professionals and recent college graduates. Many are purchasing a cookbook for the first time. “We often develop great relationships with people who come in because they’ve been only cooking online recipes and don’t feel like they’re learning anything,” she says. “People will say, ‘I’ve made this [dish], but I’m not building skills.’ ”

BEM Books & More owners Danielle and Gabrielle Davenport. (Clay Williams / BEM Books)

Some stores are leaning into a specialized selection and finding a willing audience, too. Sisters Gabrielle Davenport, 31, and Danielle Davenport, 38, of BEM Books & More knew they wanted to open a bookstore in Brooklyn dedicated to foodways of the African diaspora. Inspired by the legacy of Black-owned bookstores and culinary shops, the pair saw the natural intersection of the two in novels by Toni Morrison, African American cookbooks and children’s literature.

“We needed a Black food bookstore that centers food as an entry point into culture from a specifically Black and diasporic perspective,” Danielle Davenport says. “Especially here in Brooklyn, where it feels like we get everybody close with all of the stories and legacies.” They launched their first pop-up in June 2021 in the historically Black Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood and are planning to open a bricks-and-mortar shop next year.

No longer just places to purchase books, many culinary bookstores now host community events to bring together like-minded food enthusiasts and get the word out about their offerings. Liz Hottel, founding director of programming at Bold Fork, has seen this enthusiasm reflected in the store’s event turnout. Since 2021, Hottel has tripled the number of events by adding food writing courses, author talks and a monthly cookbook club. Most sell out. This year, the store plans to host 90 events.

“Food is the ultimate icebreaker that brings people together,” says Hottel. “Culinary bookstores are this very singular third space in a way that a normal bookstore or restaurant is not.”

In addition to its extensive cookbook collection, Brooklyn’s Archestratus offers locally sourced produce, meat, dairy and other food products. (Jess Eng)

Most culinary bookstores, both new and old, have caught on. Cookbook clubs hosted by the shops provide another opportunity for home cooks to meet and experience the breadth of a new cookbook’s recipes together. Brooklyn-based Archestratus has organized monthly cookbook clubs since it opened in 2015. At Binding Agents, Philadelphia’s newest culinary bookstore, owner Catie Gainor, 34, sees her store’s cookbook club as a conduit for lasting connections.

“If you become the point person in your group of friends who is the chef, baker or person who hosts, it can get a little lonely,” she says. “Most of the time, it’s a pleasure. But sometimes it’s like, I really wish that I could find more people who are doing this.”

Kimberly Brummett, 49, who lives in Northeast Washington, vividly remembers attending her first Bold Fork cookbook club in 2023. Before setting foot in the store, she owned three cookbooks and identified as a casual home cook. After immersing herself in the club, she has become an avid collector of 40-plus cookbooks. The store’s community events have played an invaluable part in her journey: “They meet you where you are,” she says. “If you’re a huge cook and fanatic and follow all these chefs, that’s great. But if you’re not, they can guide you.”

Thomas and her team at Bold Fork are focused on offering a steady stream of events amid a busy fall for cookbook releases. Every week, the store hosts at least one author talk, discussion or cookbook club — each with the potential to turn curious customers into regulars. Still, Thomas is constantly brainstorming ways to expand the shop’s base. One includes classes to encourage people to write their own cookbooks. Another, she hints, may involve an international trip led by the store’s staff and culinary experts.

“We’re always percolating on more ways to expand our community,” she says. “The possibilities are endless.”