More than a year ago we had a fascinating experience when visiting Books for Cooks in Notting Hill, London’s hip suburb, a store that only sells books on cooking, food and drink.

Our research for a blog post about that specific store, Books for Cooks- A Haven for Food Enthusiasts showed a store in Melbourne, Australia carrying the same name, although they are not related.

Last month we had a chance to visit the shop in Australia. Books for Cooks in Melbourne is promoted as Australia's independent specialist cookbook bookshop for foodies, chefs, armchair gastronauts, and wine lovers.

Someone in the shop introduced herself as Amanda. We later learned that she and husband Tim left their jobs in the legal profession and kitchen management more than a decade ago to become owners of Books for Cooks.

The store is a haven for food enthusiasts in the Southern Hemisphere with a collection of antiquarian, second hand and new books from floor to ceiling in five rooms.

We saw a stack of a classic title on the floor: Escoffier Le Guide Culinaire. The Original Unabridged Translation into English by H.L. Cracknell and R.J. Kaufmann. Auguste Escoffier (1846-1935)  was a legendary French Chef who simplified the art of cooking and emphasized the use of seasonal foods and lighter sauces. Le Culinaire was first published in 1903. Its translators said the book is a repository of all that is best in classical French and international cookery with 5000 simple recipes and cooking principles.

The Wandering Palate Melbourne correspondent, Matthew Wilson reported Books for Cooks’ collection as 10% wine books, 10% other beverages (coffee, tea, cocktails, beer), 10% food related (history, sociology, anthropology, politics, design, packaging) and the balance culinary recipe books from around the world – celebrity, professional, fine dining and technical.

In locked showcases there were old books such as the 1933 Swedish Cookbook: Stora Kokbok by Vårt Hems and the 1950 Classic Edition of Betty Crocker’s Picture Cookbook, oddly placed near a sign that says Pied de Cochon (pig’s leg).

It was very nice chatting with Amanda; she knows everything about every book that we talked about. When we told Amanda that there is a store with the same name in Notting Hill she showed us several editions of Favorite Recipes from Books for Cooks published by Books for Cooks in London.

Books for Cooks in Melbourne used to organize book launching in the store but since books keep adding up they now arrange such events and dinner in restaurants not far from the shop.

Tim and Amanda have graciously hosted chefs famous in the Australian and international culinary scene, including Stephanie Alexander, Heston Blumenthal, Antonio Carluccio, Thomas Keller, Tessa Kiros, Janet de Neefe, Luke Nguyen, Michel Roux, and Adriano Zumbo.

Books for Cooks catalogued almost 40,000 books into several topics such as antiquarian, beverages, cooking methods, healthy, ingredients, reference and food writing, regional cooking and wine.

We did not realize that we already spent hours browsing in the store especially since a brown couch with plush pillows beckoned us to rest for a while before we looked at more books. Books for Cooks in London and in Melbourne are both unique and managed by top professionals who care about their regular customers and onlookers who would like to learn about the culinary world. We hope to find similar bookstores for food lovers in other parts of the world.

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Images: Omar Niode Foundation