About Books for Cooks
We are a small independent, culinary specialist bookstore owned by cooks & lovers of good food; situated at the Queen Victoria Market, right in the heart of Melbourne, a UNESCO City of Literature .
We cater for armchair cooks, professional chefs, winemakers and avid foodies and stock over 40,000 new, old, vintage & antiquarian books on wine, food & the culinary arts.
All of our books are some how about food or drink. Whether antiquarian and vintage books or the latest new books on food, wine and cooking, our interests include agriculture, dining, food history, artisanal food production and drinks. About half our stock is new.
Although our stock is mostly from the 20th century, we have a growing range of books from earlier periods. We also have an increasing stock of related ephemera, pamphlets and menus.
We are members of:
- International League of Antiquarian Booksellers,
- Australian & New Zealand Association of Antiquarian Booksellers,
- International Online Booksellers Association,
- Australian Booksellers Association,
- Ephemera Society of Australia; and,
- Bibliographical Society of Australia and New Zealand
Our story
Books for Cooks opened in Wattletree Rd, Melbourne in 1983 and for many years was run by Margit & Pearl as a part-time labour of love.
In early 2000, Tim & Amanda realised a long held dream and bought a tiny bookstore about wine and food and moved it to 'bohemian' Gertrude St, Fitzroy.
After 16 years having outgrown our Fitzroy home, we moved to the Munro Buildings at the Queen Victoria Market.
And, in 2018, with the beginning of the Queen Victoria Market renewal program, we moved to the Heritage listed Market shops on the other side of the Market at 115-121 Victoria Street, Queen Victoria Market.
Along the way we've been recognised as Victorian Specialist Bookseller of the Year on several occasions. And CNN once described us as "one of the coolest bookstores in the world".
In 2019 we were recognised by Queen Victoria Market customers as one of their favourite businesses.