Books for Cooks’ passion for quality education and the appreciation of food, wine and the culinary arts is clear. Owners Tim and Amanda White want to help their customers appreciate the beauty of what we consume every day. The staff here are avid foodies and have memberships to bookseller and food associations such as The Australian Culinary Federation.

The Whites have designed the space themselves, adding interest to the Victorian shopfront with hints of charcoal and copper. The dark jarrah timber bookcases and timber floorboards bring warmth into the open space, which is filled with natural light.

The selection of books (both old and new) cater to all levels of cook, from chefs to those in the making. Amateur cooks can get lost in the variety of cookbooks, spanning diet types and specific cuisines as well as titles dedicated to charcuterie, pasta making and pastry. The more academically minded foodies can find philosophical discussions of what we consume and why we consume it.

And if you can’t find what you were looking for, Books for Cooks offers a free search service for rare books. It also houses a wide selection of food journals from all over the world.