I like the name.  It suggests coffee food and a chat about books we’ve read or want to read.  Booktalk has shelves of new and pre-loved books.   The mixture of new and used is interesting.

A notice tells you that you can’t take new books to the cafe tables.  You can browse these at the shelves and people do.

Another notice tells you that you can bring in your own books to exchange and if you buy a book and return it, you get 50% off the purchase price.  A lot of information but it does clue you into what it’s all about.

If you drift in by yourself there’s plenty to read with your coffee.  Besides the books they have the daily papers and great selection of magazines.

The atmosphere is relaxed and slightly bohemian.   The tables are busy and used by people in heated discussion, people studying, people writing and people chilling out and just people.  They are always being used this has to have something to do with the quality of the food and coffee.

New and used children’s books are are available for browsing.

The food is good, well priced and healthy.  Their Thai chicken salad $9.50 was delicious and a recent special of the day beef lasagne for $9.50 was a nourishing and tasty meal.

Thai chicken salad

The bacon and mushroom roti, that I would recommend, is $9.80. There are vegetarian dishes as well.   I understand the breakfasts are great but I haven’t tried them yet. There are also Vegetarian meals and a Veggie Breakfast. Apple Crumble with a Muesli crumble.

Mushroom and chicken roti

To keep the literary theme many chairs are labelled with a writer’s name.  I would like to choose my chair to match my mood; a heavy weight like Charles Dickens on grey overcast day when I’m feeling thoughtful and introspective or, Dick Francis if I’m in a light frivolous mood.  This has never been possible as the place is too popular to leave many chairs available.

Agatha Christie

Dick Francis

An inviting and comfortable couch at the back.

Swan Street, has some factory outlets and check out Dimmeys  at 140 Swan Street – the lovely old building with the clock tower – you can find some great bargains there if you hit it right.  Bargains come and go quickly.

The Booktalk Cafe, 91 Swan Street, Richmond. Phone 9428 1977

Opening Hours

8.00 to 5.30 every weekday

8.30 to 5.30 Saturday and Sunday

Getting there:

Tram 70 from  Flinders Street.  You need to catch it in Flinders Street not outside the Flinders Station

Tram 78  runs from St Kilda East along Chapel Street and Church Street to the corner of Swan and Church Streets

Parking in Swan Street is metered but there is usually free one hour parking in the side streets.

Related posts:

1. Red Star Cafe right opposite The South Melbourne Market, Clarendon Street
2. Gas Eateries and Supply Cafe – South Melbourne
3. Melbourne Botanical Gardens and the Terrace Cafe on a wet day

I was browsing  there the other day and rummaged right into the depths of the shop – the depths of Books for Cooks is a sort of back room tucked away on the left hand side of the shop.

It was there I had one of those great nostalgic moments that come occasionally – a sort of arrow shot from the blue that takes you back in time.  I discovered the Books for Cooks collection of the Time Life Series of ‘Foods of the World’.

I was immediately flung back to a basic eat-in kitchen of  years ago and the magic a couple of these books brought to our quiet traditional suburban lives. It was a time when we ate meat, potatoes and two vegetables for the main meal of the day.

Pomegranate and Coffee

The first book I ever saw was ‘Cooking of the Middle East’ and it opened a whole other world to us. The cover features a picture a pomegranate.  I had never seen one of these  and at that time at least half of the ingredients used in the recipes were unobtainable where I lived. This prevented us from experimenting with many of the recipes.  ‘The Cooking of Italy’ was of more use to us.

The Cooking of Italy

We knew about spaghetti.  We ate it from a can and we bought macaroni which we could substitute for the unavailable pastas.  The cheeses in the photos looked mouth-watering but were not readily available so our dishes had a distinct cheddar flavour.

Italian Cheese numbered and discussed

There are two books in the package.  A coffee-table-size full of stunning photos,  the  history of the food and wines of the country,  useful information and some recipes.  An A5 ring binder gives most of the recipes and is easy to use on the bench.   Books for Cooks are selling them separately.

Italian wines numbered and discussed

These books have stood the test of time although some of the fashion in the photos is a bit retro. It surprises me that the books haven’t been revised and re-published.   I was astounded to find there are 27 titles,  and they cover such little known traditional food-styles as  American Creole,  Acadian  Cooking and Cooking of the Caribbean Islands?

I’m heading back to Books to Cooks for another bit of nostalgia and to add to my growing collection of  the Time Life Series of ‘Foods of the World’.     I think I will be the person who buys Acadian Cooking.  It’s the cooking of the French-speakers who live in the French-speaking areas of Atlantic Canada.  They like to use one pot for everything which is appealing.

Books for Cooks is at 233-235 Gertrude Street, Fitzroy – just around the corner from Smith Street.
Phone 8415 1415
Opening hours: 10.00 to 6.00 Monday to Saturday, 11.00 to 5.00 Sundays

Getting there:-

Take the 86 or the 95 tram from the city
There is metered parking in Gertrude Street

Related posts:

1. Books for Cooks Gertrude Street – Fitzroy
2. Cooks’ Cottage set in the Fitzroy Gardens takes you back to the 18th century.
3. Fitzroy Nursery – Artist’s Gardens on Brunswick Street. Fitzroy

It is said that one person’s trash is another person’s treasure.  The odd thing is that there is so much ‘treasure’ left around.  When you walk into Lost and Found you think you have found all the collectibles left in the city because there is so much ‘stuff’.  It is an Aladdin’s cave.

The building itself is Vintage.  Something out of a horror movie – except it is full of light rather than shadows but you could get lost in the same way.

You enter on the ground floor and there are staircases disappearing up and down in all directions.  There are little alcoves, recess, and hidden nooks where ever you turn.  It is fascinating and I couldn’t stop taking photos.  You may think I’m posting too many but you may see something you want in the photos.

At first glance this could be a very well run Op Shop but instead it is a bazaar filled with different stall holders.   Down stairs there are pieces of the Scandinavian-style furniture that was so popular in the middle of last century and you can find smaller pieces of furniture hidden away behind a rack of vintage clothing and the collectibles.

Last time I was there I found myself wanting to collect those standard ash trays that stood beside your chair and you pushed a button on the top to whiz it around to take the ash and the butts into the bowl.   I don’t smoke.  It is a childhood memory from relative’s houses that attracts me.   I loved pushing the button.

Stall holders tend to stay once they have secured some space.  I believe there is a waiting list of over 100 would-be stall holders wanting a spot.

There’s a good turn-over with more stock arriving regularly and the Vintage clothes are wonderful but I’m not sure about the macramé wall hangings.  Should they have been found or stayed lost?

Lost and Found Market 12  Smith Street Collingwood is open 7 days from 12 noon to 6pm.   Phone 9419 4477

Take the 109 Tram and get off at the corner of Victoria Street and Smith Street it’s a few doors up on your right.  Or the  86 or 95   Tram and get off on the corner of Gertrude and Smith Streets and walk down towards Victoria Street.

Edwardian Poster – one of the many on sale.

Related posts:

1. Trash, Treasure or vintage? It is hard to decide in Womango, 47 Chapel Street, Windsor/Prahran.
2. The Esplanade Market, St Kilda is worth a visit
3. Railway antiques, restored furniture, coffee and cakes at the Albert Park Station.

Books and Cooks they go together.

Dedicated cooks and the rest of us who dabble in cooking and who eat, can’t resist books about food.  Take a look at any book shop and there are whole sections of these books covering every possible aspect of food and eating. Often they display mouth watering photos of  food, that probably looks better than it tastes.   So it’s a great treat to spend time in a place where the only books to wallow in are cooking books, wine books and books about food and the philosophy of food.

It’s all about eating at Books for Cooks 233 – 235 Gertrude Street Fitzroy.

There are new and re-cycled books, antiquarian cook books and you can’t help but love the retro books at the back of the shop.

Take a look at the photos and you can see it is a unique place to hang out. Great staff too.  They know everything.  You can talk to them about a cook book you once saw and wanted.  They’re happy to chat and try to source it for you.

To my delight they have a re- publication of Elizabeth David’s original Cook books.  Elizabeth David’s  book ‘Mediterranean Food’ was the first book that taught my family, in small town New Zealand, that olive oil could be used for cooking and not only for soothing an inflamed ear.  It’s amazing to think that that was only a few decades ago.  Books for Cooks give the opportunity to leap back into those exotic and sensual and pages of Elizabeth David’s early Books.

If you are a cook-book-junkie Books for Cooks is definitely your shop.

You’ll also love Books for Cooks if you are keen on eating.  After a browse your taste buds begin to zing you can head for one of  the many eateries in and around Gertrude Street.  A popular place is Birdman Eating – don’t you love the name?  It’s right opposite Books for Cooks.

Books for Cooks is at 233-235 Gertrude Street – just around the corner from Smith Street.

Take the 86 or the 95 tram from the city

Related posts:

1. Exploring the world from Fitzroy with the Time Life Cook Books.
2. Cooks’ Cottage set in the Fitzroy Gardens takes you back to the 18th century.
3. Explore the Books @ the Fed Square Book Market CBD