Shelf Awareness
"I always knew I wanted to have my own bookstore," said Paige Lipari, the owner of Archestratus Books, a new bookstore and cafe in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, N.Y. The store has the variety of sections--fiction, nonfiction, travel, graphic novels, business and more--associated with a general-interest bookstore, but what sets it apart is that these myriad sections are all united by one theme: food.
Every novel that the store carries, Lipari explained, has some culinary theme, such as W. Somerset Maugham's Cakes and Ale or Jeanette Winterson's Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit.
In addition to conventional cookbooks, Lipari stocks titles on all manner of ethnic and regional cuisines, on meat and charcuterie. There is an economics section featuring books on how to cook things cheaply or quickly, and there are books on how to grow or even forage your own food. And the cafe, which takes up about a third of the 1,000-square-foot store, sells sweet and savory Sicilian pastries, along with coffee, tea, beer and wine.
"I solidified how to combine the things that I love about four years ago," continued Lipari. "I knew I would have a food bookstore--a general bookstore about food. And I knew that I was going to cook Sicilian because that's my heritage."
Before opening her own store, Lipari worked as a general bookseller at McNally Jackson Books in Manhattan. She began her work in the book world, in fact, at the Barnes & Noble store in Chelsea, before for moving to travel-themed bookstore Idlewild Books and then to Housing Works Bookstore Cafe, where she handled rare and antiquated books. For a time, Lipari was also the assistant editor of a literary magazine called A Public Space. And though Lipari has been cooking for most of her life, her love of food was transformed when she visited relatives in Sicily when she was a teenager.
"The first thing they did was put a plate of food in front of me," recalled Lipari. "The experience was life-changing. The way I kept them with me, the way I kept in touch emotionally with that country, was through Sicilian cooking. I became completely fascinated."
The store opened on Friday, October 2. It has an inventory of around 4,500 books, mostly new books, with some used and rare titles. At present, Archestratus Books has four staff members, all of whom split time between the bookstore and the cafe during a given shift. In part, Lipari said, that was a logistical decision.
"But there's also clearly a conversation going on between both sides of the store," she added. "I want everybody to be part of that."
The store also carries an array of pens and notebooks, along with a small selection of essential cooking items.
"Your sauté pans, your whisk, your knife--the very basic things that you need to just start cooking," said Lipari. And unusually for a bookstore, Lipari's store also has a small grocery section stocking basic essentials like salt, pepper, eggs, flour and milk.
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| Archestratus' grand opening party (photo: Marcus Middleton) | |
In addition to conventional cookbooks, Lipari stocks titles on all manner of ethnic and regional cuisines, on meat and charcuterie. There is an economics section featuring books on how to cook things cheaply or quickly, and there are books on how to grow or even forage your own food. And the cafe, which takes up about a third of the 1,000-square-foot store, sells sweet and savory Sicilian pastries, along with coffee, tea, beer and wine.
"I solidified how to combine the things that I love about four years ago," continued Lipari. "I knew I would have a food bookstore--a general bookstore about food. And I knew that I was going to cook Sicilian because that's my heritage."
Before opening her own store, Lipari worked as a general bookseller at McNally Jackson Books in Manhattan. She began her work in the book world, in fact, at the Barnes & Noble store in Chelsea, before for moving to travel-themed bookstore Idlewild Books and then to Housing Works Bookstore Cafe, where she handled rare and antiquated books. For a time, Lipari was also the assistant editor of a literary magazine called A Public Space. And though Lipari has been cooking for most of her life, her love of food was transformed when she visited relatives in Sicily when she was a teenager.
"The first thing they did was put a plate of food in front of me," recalled Lipari. "The experience was life-changing. The way I kept them with me, the way I kept in touch emotionally with that country, was through Sicilian cooking. I became completely fascinated."
 | |
| photo: Marcus Middleton | |
"But there's also clearly a conversation going on between both sides of the store," she added. "I want everybody to be part of that."
The store also carries an array of pens and notebooks, along with a small selection of essential cooking items.
"Your sauté pans, your whisk, your knife--the very basic things that you need to just start cooking," said Lipari. And unusually for a bookstore, Lipari's store also has a small grocery section stocking basic essentials like salt, pepper, eggs, flour and milk.
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