Food52 took readers on a trip "around the world in 13 cookbook shops," observing: "There's something magical about a cookbook shop, especially when everyone seems to be sharing their recipes on Instagram and the treasured cookbooks that come out make their ways into homes via online orders. Cookbook shops freeze time, forever embracing the excitement of thumbing through a rare title or finding that book your mom always talked about, as well as the endless possibilities before you on a shelf of titles about dim sum and profiteroles and cheese pairings.
"Stepping into these stores is like stepping into precious clubs for those who simply love food in any capacity, except these clubs are all-welcoming.... They can also serve as windows into life in their cities, highlighting local cooking or activist missions and gathering customers in back kitchens for fresh-cooked meals."