Read It and Eat culinary bookshop opened late last year in one of the incubator spaces inside the new West Side Bazaar on Niagara Street in Buffalo, N.Y. WGRZ reported that after spending time as a pop-up business and launching the Read It and Eat Book Fair at Seneca One last spring, owner Kimberly Behzadi decided it was time to launch the business in a permanent location.
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| Kimberly Behzadi | |
"Buffalo's never had a culinary bookstore before, but they are well known out on the West Coast. I want to bring culinary adventures to Buffalo," she said. "Whether it's finding your next cookbook, or learning that there are romantic comedies all about foodies is a great place to start."
Behzadi added that when she first heard about the space opening up, "I thought, this is perfect. There are chefs downstairs who can inspire me where I can learn about their cuisine too, so I take inspiration from downstairs and on the top floor here. We actually have a space for the cooking classes going forward."
In addition to cooking classes and food-themed books, Read It and Eat will also be starting a book club. "All the stories are about food, but if you want to support your local library and check out the book, you do that. We also can order the books for you and we have tea from Cup of Communitea in every other month, and it's a really fun time," Behzadi said.
Before Read It and Eat was a store, she began with subscription boxes, which come with a book and a treat to make after or enjoy while reading, and are still available to order online or buy at the shop.
"We actually have a Valentine's Day box coming up, where you can buy a foodie romantic comedy or literary book," Behzadi said. "There're five books to choose from, and you'll get three delicious gourmet cookies from Manchester Baking Company right downstairs."
She added: "There's so much to explore in the food space that I hope people come to the culinary bookstore and just explore the shelves and maybe something will jump out to them."