A new cookbook shop is coming to the Italian Market this October

In a “fever dream,” Catie Gainor conceived the idea of opening a bookstore dedicated to cookbooks.

After two years, the illness-induced idea is becoming a reality. Gainor will officially open Binding Agents, a 350-square-foot bookstore, in the Italian Market in October. An official date hasn’t been set yet. But more than 250 people got a sneak peek during a pop-up at the 2024 Philly Bookstore Crawl.

The idea formed while Gainor was sick in bed, scrolling through Instagram. She came across a post from Book Larder, a Seattle-based cookbook shop, showing the staff hanging out with James Beard Award-winning food writer and chef J. Kenji López-Alt after an event. Seeing them having fun, Gainor thought, “I could do something like this in Philly, too.”

While the Instagram post spurred Gainor into action, her late mother was a deeper inspiration. Gainor’s mother, who died in 2021, was “a great host, a wonderful cook — she taught me to cook and to love food.”

Gainor’s goal is to create a “coastal chic and comfy atmosphere” in the store that reflects her late mother’s style and invites Philadelphians to browse the bookshelves.

Customers will find cookbooks like Amrikan by Khushbu Shah, memoirs like Slow Noodles by Chantha Nguon, and other food-centered books on shelves and a dining table that Gainor thought was a fitting addition to the shop. Kitchen accessories, like fun oven mitts, decorative toothpicks, and “other stuff that adds a little zing to your cooking life,” will also be available.

“I really envision myself being a stop on the path in the Italian Market — pick up things on your way up and down Ninth Street and step in to [Binding Agents] to grab a book, whether it’s a beach read or a cookbook to plan your holiday,” she said.

Opening her cookbook store in the Italian Market was a no-brainer for Gainor, who sees the neighborhood as the “culinary epicenter of the city.”

Gainor also plans to host events in the store, including cookbook clubs, author meet-and-greets, signings, and classes. She’s partnered with Sisterly Love Collective’s Cookbooks & Convos, which aims to empower female chefs and authors, to support venues and secure books for the series running from Oct. 8 to 22.

The bookstore owner, who previously worked in communications before focusing on the business full-time, hopes to create a place where food lovers can build a community — as the store’s name suggests.

“I love my silly little pun — ‘binding agents’ are the things that we use particularly in baking to hold things to together, and books have bindings,” she said. “I was also thinking food brings people together, and it’s connective — these are ties that bind us, sitting around the table and sharing a meal or a snack.”

📆 Opening day: In October📍908 Christian St., Philadelphia, Pa. 19147, 📷 @bindingagents