Just to the side of the hubub of the main market drag, Blenheim is still a small slice of how Notting Hill used to be. Heidi Lascelles was a nurse inspired back in 1983 to set up a book shop dedicated to cookery. And having moved the shop across the road she installed a kitchen to test recipes and give customers a taste of what they were reading. Her first chef was the writer Annie Bell. Another minder of the shop was one of the Two Fat Ladies Clarissa Dickson Wright for four years. The current owners Rosie Kindersley and Eric Treuille (who cooks) keep up the tradition (they met at the shop), Heidi meanwhile is in Tuscany organising food tours. The web site is a bit old fasioned but you might expect that from bookish types, sort of fusty in a nice way. They say there are about 8,000 books in stock and not just recipes but also foodie fiction, chemistry, nutrition, art – if you can eat it they probablky have it. A better place to spend your money than Amazon. A higher quality browse with coffee and cakes in the caffe. Or upstairs there are regular workshops too. Email for details
Books For Cooks
4 Blenheim Crescent,
Notting Hill,
London
W11 1NN
