November 17, 2008

Food for Thought

Omnivore Books on Food Opens

What do you get when you take an old butcher shop, add stacks of culinary books, and garnish it with a dollop of history?

Omnivore Books on Food.

The new Noe Valley boutique, run by rare books specialist Celia Sack, has an impressive assortment: Collectibles date back to the early 19th century; newer titles include regional cookbooks and gardening guides.

Try recipes from a 1914 copy of Bohemian San Francisco, and throw a party just to serve 19th-century concoctions from The Flowing Bowl: What and When to Drink. For something more recent, pick up On the Line, by famed NYC seafood chef Eric Ripert, or Prehistoric Cooking, a hilarious homage to ancient techniques.

You’ll eat it up.

Omnivore Books on Food, 3885a Cesar Chavez Street, at Church Street (415-282-4712 or omnivorebooks.com).