When Jayla Simms walked into Anchovy Book Co. on a hot Sunday afternoon this month, she felt like she stepped inside a friend’s kitchen.

Simms doesn’t consider herself a great cook, but after spending nearly a half-hour browsing through a curated selection of mostly hardcover cookbooks, she left with a vintage recipe book and motivation to spend more time cooking.

“Something about a cookbook, it just feels so homey and cozy,” Simms said. “Having a physical copy of a book makes [cooking] feel a little bit more slow and intentional, I think.”

At just 6 feet wide, the store on Cherokee Street is compact, like its namesake tin of fish, but it is thoughtfully packed with color and cookbooks. The specialty store opened last November and has been attracting novices and avid cooks alike who are

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