Chef opens shop inspired by rare cookbook collection
STRATFORD — Corey Reilly has almost always had a fascination with cookbooks.
The long-time chef has spent much of his life collecting vintage and rare cookbooks from around the world, and when the COVID-19 pandemic upended the restaurant industry nearly four years ago, he began selling some online in 2020.
Last month, that passion project became a brick-andmortar business with the grand opening of Foodies Cookbook Shop on Main Street, where Reilly sells a wide variety of cookbooks, cooking utensils and specialty ingredients, such as spices.
But the storefront across from Paradise Green does not just offer items to help improve a home kitchen. Reilly also wants guests themselves to become better chefs and is providing group culinary classes.
“I thought it’d be a good idea to have a little bookshop, but I also needed another element to it to produce income,” Reilly said. “I thought a cooking school would be pretty neat, so I combined the two elements: the cookbook store and the cooking classes.”
To that end, Foodies has been outfitted with a kitchen and a larger central dining table where participants prepare and have meals all under Reilly’s personal tutelage.
At a recent cooking class, Reilly taught a dozen guests the art of making fresh pasta. He started by instructing them to mix flour and eggs into a handmade dough before going over the recipe.
After allowing the dough to rest, he then showed the class how to roll it into different pasta shapes, including garganelli and a butternut squash-stuffed tortellini that was later served in a sage brown butter sauce.
Like most of Foodies’ cooking classes, the pasta course spanned about two and a half hours and concluded with a meal shared by the participants. Guests are encouraged to bring wine to the sessions and often
finish the meal with dessert.
Reilly said he plans to cover a large range of dishes from cuisine across the globe, including tapas and dumplings. This weekend, he is scheduled to teach participants how to prepare the Peruvian seafood dish ceviche, as well as different
takes on the traditional recipe.
The ideas for the different classes, Reilly said, were largely inspired by recipes found in his collection of cookbooks, some of which are prominently featured on Foodies’ walls. The classes, which cost between $85 and $95 per person depending
on the course, are capped at 12 participants to give a personal feel.
“I keep the classes small because it’s a really hands-on experience and I want there to be enough room for everybody,” he said.
A native New Yorker, Reilly got his start in the culinary world after graduating from Culinary Institute of America in 1994 and spent years working in different cities across the country, including Sante Fe and Key West.
He previously owned his own restaurants and has spent much of the last 12 years working as a food service consultant, a job that saw him help design restaurants and other culinary-related facilities.
Reilly said he had long considered opening a physical location when he stumbled upon the current Main Street storefront last year during a stroll with his wife.
“I really love the Paradise Green area,” said Reilly, who lives about a mile from the park. “One day we were walking and we just saw that there was a space available for lease and that’s how we found this place.”
Foodies is one of two new businesses which have recently set up shop or are preparing to open at Paradise Green, according to the town’s office of economic and community development. The other is Sol Flowers n’ Coffee, which is located at the former gas station at the corner of Main and Brewster streets.
Reilly said he has been buoyed by the amount of interest local residents have shown in the store since he opened in mid-December. He described the cooking class customers as an eclectic mix that includes couples enjoying date nights, people passionate about food and individuals with virtually no cooking experience.
But he noted they all share one thing in common: an interest in exploring an experience unique to Stratford’s restaurant scene. He also found that customers were eager for an opportunity to meet their neighbors in an inviting setting.
“Even though everyone in my classes seemed to be pretty local to Stratford, they didn’t know each other,” Reilly said. “But then they all started talking and eating together. It was like a community table.”
Reilly said he hopes Foodies will evolve as it attempts to reach new guests. Among other things, he wants to source much of his ingredients from the Paradise Green Market when it opens in late spring and intends to partner with local fishermen to host an oyster shucking class.
He is also considering holding classes for vegetarians and has arranged courses exclusively designed for teenagers looking to learn their way around a kitchen. Ultimately, Reilly said he wants the store to be a space where any foodie would feel welcome.
“I am really excited,” he said. “There’s a lot of things we can do that are unique and different.”