Lindsay Marie Morris

From a young age, Brooklynite Paige Lipari yearned for a space where she could bring together her passions for food, books, and the arts. As she grew older, she realized she also wanted to share what she loved with her community.

 

Following a trip to her family's home in Alcamo, Sicily, Paige decided that the space would be a bookstore catering to gourmands by selling Sicilian and Italian specialty goods alongside cookbooks and serving as an event space for foodies and neighbors in Greenpoint, Brooklyn. And so began Archestratus Books + Foods in 2015.

 

I recently sat down with Paige, who shared more about Archestratus's start, her deep connection to Sicily, the challenges and rewards of running a niche business, how she has engaged the community, and more.

 

Tell us about your connection to Sicily.

I'm Sicilian on both sides. My father was born in Sicily, and my mother is second-generation American. I have a very strong connection with my Sicilian heritage. We go to Sicily every few years and visit my family in Alcamo.

 

My family has a city house and a country house because it was four hours to Trapani by donkey, but now it's seven minutes. They're in the city house in the winter, and then they go to the country house for the warmer months, where they have vineyards. They grow grapes, and they sell mosto to winemakers. 

I actually didn't go to Sicily until I was 19, which felt very late. And then we started going more and more, but my nonna always brought the Old World Italian. I never really related to this sort of gold chain/ white shirt Italian American—that just wasn't in my family. I grew up with a nonna who always had some wine on the table with some fruit and cheese. We always ate raw fennel after every meal.

 

She was very much into agriculture and would grow things all year long. The food was unique compared to other Italian American restaurants we visited. And she was my first anchor in that culture.

 

Archestratus specializes in vintage and new cookbooks.

What inspired you to open Archestratus, and what led to the naming of the bookstore?

When I was really young, I loved books, and there was this closet where I would sit and read by myself. And I was a latchkey kid with two working parents, so I started cooking for myself really early.

 

I kind of knew in the back of my mind that I wanted a bookstore. I also love design and making spaces feel warm and cozy. And then I love the arts, so the idea of having people perform in this space, doing conversations and talks, and keeping that intellectual stimulation.

 

It wasn't until I went to Sicily for the first time, when I was 19, and met my family, that I completely broke open this obsession with Sicilian food and, of course, Sicilian cookbooks. I fell in love with them, and it changed my life. 

When I came back, it was kind of my way of connecting with them and also preserving my heritage because my nonna was starting to have dementia. The recipes were all in her head.

 

When I learned about Sicilian cuisine, my creative juices just flowed so hard in that direction. I could never really put my finger on why it was different or what it was about until I went there.

 

Sicily's so beautiful and unique, and it's amazing to me that now it's getting its flowers as far as how it is its own place. But 20 years ago, when I started out making this food and getting really passionate about it, nobody knew. No one was talking about how it's influenced by Spain and North Africa, and there are a lot of Middle Eastern flavors, and there's the Couscous Festival and all that stuff.

 

I was passionate about spreading the word.

 

Where did the name Archestratus come from?

I read Pomp and Sustenance by Mary Taylor Simeti and read about Archestratus, and I immediately felt a connection with him. He was kind of wild in what he wrote, and he was deeply mysterious; we don't know much about him.

 

I named the store first, and then all these answers revealed themselves later. He was a poet who was more interested in places and simplicity, enjoying himself and having a good time. Food was all about that and gathering.

 

Cookbooks are documents of places, times, and people. I'm interested in how food is a way of seeing the world and bringing people together.

 

How do you select the books for your collection, and do you have any personal favorites?

I go to book sales. I love books where it feels like there's a real voice. I know there's a place for more prescriptive things that fill a niche. I just make sure that they're really of good quality and were done with intention. 

Some of my favorite books are Pomp and Sustenance and Honey from a Weed by Patience Gray.

 

Patience Gray's husband was a sculptor, and they would travel around the Greek and Italian islands in the Mediterranean, chasing marble for him. So she would spend time in these places. While he was doing the work, she would go out and sniff the windows of the homes, figure out what the women were making, and write about them in a strange, esoteric, funny way.
 

Can you share some highlights of the community spirit at your bookstore?

We started the Archestratus Cookbook Club in 2015, and it has always been successful. We pick a book every month, and then everyone shows up with one portion of a dish. Then we all just have this feast, take a little bit of everything, and try other dishes from the book to see if you want to buy it.

 

Our bake sales are probably the most incredible. We held a bake sale for the L.A. fires and raised $9,000 in three hours, which was matched by a corporate sponsor. We also held a bake sale for Joe Biden, one for Planned Parenthood, one for Ukraine, and one for Palestine. 

We usually have around 80 bakers, and then it gets people to come. It's such a great model. You spend $20, but then if it's a big sale, that $20 can turn into $200.

 

What's been your biggest business challenge?

The pandemic was a challenge, but it wasn't my biggest challenge. In a bizarre way, I almost felt like I was ready. I already wanted to expand and had been researching more food vendors.

 

During the pandemic, we were a bookstore cafe, and I was already starting to think we were outgrowing this space. So, I was already researching vendors for fresh milk and eggs and trying different things. And so I had set up all these connections, and then the pandemic hit, and I was like, well, I could do a grocery pickup.

 

On March 19, 2020, we did a grocery pickup, which was one of the first weekends. By April, we had one day when we had to pick up for 220 people. They would come up on the street with their order, and then I would fulfill it. So I had this bizarre flow happen with the pandemic, and we were O.K.

 

My biggest challenge after the pandemic was when we expanded, and then I realized, "I don't like this. I don't want to do this. I don't like having a bigger staff, and I don't like dealing with this landlord."

 

I thought I would love it, that this was what we needed. But then I realized we needed to be smaller, more flexible, and lighter on our feet.

 

I did this big thing, saying, "We're doing this." Then, I had to pull back and make that hard decision to contract.

 

Every decision I make is pretty public, but I was not doing the thing that I know I love. I love making food, and I love cooking, but it was not making me happy anymore at that level. Facing that and just financially getting through that and out of it has been extremely challenging, and I'm still dealing with the effects. 

 

What are your upcoming plans?

I know that people want recipes, and I want to share them. And so, figuring that out is going to be 2025, and starting to do that. I know there will be a newsletter, so I'm going to start writing one and sharing some of these recipes.

 

Another more community-driven thing I want to do this year is create a community zine and start making a cookbook with everybody, especially coming out of these bake sales. We have such a network of people who love to develop recipes, cook, and have family recipes. We started doing that before the pandemic, but it never got off the ground. And this is the year I want to make time.

 

What do you hope people take away from a visit to Archestratus?

I hope that they get inspired to be more of themselves. I hope that they see that we're operating on a frequency of not giving a shit, and I hope that they go off and they do whatever they want to do. 

 

 

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One of Boston's oldest neighborhoods, the North End, began attracting Italian immigrants in the late 19th century and eventually became known as Little Italy. Today, you'll find I AM Books among its iconic restaurants, bakeries, and specialty food shops.

 

Opened in 2015 by former Italian journalist Nicola Orichuia, originally from Rome, the store is known for its exclusive selection of literature by Italian and Italian-American authors and books related to Italy or Italian-American culture.

I spoke with Nicola about how the store started, his curation methods, emerging trends, ways he collaborates with authors and organizations, business challenges, and what he hopes to share.

 

 

How and why did you decide to open I AM Books?

I moved to the U.S. in 2008. I was a journalist before, and then I stumbled into this world of books. I have been a reader since I was a kid, but I had never thought about opening a bookstore until a space opened up in the North End, which is basically Boston's Little Italy.

 

I wanted to do something culturally relevant at the time. It was 2015, and opening a bookstore felt like the only economically viable way to do something culturally relevant in the realm of doing something Italian.

 

I had been working for an Italian-American publication for a long time and had started my own. I was very drawn to the world of what it meant to be Italian-American.

 

I wanted to bridge that divide I often saw between those who perceive themselves as Italians and those who perceive themselves as American Italians. And I always thought there was much more in common than people would see or talk about.

 

The bookstore was established at the end of 2015, and we were in one location for five years. COVID came, and we closed the original location. This was a blessing in disguise because several months later, we found a much bigger space with much better traffic, still in the same neighborhood. We wouldn't be able to be in any other neighborhood. It would not make any sense.

 

We're still carrying forth this mission of promoting Italian and Italian-American literature, mostly in English, but we also have books in Italian.  

Sometimes, people think we're an Italian bookstore. We're not an Italian bookstore. I like to say we are an Italian-American bookstore.

 

I Am Books' inventory includes The Last Letter from Sicily.

How do you curate your inventory?

There are usually a few rules of thumb. Anything written by an Italian author and translated into English will find its way to our bookstore. We usually try to have anything written by an Italian-American author. And most books that are either set in Italy or have something to do with Italian-American culture.

 

For example, our travel section basically only includes travel books on Italy. Our art section mostly deals with books on Italian art, but we have, for example, an entire section dedicated to Italian-American cultural studies. Some of these may be more academic. We have a huge portion of cookbooks, Italian cookbooks, and a growing section of Italian-American cookbooks.

 

We also have to keep an eye on the book market's demand, so we're very careful about that. We try to be a place that can be a home for book lovers.

What trends are you seeing in Italian-American literature?

There's definitely more investment in translation. I think the phenomenon of Elena Ferrante and the My Brilliant Friend books has really sort of opened the gates to more Italian contemporary literature, as well as the rediscovery of authors of the past who have been retranslated.

 

Other trends are tied more to the general book market. There's a lot of historical fiction. There's also a lot of romance, although we tend not to have a lot of romance in our store. There's a big category called Romantasy now, which is a mix of fantasy and romance that is very popular.

 

We try to have just the titles that everyone wants. We are big on fiction and classics. People still gravitate to classics and evergreen titles.

 

How do you collaborate with authors and organizations?

We have ties to many cultural organizations. For example, we offer discounts to members of the Dante Alighieri Society. They have members all across the country and the world.

 

We have special discounts and promotions with book clubs. Again, these could be book clubs anywhere in the country.

 

We try to do our best with authors, such as authors who self-publish. However, it's not always easy because we sometimes have to turn down self-published authors—not because of the quality of the work. It's just because space is limited, and sometimes it's very hard to give them the right visibility.  

I always try to guide self-published authors to find a way to get their books published. It will also help them get publicity and get the book out there. 

 

What challenges do you face?

Everyone in business has many challenges. With a bookstore, you always have to be aware of what you sell, what is coming out, and what people want.

 

The challenge I had at first, which I've overcome after 10 years, is that you have to be patient and figure things out, which takes time. I think when you are a new business, you try to do too many things. For example, when we started, we would do a lot of events—multiple events a week—and after a while, that took a toll on the staff and the bookstore, too.

 

At one point, we reduced the number of events and became more selective about which ones we did. That ended up being beneficial for the bookstore because even our customers and the public were more engaged and would come out more. You have to make some sacrifices, but those sacrifices are actually for the benefit of what you're trying to do. 

This year, we're celebrating our 10-year anniversary as a bookstore. I hope we can be here for the next 10 or 20 years and keep growing and establishing ourselves beyond our city limits.

 

We import books in Italian. That is a niche that we really know how to work with. We really know how to deal with publishers in Italy. And even though it's a smaller niche than, let's say, books in French, Spanish, or even Japanese, there's still demand.

 

We're trying to get our bookstore's name in libraries and schools across the country. We want to let those who might be teaching Italian or are interested in expanding a catalog of Italian titles know that we're here for them and that we can work together.

 

What do you hope to share?

What I really like about what we do is that we offer a space where the community feels welcome. And I know that's how they feel. They often walk away saying, "This is a nice bookstore."

 

We also try to offer an experience within the bookstore that leaves you with something. Our world now is very bland and homogenous.

 

I was on Instagram the other day, and someone was comparing what McDonald's looked like 50 years ago to what it looks like now. And 50 years ago, it was all colors, with paintings on the walls and colorful tables. And now McDonald's is this robotic experience where you walk in, there's a screen, and you don't even interact with a person. Everything is white and very ice-cold.

When people walk into a place where you have actually put in some thought and a little bit of creativity, they notice that—even if they don't buy anything. They've been inspired by something, be it the books that we carry or the types of shelves that we have (most of them are custom-made). 

We should strive to do this and keep trying. I think bookstores can do the same. Creative people, like authors, want to leave something that sticks with the reader and inspires them. Hopefully, we can achieve this or at least transmit some inspiration to our community. 

 

 

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