Bonnie Slotnick Cookbooks, Greenwich Village | Image: Laura Messersmith — **Bonnie Slotnick Cookbooks, Greenwich Village** | Image: *Laura Messersmith*

Once upon a time, some brilliant soul coined the term ‘hangry’ defined by Urban Dictionary as being “so hungry that your lack of food causes you to become angry, frustrated or both.” Sounds unpleasant.

I am guilty of hangry feelings from time to time, but I also need a term for humidity-induced irritability. If the Internet could please work on developing this term for me I’d be grateful. This whole week and again today has been just full of moody, rainy, not really hot, but still sticky days that put me right into a funk.

What’s a girl to do when she’s in the midst of a weather-induced bad attitude? In my case, a little change of scenery helps and preferably one that includes an adorable neighborhood, a mild dose of retail therapy, and some escapist reading.

Ladies and Gentlemen, I give you: Bonnie Slotnick Cookbooks a shop specializing in food-related books and periodicals deep in the heart of Greenwich Village. Add an ice cream cone to the mix and I’m telling you it’s gold.

The shop is packed floor to ceiling with books of all shapes and sizes covering range of food and cooking related topics from a variety of eras – antique to modern. Alongside what I’d consider the classics of cooking and commentary (James Beard, Julia Child, Paul Bocuse, M.F.K. Fisher, Elizabeth David) are spiral-bound volumes by local Junior League chapters, glossy hardcovers by celebrity chefs, cozy memoirs from literary food writers, and tomes on entertaining.

Bonnie Slotnick Cookbooks is a great spot for happy discoveries and treasure hunting – no need to wait for a rainy day. I easily spent over an hour browsing the shelves before finally forcing myself out the door a like-new copy of Judith Jones’s The Tenth Muse: My Life in Food tucked under my arm feeling significantly less grumpy. Crisis averted!