{"id":265912,"date":"2026-08-15T13:04:22","date_gmt":"2026-08-15T13:04:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/265912\/"},"modified":"2026-08-15T13:04:22","modified_gmt":"2026-08-15T13:04:22","slug":"how-to-have-a-perfect-philly-day-according-to-binding-agents-cookbook-shop-owner-catie-gainor","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/265912\/","title":{"rendered":"How to have a perfect Philly day, according to Binding Agents cookbook shop owner Catie Gainor"},"content":{"rendered":"

Catie Gainer conceived the idea of a bookstore dedicated to cookbooks in a \u201cfever dream\u201d four years ago. Today, her 350-square-foot shop Binding Agents<\/a> has become a destination for home cooks, chefs, and authors in the Italian Market neighborhood.<\/p>\n

\u201cI really envision myself being a stop on the path in the Italian Market \u2014 pick up things on your way up and down Ninth Street and step in to [Binding Agents] to grab a book, whether it\u2019s a beach read or a cookbook to plan your holiday,\u201d she previously told The Inquirer<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The shop has also become a community gathering space where Gainor hosts a monthly cookbook club and every guest brings a dish from a featured cookbook. <\/p>\n

On her perfect Philly day, Gainor loves basking in the abundance of the Italian Market. She makes quintessential stops, often running into her customers along the way, and ending the day by cooking an omelet. <\/p>\n

I am not a morning person, but I have a 3 year old, so I usually start clawing my way out of sleep when she wakes up. This is a perfect day, so it\u2019s a Saturday. My daughter is jumping into bed with me for a snuggle and a chat before my husband, Matt \u2014 an early riser\u2014 takes over the morning routine. I\u2019ll remain horizontal and half awake until about 8 a.m. <\/p>\n

I get up, get dressed, and trundle down the stairs. My husband and daughter have wandered up the street to Mug Coffee & Clay, so I step out to meet them. I love their iced coffee \u2014 but since we\u2019re sitting in, I get a cortado. Matt and my daughter have been bringing in pastries from Rougarou Baking on the weekends. [It\u2019s] a gorgeous apricot tart [today]. By the time I sit down, my child is completely covered in croissant crumbs and asking me the names of clay-shaping tools I\u2019ve never seen before \u2014 bliss.<\/p>\n

We head over to Gold Star Park to enjoy the perfect weather for a bit. Miraculously, I remembered to bring lawn chairs. So, my husband and I set them up and I pull out a book. I usually have multiple books going, one we carry in the shop and one (or two) we don\u2019t. A recent in-store fave was What I Made for Dinner by former Philly resident Krys Malcolm Belc. Another summer release I loved was Rainbow Rowell\u2019s Cherry Baby \u2014 not at all culinary, but I liked it so much that I stocked it in the shop anyway.<\/p>\n

Then, I\u2019ll walk my family back home and head up to the store. I feel connected to the neighborhood \u2014 and the city, really \u2014 in a way I never did before. I say, \u2018Hi\u2019 to some local customers and market pals as I make my way up Ninth Street. It\u2019s the best.<\/p>\n

I arrive at the shop and flip the shop sign \u2014 and I\u2019m holding back from hollering, \u201cCookbooks! Cookbooks for sale!\u201d like some kind of deranged Eliza Doolittle. Folks slowly wander in. I love seeing coffee cups from all over, giant bags of Isgro\u2019s Pastries, and hearing reports about the lunch lines at Angelo\u2019s and Mawn. On a perfect day, I\u2019m flinging book recommendations left and right, and everyone\u2019s kitchen problems or gift-giving conundrums are solved. <\/p>\n

My best friend Kate arrives to help for the afternoon after her morning class at Movement Source Pilates (which I also love). She brings me a lavender lemonade from Gleaners and a tofu banh mi from Pho Skyline. I eat my sandwich in the back and eavesdrop while she beautifies the shelves and chats with customers. Someone\u2019s going home with a copy of Dinner Changing the Game<\/a> by Melissa Clark.<\/p>\n

Later, I\u2019m leaving Kate behind at the store so I can run up to Kin Boutique. Whenever I need a clothing item for any reason\/occasion, that\u2019s where I\u2019m starting. It feels like entering Cheers, and I immediately have a Diet Coke in hand and 12 things to try in the dressing room. Everyone in the store celebrates my grand sartorial successes. I love them.<\/p>\n

Shopping took less time than I thought, so I text Matt and a bunch of friends that I\u2019m assembling snacks for a Di Bruno Bros. Piazza happy hour. I gather all my favorite things from Biederman\u2019s, Claudio\u2019s, Di Bruno\u2019s, and Tortillaria San Roman, then raid Binding Agents for some cutlery, cups, and napkins. While I\u2019m back at the shop, I grab an upcoming cookbook off the shelf of advance copies to take home \u2014 I\u2019ll see if I can use it for meal planning next week. <\/p>\n

The shop closes and my crew descends on the Piazza. My kid gives me a full account of her day before becoming engrossed in the giant Connect 4. I pour Gulp Hablo Orange into cups. I am one with the universe.<\/p>\n

The party breaks up as my friends head off for evening plans about town. My family and I head to John\u2019s Water Ice for a slouching-off-to-toddler-bedtime treat. Many years ago, Matt discovered the gelati combo of lemon water ice with raspberry chocolate chip ice cream. The ice cream has teeny tiny little chocolate cups with a dot of raspberry jam inside each one. It is transcendent, and that\u2019s what I get.<\/p>\n

My daughter\u2019s book selection is \u2014 unsurprisingly \u2014 very food focused. Lately Thank You, Omu [by Oge Mora] has been on repeat at bedtime. I love this one because I get to do lots of voices, and the lyrical repetition is so lovely. <\/p>\n

Once she\u2019s down, I\u2019m not truly hungry but I am a little peckish \u2014 and I am realizing I haven\u2019t cooked today. Turning on the stove sounds good. I grab a half loaf of Mighty Bread Co. sourdough from the counter, pull some vegetable odds-and-ends out of the fridge, and make a French-ish omelet. I am not good at rolling them but enjoy both the process and the eating, so I keep trying. I assemble plates \u2014 and Matt and I dig in. <\/p>\n

\"Hira<\/a><\/p>\n

I’m a food writer who covers community food stories, trends shaping the local food scene, useful guides, and explainers on all things food for all Philadelphians to live their best food-filled lives.\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Catie Gainer conceived the idea of a bookstore dedicated to cookbooks in a \u201cfever dream\u201d four years ago.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":265913,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[112251,69,71,70],"class_list":["post-265912","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-philadelphia","tag-binding-agents-catie-gainor-perfect-philly-day-2026","tag-philadelphia","tag-philadelphia-headlines","tag-philadelphia-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/265912","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=265912"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/265912\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/265913"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=265912"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=265912"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=265912"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}