In 1973, Martha Kaemmer and her sister Mary Rice thought that the time was ripe for a culinary awakening. Cooks was born in a 1,500-square-foot storefront at the intersection of Grand Avenue and Lexington Parkway in St. Paul. There were four employees and approximately 250 different items for sale. Mary left a year later to pursue a new culinary journey in Bayfield, WI. Martha carried the company forward for more than 30 years.

We’ve moved twice. Added 2 more locations – closed one. We had 15 shops inside Marshall Fields (Dayton’s) – We gave them up when Macy’s took over. We’ve grown – we’ve contracted. Like all small business, we’ve had an interesting adventure.

Currently, we have two locations with two state-of-the-art cooking schools. We employ 65 people, and our schools rely on the services of another 50. Our inventory has grown to include more than 12,000 innovative culinary items. We offer a huge assortment of instructional opportunities and we’re always trying to help people with their culinary journey