They share their love of pastry and prose

PORTLAND, Maine -- Every time someone walks through the front door of Rabelais Books, the buff-colored terrier mutt, Raleigh, bounds over. "He thinks it's UPS," says Don Lindgren, the shop's co-owner.

A dog who anticipates the day's delivery of cookbooks? That's my kind of canine.

"No," says Lindgren. "The UPS guy gives him dog biscuits."

Don and Samantha Hoyt Lindgren's storefront shop, which opened in April, specializes in new, out-of-print, and rare books on food, wine, and the arts. With its modern track lighting, white walls, and jazz humming in the background, the open, spacious spot feels more art gallery than used bookshop. Volumes are arranged on Metro shelving by subject, others are stacked on work tables from a kitchen-supply store, with out-of-print books covered in archival covers, neatly mixed in with the new. Rabelais is the anti-chain, a place that stocks what the customers want, not what the publishers are pushing that season. Chain bookstores, for instance, often order for each location just one or two copies of books that don't have a massive publicity machine behind them. The Lindgrens order books that they think are worth owning.

Rare tomes are kept in a glassed-in case next to the register. This is where you'll find "Grape Culture, Wines, and Wine Making. With Notes Upon Agriculture and Horticulture." written in 1862 by Agoston Haraszthy, often described as the father of the California wine industry. There's also a 1778 edition of "Le Parfait Boulanger" by Antoine Augustin Parmentier. It's an important book for bakers with an eye for history, since it was the first time an author wrote about the use of salt in bread. The price? $4,000.

If you're not feeling so literary -- or flush -- there are a select number of kitsch and Americana classics, like Poppy Cannon's "New Can-Opener Cookbook" or the infamous "I Hate to Cook Book" by Peg Bracken. Tables hold stacks of more recent food writing: Michael Pollan's "The Omnivore's Dilemma" and David Lebovitz on ice cream in "The Perfect Scoop."

"We talk to a lot of local chefs and home cooks," says Don Lindgren. "We'll have someone look through our wine section and tell me, 'You know, you should really have this book' -- and I can go out and get it." Lindgren also attends book fairs and buys from private libraries to keep stock fresh and relevant.

On a sunny summer morning, there's a regular patter of foot traffic through the store. Two women scour the shelves for macrobiotic books. Another customer settles into a rattan chair and leafs through a pile of cookbooks he's picked out. Eventually it clicks with Raleigh that not everyone walking through the door is Pete, the biscuit-packing UPS driver, and he settles down for a nap.

Rabelais Books is a third act for both Lindgrens. Samantha Hoyt Lindgren worked as a photo editor for Forbes, Life, and People, then switched gears to attend the Institute of Culinary Education in New York, where she trained as a pastry chef. When a bout of tendinitis threatened her baking career, she pondered her next move.

Her husband was also ready for a new challenge. For 25 years, he'd been dealing in rare books, specializing in art and philosophy, and in the early 1990s he worked at Sony Music International, where he was associate director of artist development. Two years ago, the Lindgrens moved from New York to southern Maine, and in late 2006, on their way to lunch, they spotted the vacant storefront on Middle Street. At that point, they were enthusiastic collectors of food and wine books.

They took to the location immediately. "It's such a food street," says Samantha Hoyt Lindgren, pointing out Hugo's restaurant next door and Duckfat across the street. There are 230 eateries in Portland, impressive for a city with a population of 64,000, and Maine foods play a vital role in the national food scene. There are only a handful of stores around the world that specialize in food and wine volumes.

"The independent book trade is under assault and struggling," says Don Lindgren, who refuses to be intimidated by current industry problems. "There are the differences with publishers, the woes with real estate, a shrinking customer base. I thought it was time to try some of the things that I thought would work in a shop that sold both used and new books."

To that end, the couple recently hosted a signing by Maine native and Mediterranean expert Nancy Harmon Jenkins for "Cucina del Sol: A Celebration of Southern Italian Cooking." Guests were offered food and wine from the region. Jenkins brought an armful of copies of "Flavors of Puglia," which is out of print in this country (on amazon.com, used copies go for about $168) and was recently reprinted in English by an Italian publisher.

Another time, fishmonger Ingrid Bengis stopped by and offered to sign a copy of "The French Laundry Cookbook," by restaurateur Thomas Keller. Bengis, who lives in Maine part of the year, is featured in a spread. "We took that copy home with us," Samantha Hoyt Lindgren admits.

What you won't find at Rabelais: cookbooks by some of the darlings on the Food Network. "I don't know what we'd do if Rachael Ray walked in," she says.

Note to Ray: Bring dog biscuits.

Rabelais Books, 86 Middle St., Portland, Maine, 207-774-1044, rabelaisbooks.com.