Cool Surfas

For all of you serious home chefs and food enthusiasts out there, I've found the place for you -- "Surfas, a Chef's Paradise." Surfas is a family owned store serving the food industry since 1937. Located at National & Washington in Culver City, Surfas is the serious cooking store and not at all like your local Williams-Sonoma or Sur la Table.

Surfas has it all! From chocolate to olive oil to foie gras, from cake pans to restaurant grade pots to table top plates and platters, it is all on display. It's almost sensory overload for those of us who enjoy cooking stores. We witnessed an entire four shelves of various types of chocolate and cocoa powder as well as an entire row of vinegars and olive oils in all shapes, sizes and flavors. (See photos below.)

One full side of the store is a freezer case of pastas, gourmet frozen foods ranging from foie gras to pigeons and quails, ice creams and gelatos and much more. There is also a large refrigerated section of coldcuts, cheeses and various other gourmet foods that you can pick-up easily for that night's preparation.

Whether you're in the mood for baking, Italian food, Korean food, Indian food or the like, Surfas will have the spice, starch and hard-to find ingredient for you. Often times, the portion of items is large (after all, this is a restaurant supply store), however, yours truly managed to find a lot of items for her own kitchen -- cold pressed Italian olive oil, sticky toffee sauce (to satisfy her betrothed's love for ice cream and condiments), lemon-infused and pomegranate-infused simple syrup for those occasional martini's, Tahitian vanilla among other items. We also purchased a whole case of San Marzano imported canned tomatoes -- a necessity for homemade pasta sauce this fall and winter.

A large part of the store is devoted to cooking utensils, i.e., pots, pans, industrial grade hot dog cookers and warmers, cake pans, pastry tools, plates and platters, glasses and various other supplies that would delight any restaurant or hotel kitchen's quick fix. We found the prices of simple tools like a cheese grater, pastry hand tool, oven thermometer, etc. to be on par with or cheaper than Williams-Sonoma and Sur la Table.

For those of you that are interested in Surfas, but can't easily make it to Culver City, their website makes it easy for you to browse and purchase. There is also a link on the website for various recipes, likely to be some from local chefs that have taught in the Surfas demonstration kitchen located within the store.

For those of you that do make it to Surfas, there's an interesting cafe on-site which makes it easy to refuel before, during or after your shopping extravaganza. It serves various beverages, renowned cheeses, reinvented salads, rekindled soups and redefined sandwiches.

It's all cool at Surfas! Check it out!

http://www.surfas.com/

http://www.cafesurfas.com/