I guess I must be a pseudo-foodie, or, at the very least a lapsed foodie because somehow the amazing restaurant supply store, Surfas, in Culver City, California completely passed me by before two weeks ago. Steven and Dana, two friends of ours, had mentioned in passing how wonderful it was and I realized I didn’t know what it was nor had I ever been. Some local foodie I am! The place has been in the same location since 1937 and I used to work in Los Angeles restaurants.

So a couple of Saturdays ago Robert and I made the trek (pilgrimage) across town to Culver City, the 5 south, to the 110 south, to the 10 west, off at the West Washington Blvd. exit, to see for ourselves what the fuss was all about it. And I fell in love with the place. A true restaurant supply store full of the industrial-sized equipment, mixers, ovens, ranges, dishwashers, cutlery, china and other supplies I was used to seeing in restaurant supply stores. But then there was the addition of the food items – this I hadn’t seen in most other shops. A counter for bread, cheese, charcuterie; shelves of olive oils and vinegars, all manner of spices, ingredients for world cuisines, pastas, varieties of rice, huge slabs of Callebaut baking chocolate, and other baking ingredients for the professional or serious home baker. All very high quality, amazing stuff. All open to the public, and the public was there in force. Usually a restaurant supply store is for wholesale trade; for those opening, or already owning a restaurant. Surfas is different. It also invites and sells retail to the public. Additionally, it has a café, Café Surfas, where it sells coffees, baked goods, sandwiches and salads.

We were there on one of those recent cool, rainy weekends. A perfect day for this outing. We grabbed sandwiches and coffee in the café then set off to explore the store. It was such fun poking through all of the rows and rows of supplies and gourmet food items, and it took me back to my days of cooking and working in restaurants and fancy food stores. It also made me want to add to my meager kitchen but I held back. Before we left we grabbed a hunk of Spanish sheep’s milk cheese, a fresh baguette and a jar of delicious Cajun Power Jalapeño Pepper Jelly, as well as a stove-top ring to rest my wok in. I now know where to go when I do need something for the kitchen or simply when I want a coffee, a sandwich and a gander at all the wonderful gadgets this great shop has on offer.

http://www.surfasonline.com/

Surfas
8777 Washington Blvd.
Culver City, CA 90232
310-287-2375

Photo Credit: Robert Guerrero

*The Local Report(s): are occasional blog posts on restaurants, and/or businesses that either support the idea of one-hundred miles, and ‘living life locally’; or are small, localized businesses in my neighborhood, and/or within one-hundred miles of my residence, that I prefer to support over the larger, national, corporate chains. For other The Local Report(s) please go the Archives section of this blog. Also, I’d love to hear from my readers about businesses that they support in their neighborhoods: write to me at charlesgthompson@100miles.com, or leave a comment here.

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