Surfas Restaurant Supply,Gourmet Food and Commercial Kitchen Design
Written by joythebaker on September 4, 2008 – 10:08 am -
Just like heaven.
I love Surfas Restaurant Supply and Gourmet Food Market. With their seemingly endless shelves of sprinkles, funky Italian pasta, and variety of fancy rolling pins, I could easily spend 4 hours and $4,000 dollars here. Luckily, Surfas is across a treacherous amount of Los Angeles traffic, so my urge to bust out the American Express is often squelched by my disdain for bumper to bumper traffic.
Sometime last week I was bitten by the shopping bug. This bug convinces me that I simply can’t live without things like colored sprinkles (you’re all probably tired of the blue sprinkles) and giant waffle irons. The shopping bug also somehow convinces me that I actually have money to spend of these items. Dangerous combination.
With thoughts of colored sprinkles and new shiny kitchen appliances wafting through my head, I headed down to Surfas for some expensive browsing and a light lunch.
I wanted to share.
Let me tell you a little about Surfas. Surfas has been owned and operated by the same family since 1937. They stock their store full of amazing domestic and international food products, unique ingredients and virtually any type of cookware you can imagine. They have a friendly and knowledgeable staff that loves food as much as I do. If one person doesn’t have an answer to my questions, they will certainly find someone who does. The prices at Surfas are somewhere in between fair and pricey. But really, for the quality of item I’m getting and the incredible array of products, I don’t really mind shelling over the dough. Surfas also has an amazing reputation for amazing commercial kitchen design. Can you imagine!?
Surfas also has a lovely cafe that serves breakfast and lunch. I opted for the heirloom tomato salad and a lavender lemon bar.
The tomato salad was a perfect representation of summer tomatoes. Couple with soft mozzarella cheese, roasted garlic, and fragrant and flavorful olive oil- I was in heaven!
Lavender Lemon Bars were the perfect balance of cream and tart lemon. Lavender is sprinkled on top of the bar and also baked into the crust, created a more fragrant experience than something you overtly taste. Seriously yummy.
If you’re in Los Angeles I highly recommend spending an afternoon at Surfas. If you’re far far away, check them out online!
Surfas Restaurant Supply, Gourmet Food and Commercial Kitchen Design
8777 Washington Blvd
Culver City, CA 90232
(310) 558-1458
Tags: kitchen supplies, shopping, surfas
Posted in Thoughts | 30 Comments »
Oh, that lunch looks just lovely! The store looks like tons of fun, too!!!
Ooh! I can’t wait till I’m in LA next so I can check this place out. Thanks for sharing!
I love your blog! It’s on my regular reading list
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SURFAS!! one of my FAVORITE PLACES TO BE!!! i used to work near this place and when i finally took a lunchbreak to go explore, i was absolutely in heaven. i don’t even need to have a plan on what i’d be buying to go there.. i can spend hours there strolling in the aisles and just being inspired with what i could make. i would often oogle at that $3,000 mixer that they used to have at the front but i haven’t seen it there in awhile. i LOVE that place!! however, i still haven’t eaten at their little side restaurant but i think now this entry has helped to push me to make plans to go this weekend
and i also did not realize you were based in LA until reading this entry. small world 
Found you from Marie’s blog. You can never have too many sprinkles!!
I’m only an hour away — this could be a dangerous place! I’ve had their website bookmarked for a long time, but I may just have to see it in person. Thanks for the tour.
I’m far FAR away… so… I Hate you! =)
I love Surfas. When I win the lotto, I’ll be having my (newly hired) chauffeur take me here for a spree. I’ll also have to bribe them to give me the lavender lemon bar recipe. Those are so good. I eat one every time I visit. Do you think they use an emulsified butter lemon curd recipe? condensed milk? Whatever it is, it’s delicious!
Ohhh you are so very lucky to have this near. Sounds like a great place to browse all day in. I’m so jealous. Love these types of ‘great finds’.
I wanna go there!!! I’m sure I was bitten by that same bug! Thankd for sharing and I’m glad I’m far away from LA!
Again you got me, my little muse! I checked out the website and am now $50 poorer, but soooo much happier!!! God, I love baking!!!
that salad looks so wonderful and light. this store def. looks like a place i could really get bitten by the bug too…the bug also tends to bite at nordstrom, borders, banana….. :/
I think I’m addicted to buying sprinkles. I have a variety of seasonal ones and I just keep buying more! A place like Surfas sounds heavenly, but I’m really glad I don’t live near one!
Shhhh….. You’re going to give away all of our secrets!:) I am just kidding. I discovered them last year and I am so happy I did.
this seems just like my kind of place….thanks for the link to their online store which i am checking out right now……i agree…you cannot have too many sprinkles….lunch looks lovely
i could definitely spend an afternoon in a place like that! so much fun!
i really wish there is a store like Surfas here in Malaysia….i think i can spend the whole afternoon and evening there shopping! juz my kind of heaven..
This is terrible. If they didn’t have an online store, I would’ve said “oh well *shrugs*” but since they do I am in so much trouble now!!!
I want everything.
Bitterly hating that I live far away……I WISH we had something like that! What an amazing looking place!
That place looks amazing. Glad you had a fun visit!
My favorite store ever. I go VERY often. Tho I’m surprised they let you take pictures in there, usually that’s a no no…
Oh my gosh, I had no idea this place existed. And only a 15-minute drive from my house! Thanks, Joy!
I really, really, really miss Surfas . . . almost as much as I miss the SoCal surf. There’s nothing like it here in DC. Sigh . . . .
I LOVE Surfas too! I just went there with my husband this last week and we ate lunch too and bought a TON of stuff! I got the exact salad you got and last time I had lemon lavender bars too…both amazing!!!! We also had the BEST blue cheese burger there! My husband said it was the best thing he has ever tasted! Well, enough about my trip…great post!
HI Joy,
How are you? I have a question, I hope you could answer me or help me out. I am looking for a cleaver, since my husband fishes a lot. I thought it might help me with cleaning the fish etc. So, I don’t know if you have one or use one, but since you love to cook and bake, I would love to know your opinion. I have been researching for over 2 months now. My birthday is next week and I just wanted something useful. So, I hope you can help me out here. By the way, I made your raspberry quick bread and it was soo delish!! Thank you and keep inspiring our eyes and appetites. take care,
Ooh, I’m going to check this place out. 50 miles up the 405 isn’t bad, depending on the time of day…
Joy, thank you so much for introducing me to this store! I’ve been looking everywhere for a good place to buy some baking supplies, and now thanks to you I have new pans, parchment paper, dishers, and even some vanilla beans.
The best part is that it was all so reasonably priced… but the second best part is that I paid for the cheapest shipping possible and it still got to my house in two days. Thank you for this blog.
Ohhhhhh.this is the store I dream about!
Joy,
I HEART this store, and I really enjoyed your write up!!! I live relatively close to Surfas (which could be a really good…or really bad thing — ouch to my wallet), and it has become a very important part of my weekend routine. First, a latte and banana canele from the cafe to fuel me up and then the browsing/shopping begins. Thank you for sharing!
i am so totally going there when i love to los angeles. that’s the sort of place i could get lost in for HOURS.
i am so totally going there when i move to los angeles. that’s the sort of place i could get lost in for HOURS. love it!