"restaurant supply" news and stories

Ever since I went away to college, I have found myself accumulating cooking utensils. It started out innocently at first. A spatula here, a wooden spoon there. But then suddenly it turned into 12 wooden spoons, seven different rubber scrapers and a cacophony of whisks, slotted spoons and hand beaters. And then came the knives. I acquired a terrific knife from a boyfriend as we were breaking up and it changed my cooking life drastically. It was a world away from the nearly dull knives I grew up with in my parents' house and there was no going back.

I now have a minor obsession with good, sharp knives. A couple of weeks ago, I found myself surfing a restaurant supply website on a Saturday night (it is an exciting life I lead) looking at knives. I couldn't help myself, I placed an order. They arrived Monday and they are better than any new toy I got as a child (not that you would give sharp knives to children). I'm finding myself looking for excuses to chop and slice, just to get another opportunity to take these puppies out for a little exercise.

One of the nice things about buying knives from restaurant supply companies is that you don't have to pay a whole lot of money to get good stuff. Both the knives I bought hovered right around $20 and are fantastic. And they make cooking even more of a joy than normal.

photo by Marisa McClellan

Though the news clips on their website are no longer available, it seems that Surfas, the restaurant supply store in Culver City, Ca, will be closing as of November 1 this year. The City of Culver City has declared the property on which the store is located "Eminent Domain," and will be using it for a large re-development project. According to food blog Eating LA apparently, owner "Les Surfas, whose father opened the store in 1937, has refused to accept Culver City's offer of $4.89 million to buy the Surfas warehouse." Others are speculating that the store will not close,and will simply move to another location.

• Rumours and discussion at Chowhound
• Save Our Surfas Blog
• News at Eating LA
• Les Surfas answers questions about his refusal of the offer from Culver City to buy