Wednesday, June 3, 2009

Skin Deep


Where do good little chefs go? Straight to Surfas in Culver City. Say nighty night, Sur La Table and Williams-Sonoma, this place has the high end without the mark up.

Need a dozen inexpensive ramekins for creme brulee? They got it. Want a lemonade dispenser for the kiddie party? A meat grinder for your husband's crazy sausage obsession? Gold, silver, or plain white doilies for the dozens of cakes you're gonna whip up? Got, got, and got it.

Okay, belt-tightening's going on, and in order to do my part for the economy without appearing ostentatious I bought tartlet molds with the removable bottoms ($1.49, how could I resist?). a roll of parchment paper (under $5), a tube of harissa (consider it Moroccan salsa) and a medium sized vat of dried mushrooms (under $10). Throw in the afore mentioned ramekins, a quiche mold, and a restaurant ready creamer, and we still managed to escape for under $50.

As the commercials say: Heaven, priceless.

7 comments:

  1. Sausage obsession indeed. Harrumph!

    ReplyDelete
  2. I adore Surfas and always incorporate a stop there when I'm headed west.

    Last trip I bought a small marble mortar and pestle, a domed cake cover (as a gift to go with cake), sanding sugar in an irressistible bronze color and Tiffany blue take-out boxes.

    I saw those tartlet molds. Very tempting.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I don't have the free time to sit in traffic to go across town to CulverCity. I'll stik with SurLaTable on Colorado.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Sounds like a fun place. Glad you are giddy about your bargains.

    ReplyDelete
  5. This is one place on my list that I haven't made it to yet - I'm sure I'll have to clear some cupboard space before I go!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Dear all:
    It really is the place to go if you're missing that certain something. But it takes time to get there and back, so try out one of Culver City's fancy restaurants, or squeeze in a happy hour, or stop in at Versailles Cuban place for cheap and cheerful. And good. Darn good.

    ReplyDelete