I used to love Sur La Table. They had all kinds of wonderments. But then they streamlined their inventory and it's all very well merchandised, but no longer surprising and delightful. I like the baking pans from the restaurant supply better, and for pots (which I don't really need at this point) you can't beat the Le Creuset outlet sale, especially if you have a friend or two who want to make a day of it. If you know what you want, they'll send it, but the fun part is the finds. Like when I'd just finished my kitchen they had these petite cocottes, in a sort of airbrush speckle blue or red on white. They were designed and sold for Japan. I didn't get one because I really didn't need the size, but I'm still charmed. It would be perfect for rice. :) People give me knives. Good ones. That I like. Weird, huh? There used to be a marvelous cutlery store (also a trek), but the people retired. There's another one, but I think they specialize in Japanese. I tend to like German. And people give them to me. Since I came to detente with Amazon, I'll often look there first for a little something I need because any decent kitchen store is a trek.

AAh.....a store with vintage cookware!! be still my heart! The nearest I can come to that is Good Will...or perhaps an estate sale of someone known to love kitchen ware.
but I do get a huge kick out of the commercial cookware place...basic knives with orange plastic handles, aluminum sautee pans, stacks of cotton towels....you know...like that!

Plllog, people give you knives? I want friends like that.

That reminds me, San Francisco has a store dedicated to high-end Japanese knives too, but I forget its name.

I like browsing Sur La Table too, but its nice to find a small store with quirky, unusual, old stuff.

I don't know of any here, although I have fun shopping the on line auction and Goodwill and various thrift stores, and I got that Le Crueset for $30 a skillet, never used, and the $400 rice cooker for $20 or so.

I do go to Homegoods and Tuesday Morning and Marshall's when I'm in Grand Rapids and sometimes I find something fun, but not usually. I have more fun in the second hand stores and thrift shops.

I did just go to the Corningware/Pyrex outlet shop at the new outlet mall, Elery's sister was here visiting along with her son and DIL. So, while the DIL was wandering Kate Spade and the sister was shopping for shoes, Elery and I went to the Pyrex outlet, LOL. I bought some lids for small bowls for $1.99 each, so I didn't spend any money I didn't have, but they did have some refurbished VitaMixes that made me look twice.

Annie

I don't think I've ever bought a serious knife, myself. :) Yes, I'm lucky that way. :)

There's a wonderfully quirky kitchenware store that looks like an overgrown market stall. And probably is. The kind of place poor immigrants shop. They have very different stuff. :) Unusual. Sometimes rather questionable. :) Another place I've had a lot of fun is the Corning outlet. They had a lot of other stuff besides Corningware and Pyrex (cross posted with Annie on that!). But I don't think I've ever seen the kind of treasure store you described. Bloomingdale's is good for stroking John Pawson pots. :) And there are wonderful little ethnic stores where they stare at you and gossip about you in languages that you don't understand where they have cooking stuff you don't understand either. But mostly we have lots of professional supply houses.

I was recently in Cookin' and spoke to
the lady who owns the place -- she is quite the character and is
infamous for her brusque demeanor. She comes off as rude to the
unprepared -- she suffers no fool. It's an amazing
shop -- like a hoarder who is also a cookware/gadget freak decided to
open a small store. The piles and piles of vintage kitchenware are mounded, and yet somewhat organized. She knows exactly where each item is, and all you have to say "What are your looking for?" (Which she'll shout at you as you enter) and she'll direct you to the item. Pricing I find is usually fair, not thrift-shop bargains.

I know
exactly what you bought, btw and she complained about the new machine to
me as well! Myself, I managed to escape only with a vintage 3 mm thick
copper saucepan, refurbished with brand-new tin, imported by her from
France on one of her many sourcing trips. You really have to have
something in mind when you go there, because you could spend hours in
that tiny shop.

Here's a feature article on the shop: Cookin'

@pillog -- I agree that Sur La Table is not quite what it used to be,
depending on the location. The same is true for Williams-Sonoma. I
think their rise, and the rise of the online shops coinciding with a
decline in cooking, has made it tough going for the independent
kitchenware shop. Online, I also like to use the flash sale sites like
Gilt.com and RueLaLa.com, online stores like CutleryandMore.com and the
online clearance shop for the US distributor for Zwilling
(Demeyere/Staub/Henckels). I also find good stuff at HomeGoods. We have a Le Creuset outlet nearby as well.

@JohnLiu, if you are still in SF, check out Chef's Warehouse in South
SF. IThey are an outlet of sorts for BIA Cordon Bleu and hybrid restaurant supply and consumer kitchen store, with tons of white
dishware and serveware. They currently have a pallet sale going on that included a few types
of heavily discounted Apilco French porcelain in addition to super low
prices on a pallets of BIA items (e.g., $0.80 for small ramekins). There is a coupon
on the website for an additional 15% off as well.

(reposting because for some reason it didn't show the first time)

Gooster, will you share the site for the Demeyere distributor? I only found one in the Netherlands. Thanks!

@pillog, it's Zwilling

Note they carry both first quality and slightly imperfect. Some of the Staub prices are quite good and the Zwilling Sensation set is made by Demeyere (similar to Industry5). FYI, Ideel is also running a subset of Staub and Henckels at an additional 20% off for email subscribers.

For a few years while I was working primarily in NYC I'd like to browse http://www.bridgekitchenware.com/ during my lunch hour; it was right around the corner from my office. Many random gadgets and cookware, far more exciting than the likes of WS or SLT, or the gadgety junk in outlet malls. Unfortunately they moved to NJ and fortunately I no longer have to commute to NYC, so no more of that. I do have a local restaurant supply store that I go to a few times a year to pick up food service gloves. Well, that's my excuse for going, but I always leave with something extra, both in hand and in dream. Cookin' sounds like a store I'd enjoy immensely.

Gooster, thanks for the link! They're having a big sale right now!

FOAS, you're missing out if your think that all the stuff at the outlets is gadgety junk! I got useful things at the Corning store, like a couple of open stock, beautifully weighted table knives to use for baking, at a ridiculously low price.

@pillog: You're welcome. Oh yes, I forgot to mention the huge sales they are having. Extra off clearance and 20% off all things Demeyere. BTW, Williams-Sonoma is also having the Demeyere on sale and will allow coupons on top of the marked down prices.

I forgot to mention another big go-to source: SierraTradingPost.com. You need to sign up for the emails -- they will send coupons for 35 to 50% off. They have tons of kitchen gadgets/cookware/dishware, including Rosle, Kuhn Rikon, Mastrad, Tovolo, Mauviel, All Clad, Emile Henry, Apilco, etc. It's crazy that an outdoors shop has so many high end European and US lines.

I used to live four block south of that store in San Francisco - on Duboce at the NE corner of Divisidero. Oak Street and the block just north of there are not so nice - at least they weren't when I was there. Traffic is bad there, as Oak Street becomes a freeway, and Divisidero is a major N/S boulevard with buses. Just up the street from your store is/was a place called "Do City Beauty Salon" with the motto "Get yourself a Do-City Do" painted in the window. I always loved that motto. Several interesting soul food restaurants in that neighborhood also.

I hope you didn't drive to Oak & Divisidero, as parking is almost non-existent and break-ins very common - happened to me twice. I've been to that shop when it was a corner liquor store, and that was not a pleasant experience. I'm sure things are very different now, however.

I do not think that L.A. has the market for vintage kitchenware the way SF does - I know I am not looking for it, but we had plenty of it when I lived in SF. For new kitchen items, I go to Surfa's Restaurant Supply Store in Culver City, and I've been shopping there ever since I first moved to CC in 1989. For on-line shopping, I like Cutlery & More for knives/whetstones, and for other equipment (such as meat slicers), I like Web Restaurant Store. I don't remember where I bought my last cast iron griddle, but the web site where I bought that had great customer service. I had to get mine replaced because it arrived with a crack, and they sent me a new one as soon as I sent them a photo of the crack. The first one I had (Bobby Flay) was not symmetrical and would wobble horribly on the grates. I got rid of that one and try to avoid anything else from Bobby Flay, as that is not the only defective item I've seen from him.

Plllog - I was thinking more along the lines of Le Gourmet Chef. Yes, I've bought several pieces and accessories as the LC outlet.

I absolutely love the store Kitchen Window in Minneapolis. The people that work there know cooking and have helped me many times when I was trying something new as a cook. There also used to be a place in Stillwater MN but it was taken over by a chain and lost a lot of it's specialness.

ditto what pillog said re.sur le table.

Home goods, TM, etc have fun gadgets and deals on specialty cookware from time to time. Around Houstons Chinatown there are a number of restaurant supply places that have hard to find and excellent deals on kitchen stuff. If your area has restaurant supply merchants. make time to ck them out

I have a couple unique shops I like....20 mile trip is a shop called South Side Kitchens. Small country town, old building used to a hardware store far back as 100 yrs. Sidewalls are the old brick, wide plank floors, display area are the old hardware cabinets. The front part is consignment vintage refinished furniture, high dollar items, and beautiful they are. Owned by a couple sisters they incorporate new update household in with all the old, they have quite a knack for this. The back room is filled with all kinds of new kitchen gadgets, tableware, linens, anything you might want in the kitchen. They will serve you a demi tasse of coffee and it always smells so good in there. They also have a small chocolate candy display, you pick your pieces and they box beautiful. Perfect for a special gift. I love love this store.

To the West 40 miles is Steamboat Cooking.....another old house with all the new kitchen gadgets you could want. So crowded, you look and look, go back and begin again and see things you missed. If your are wanting something special and can't find you had better ask, chances are good you just overlooked. Linens, aprons, coffee beans, the crowded back room opens into a huge, bright lighted, modern, kitchen.....where they hold cooking classes. They also do some catering for smaller groups.

You go in these two places and you feel you are in another two worlds. Not like shopping Wal-Mart household iles

OH! I've never seen that store, FOAS. Wikipedia says they're based in Ohio and are owned by Kitchen Collection (cupboards, counters, hardware and appliances), which is a subsidiary of the same company that owns Hamilton Beach and Proctor Silex. Interesting.

I'm reminded that I've also found a few choice things at Katom.com, a restaurant supply which seems to be more in the catering supply zone than heavy duty commercial.

I think I might have to buy a John Pawson...

Lots of "as seen on TV" and supermarket quality stuff, if you know what I mean. That's not to say I've never bought anything there. Sometimes you just need something cheap to do the job. Not all of it is junk, just lots of it. They always have food samples out, too, which makes it hard to pass by.

I'm reminded of a local store, Jumble China, which is also unfortunately gone. As the name would imply they carried mainly china, and the small store was stuffed with it. Run by an elderly couple who unfortunately closed down rather than passing it on or selling when they finally retired. They also sold some decent cookware, and everything was a fraction of normal retail prices. I bought plenty of wedding gifts there. Sad to see these stores close down, but more and more they're being driven out of business by large chain competitors.

I used to wander around the regular cooking stores, the commercial restaurant stores, discount stores, and every dusty thrift store at home and on vacation. What I have realized in the last year is that I have at least one if not 10 of everything, I mean every possible all encompassing cooking thing and gadget that anyone could imagine, except perhaps a sous vide, a walk-in cooler, and perhaps a staff of 20 to use it/them. All my purchases in the last year have been of the expendable sort - gloves, toothpicks, plastic wrap, containers for selling stuff, cleaners, and paper things . I liken it to, at the age of 11, realizing that the slick Sears Toy Catalog had nothing in it that I would want to play with. <<sigh>>

A brand new huge solid copper bowl for whipping egg whites, an aebleskiver used once, enough fondue forks for a party of 50, 200 cookie cutters, an avocado slicer, 4 stand mixers with every attachment, 2 Squeezo's, 14 electric makers (pie, cupcake, bread, waffles, slow, doughnut) ,4 apple corer slicers, every brand of good and bad knives including one custom made for me in Japan, and a giant drawer of measuring cups that let me bake all week without running the DW. Running a business making gluten free baked goods plus jams/jellies and pickled everythings has expended all the profit into tools, me thinks. What the heck am I going to leave my son and DIL but a lot of "stuff" they have no use for? I remember my mom saying that all you really need in a kitchen is a bowl, set of measuring cups and spoons, a casserole dish, a pan for a little and one for a lot, and a good knife. I should have listened.

Chef Central here is huge, like a supermarket.

Everything you need, they have. Things you don't need they also have plenty.

They have in store knife sharpening service. They also have a small open kitchen where they invite chefs to do cooking demonstrations.

Never bring your credit cards when you go to a Chef Central.

dcarch

@lars -- like many of SF's historic neighborhoods, the lower Haight is rapidly gentrifying and changing. Still a lot of sketchy elements there, but the projects have been trimmed back, some organized crime tamed, and it still is a haven of for addicts, the bars, and wayward youth. However, it is no Tenderloin (which still stays sketchy). Some of the original businesses are being replaced, and things like new condo buildings are being proposed. I did drive there, and parked right nearby. The traffic is still bad....

@nancyofnc -- I can relate to that feeling. I try to focus on the best of each item to cut down the clutter, but at least you are running a baking business. If you think you have a lot of extra, have you seen Amy's Pan Cave?.

I have been led into temptation ... and scored! Thanks to John's thread and Gooster's link, I will soon have my hands on a pot that's between sizes and will be very useful for certain things, and which is architecturally dreamy. ;) My very own chiquito John Pawson. At just a little more than a third of the normal street price, plus free shipping. Although I've managed with one size up or down, I've always wished for this in between size, and always wanted a John Pawson (note the reference to stroking them at Bloomingdale's above). It's nothing obscure or unexpected, of course. It's just a pot. But I'm so tickled!! Callooh callay!

Wow, I'm surprised Cookin' is still open! I used to stop in there 26 yrs ago before we left the City to move across the Bay Bridge. The owner kept saying she was going to retire and move to France where she owned a home. Wonder what happened to those plans? She is a character, for sure.

Every once in a great while I stop by one of the East Bay restaurant supply stores. Most of my stuff, however, has been pared down and I order what I need from Amazon.

John, your poor foot! Ouch!

I was rooting around the basement of an Portland antique store and found a whole lot of stock pots. The ones that caught my eye: 10 gal steel $80, heavy copper $219, small but tall anodized aluminum $15.

No, I didn't get any (was tempted by the 10 gallon pot, and that is actually a decent price for the copper).

There was also a long stainless fish steamer ($15), some Kitchenaid attachments, trays of utensils and tools, eight linear shelf feet of mason jars ($5 each), another eight feet of baking trays and molds, and other stuff that I couldn't dig out from behind a pile of boxes full of crafting stuff.

Stop it!! I have a house full of stuff I rescued...including the fish poacher! At least you didn't tell me the address of that store!

i resisted all kitchen ware temptation I the basement, but elsewhere in the store . . .

I am thinking about this little secretary desk. The writing surface slides out, there is a single large drawer under that, two lidded cubbies on either end, letter cubbies, and the top folds over.

I'm thinking about making it into a concealed computer station in the foyer. I'd mount the monitors on the wall, concealed in frames and displaying "pictures", like

A wireless keyboard and mouse can live in the drawer. The computer itself is tiny (a Mac mini) and can be bolted to the underside of the desk. USB charging cords can be run to some of the letter cubbies, for smartphones; the other cubbies will surely get filled with bills. Wireless printers can live in the adjacent closet.

Forget the secretary (which is very nice), I want that copper stockpot!

I successfully avoided this thread when it first started. I don't appreciate it being revisited : )

Information like this is what caused me to have a Pot Party...no not that kind of Pot!

Signed,

The Gadget Queen

I live near Sevierville/Gatlinburg/Pigeon Forge Tn. Not only is it a shopper's mecca including brand-specific cookware factory outlets such as Le Creuset and Lodge, it also has large outlets for Kitchen Collection and World kitchen.

The store I like best though is Katom Restaurant Supply. Wholesale prices with a public store in front of one of the largest warehouses for online cookware shipping you have ever seen. Anything in their warehouse is available immediately at their wholesale prices. It is truly amazing.

John....I have that desk.....but just use it as a "lady's desk for writing notes on engraved stationery"...if I ever did such a thing.
I know some people collect cut glass and copper cooking pots...I collect desks and drop leaf tables.

Rg, Thanks for the heads up; I will look for the stores when I'm in that beautiful area.

You are quite welcome mustangs. Katom's website is also good, but along with saving on shipping, I like that I can just visit there to see, touch, and feel what I am buying. I'll be going to Le Creuset and Lodge soon also... I need a good dutch oven. I'll do a price check around, then go to the outlet stores. If I don't check things out first, I wind up spending too much money.

I live near Cookin' and have known the owner, Judith Kaminsky, for at least twenty years. She is warm and friendly and angry and bitter all at once. She's always happy to see me and goes right into her latest rant. She has an apartment in Paris that I inquired about renting. She said she only rents it to people over 55. I met her on the street and introduced her to my sister who was visiting from Denver. She didn't even nod, simply started complaining about the way Divisadero had changed.

And, to Lars, who mentioned the dangers abounding in the area, I don't know how long ago that was, but the area is rapidly becoming uber-hip. The street is full of millenials on their way to bars and clubs. Crowding out the muggers, I suppose.

Rgreen, Rereading your recommendations I remembered that a few years ago we had a Cooking Forum Get Together in Pigeon Forge. 8 of us rented a cabin for a week and visited all the places you mentioned. We cooked together, which was so much fun, and we did day trips including a day at the Biltmore Estate in Asheville.

Mustangs, I'm glad you enjoyed yourselves... I've worked on cabins in most of the 'Resorts' down there. Some of them are absolutely incredible! One of the resorts has 4 story cabins with a loft! Three kitchens, full-size Jacuzzi, movie theater, 8 bathrooms, pool and table tennis, 4 fire places... absolutely amazing places. Some... not-so-much lol.

I have pictures from mornings after a night of rain and the Smokies just completely live up to their name. It's not the Rockies lol, but it is beautiful.

But, yeah, it is a nice place to visit. If shopping is what you enjoy, this time of year (after the holidays is the 'off-season',) you can get excellent prices on the cabins and hotel rooms.

But for families, the summer is the best time for fun and site-seeing. A lot of older people come down in Autumn. The prices are a bit cheaper than summer, and they offer a lot of group rates. The mountains are beautiful when the leaves change.

This time if year, the only expensive places are near the ski lodge up around the heights of Gatlinburg.

The Japanese knife store John refers to, way above, is:

Hida Tool and Hardware, 1333 San Pablo Ave, Berkeley,
CA.

http://www.hidatool.com/

Wow, that's too bad it is no longer open to the public. I'm guessing that dealing with the public was no longer her thing anymore but that you passed her test for exceptions. The branding irons sound like something I have -- I have a vintage imagayawaki pan that I had to figure out what it was for, but eventually used. Or are they actually for burning a print on the surface? BTW, Can you share where the best markets are, or were you sworn to secrecy? I'm going in a few weeks.

I didn't get specifics on which markets. She did tell me the French government is cracking down on the big markets for security (terrorism) reasons.

The brands are like miniature cattle brands, if cows were the size of pastries and branded with delicate floral patterns. They have long handles and you're meant to hear them in a fire then burn the pattern on the bun.

LOL, Judy has been threatening to retire to France since before I left SF and that was in 1990! I'm sure she will do it at some point but I'm happy for you that you were still able to get into Cookin'.

Astonishing she's still there, considering the high rents and changing demographics in SF. It's nice that some things haven't changed.

In Berkeley we were staying with our friends who have dozens of knives but not a single sharp one. You know the situation. Lots of indifferent knives, bought in sets, none any good.

Well, one was good. A couple years I bought them a really good knife, a Japanese damascus blade. It was still semi sharp so that's what I used.

They don't have a stone or other sharpening tool, just a steel, and they know enough not to use that on the Japanese blade. I ordered them a 1000/6000 grit stone on Amazon and it should get to them tomorrow.

I assumed she owns the building? Otherwise I don't see how Cookin' can still be there. Next time I'm in SF, I'm going to save up some coin and devote a whole afternoon to that shop.

The SF Bay has really changed. I lived there from 76-80, 84-86, 97-06. When I first moved there, the sixties were still hanging on, later it was the height of leather boys at the Stud, followed by AIDS and then the start of the tech boom. I thought about moving back in 2015 when I was "between jobs", but by then the price of re-admission was too high and the traffic and general hassle too great. It's still an amazing place but I have decided you just can't go home again. If we ever leave Portland we're going north. Port Townsend WA or Vancouver Island, some place like that.

The PacNW is one of the few places in the USA that will be as livable, and arguably more so, in 30 years as it is today, under a worst-case climate change scenario. Even 1 meter of sea level rise won't affect the area much, because of how its continental plate will tilt. Inland, the forests will change due to fires, seasonal drought, loss of snowpack and heat, but the coastal areas will remain pretty cool and may actually become more rainy. Of course, in 30 years I'll be gone or getting ready to go, but maybe my kids will appreciate having a "family home" somewhere.

I was wondering the same thing, I assumed she owned the building and does not need the money from an actual business. Although, it seems like she has help. Interesting to note I read a yelp that said she did it due to breakage from lookiloos.... that calling ahead with a specific request and appointment will also get you in.

In SF and California, I'm more worried about a well overdue big earthquake. Aside from rising water levels, the forecasted worst case changes are going to be more mild along the southern coasts, especially in already chilly SF.

I think I need to stop buying chef’s knives. From top: Trente-Deux 25 mm bought from Judith, Elefant Sabatier 25 mm ditto, De Hillerin 23 mm (a Sabatier of some sort, house branded) bought in Paris, nameless Sabatier bought from Judith, and my old Victorinox from when SWMBO and I were newlyweds. I sharpen them all at once, and then don't need to break out the stone for months. That's my excuse.

Actually, ALL of the West Coast is earthquake country. It is part of the "Rim of Fire". CA is well ahead of WA and OR on quake building standards - and even so, ours (CA) are nowhere near what they should be.

One of my old CIGNA bosses went up to Anchorage one year after the devastating 9.2 quake of 1969. He met a guy who lost his leg when the ground opened up, he fell partially in, and then the crack....snapped closed again before they could get him all the way out. Gruesome, for sure.

People have short memories, I guess. Check out the photos in an article The Atlantic produced, remembering the damage:

https://www.theatlantic.com/photo/2014/05/1964-alaskas-good-friday-earthquake/100746/