photo TheHappygirlNav_fb.png photo TheHappygirlNav_twitter.png photo TheHappygirlNav_insta.png

Friday, August 24, 2012

happy places: the restaurant supply store (really!)




Sunday night I was making cookies for L. I got out the butter and the flour and chocolate chips. When I went to take out the cookie sheets they were gone. All the cookie sheets were gone. We have a double oven and I keep the cookware in the lower oven since we typically only use both ovens during the holidays. I closed the lower oven door then opened it and looked again. Maybe they would be there? Muffin tins, muffin top tins, baby muffin tins, bread pans, all organized nicely on the oven racks but the cookie sheets were gone.

I had just come back from a two week vacation so I thought maybe L. had used them. He was on his laptop at the kitchen table.

Me: "Honey, do you know where the cookie sheets are? I can't find them."

L: "What do they look like?"

Me: "They look like cookie sheets. Metal, rectangular, shiny. Cookies sit on them in the oven."

L: "Nope. So if we have no cookie sheets then no cookies?"

Me: "You got it."

L: "We need to get some cookie sheets then."

So, after looking in every cabinet in our kitchen and even the garage I came up empty handed. Somewhere 3 lonely cookie sheets are wondering where the hell they are. I wish them well.

Which is how I ended up at Dick's Restaurant Supply on Monday morning. I could have gone to Macy's or Target, sure, but once when we had a party L. and I had visited the Dick's and got a great deal on serving pieces.



There are HUGE pieces of course, like barbecues, cooking stations and stainless steel islands but there are also chef jackets (I bought one in white with French braided buttons), tableware, napkin dispensers and solid cookware.  They stock glass syrup pourers like they have at your favorite Sunday morning pancake restaurant, bakeware, flatware, condiment containers and votive holders (cheap and classic). This is the place where you can stock up on your kitchen essentials with simple, elegant, clean-lined, heavy duty dinnerware, a stockpot for autumn soups and European style shot glasses. Imagine you lived in a NYC loft or a beach house on Martha's Vineyard. This is where you would shop. The prices are outstanding and the look is classic.

I ended up with:

  • A box of tall, thin shot glasses (24)
  • 2 boxes of appetizer/espresso spoons (24)
  • A Chef's jacket
  • 4 white classic espresso cups
  • 2 bread loaf pans
  • 2 industrial style cookie sheets with 50 sheets of parchment paper
I've actually worn the chef's jacket every night this week as I prepared dinner. Granted, L. laughed when he walked in the door Monday night and asked if he needed reservations but it puts me in the mood for cooking. That and some classic Sinatra wafting through the kitchen and I was a happygirl. 

these are the shot glasses I bought. the restaurant manager suggested they could be
 used for appetizers (with a spoon) or for a rich dessert like a 
chocolate ganache with a bit of whipped topping and a raspberry



Notes

There are different kinds of restaurant supply stores-- the kind that sells non-disposable items (like Dick's Restaurant Supplies) and then there are stores like Cash & Carry (also awesomely fun) which carry food and disposable items. This is where you can pick up Chinese takeout containers (much cooler to bring leftovers to work in), paper coffee cups and lids, huge boxes of straws (in all colors), super-sized cans of blueberry syrup, boxes of individual peanut butter and jelly packets and more. We buy all our party/cocktail/outdoor movie night supplies here.

There are restaurant supplies stores everywhere and most are open to the public.





No comments:

Post a Comment

 
09 10

design + development by kiki and co