(my new favorite place on earth)
Visiting the restaurant supply store is something that’s been on the back of my mind for quite some time now. I don’t know why it took me so long to actually track a store down and go, but I finally did it just a few days ago. Oh boy, I felt like a kid in a candy store! Does anyone remember that old game show Supermarket Sweep? It was also kind of like that…dashing through the store and just throwing stuff in my cart.
There were a couple of items I had in the back of my mind to look for – a Stainless Steel Chinoise (for straining soups), commercial sheet pans (for everything under the sun), and metal spoons and ladles. Previously, I had seen the Chinois Bouillon Strainer from Williams-Sonoma and that was like $70. I kept thinking…there has to be a less expensive option that works equally as well for less than that. Sure enough, I found one at the restaurant supply for $18. I got a couple of sheet pans for $13 each and spoons and ladles for between $2-4 each. Gotta love that! Check out the photo of my entire haul from the trip.
I left with a couple of large measuring cups, 2 large sheet pans, a pizza dough scraper, 2 fifteen inch pizza pans, a Chinoise, a red pepper shaker, an OXO peeler, an aluminum mixing bowl, 3 spoons, 2 ladles, 4 plastic squeeze bottles, and a microplane. Even after all of that, my total with tax was under $150. So, I highly recommend – if you’re looking for some common kitchen items, find your local restaurant supply store and make a visit. I visited Ace Mart Restaurant Supply, and it just so happens that they have an online store, too!
The restaurant supply store is a great place to buy things in bulk for parties/events, too. For instance cups, glasses, disposable plates, etc. It’s also an amazing place to drool over professional kitchen equipment. Here’s a picture of a a Vulcan gas stovetop range with 6 burners, 2 ovens, and a griddle. How cool is that? I don’t think I’ll be convincing my husband any time soon that we need to invest in that kind of kitchen equipment.