Any Gourmet food stores in OC/LA?

[savvysearch]

Hi. I am aware of Pascals Epicerie. Are there any more in OC that sell gourmet food items? Also are there any close to downtown LA?

[Chris Amirault]

I'm sure that others will have better suggestions, but while I was in LA in Nov I went to Joan's on Third, between La Cienega and Fairfax, which has quite a bit of over-priced foodstuffs, specifically cheeses, as well as a ton of take-home food.

[andiesenji]

Bristol Farms markets have just about everything one could want. There are several from Westlake Village in Ventura County to Westwood and West Hollywood to South Pasadena to south Orange County at Mission Viejo.

I have been to just about all of them.

Their "ready-to-serve" items are supurb. I have tried many of them and have never been disappointed. They also have an excellent cheese selection and they have, besides the inhouse bakery items, the best of the "gourmet" bakeries items.

Bristol Farms locations.

If you can, go to the Beverly West store at the corner of Beverly Blvd. and Doheny in West Hollywood. It is considered their "flagship" store.

[chezcherie]

surfas is in culver city, 10-15 minutes from downtown l.a. it's got a lot of great specialty food stuff, as well as really good prices on bakeware and other cooks' goodies. i love surfas.

[JFLinLA]

Perhaps you could specify what kinds of items you are looking for. There is really such an array here. Are you looking for produce? Seafood? Things to ship? Other?

For a lot of things, Trader Joe's can be the best place in town and they are all over. For other things, the various ethnic groceries may be the best place to go. Let us know and we'll help you out.

[JFLinLA]

And one more thing -- I happen to think that Sorrento in Culver City is the best Italian deli and market in town. Aside from great stuff behind the counter, there are all kinds of wonderful treats on the overflowing shelves and freezer cases. BTW, it's on the other end of Culver City from Surfas.

[Maison Rustique]

Gelson's is good, too. And as JFinLA (I think) said above, there are soooo many ethnic markets!

[savvysearch]

Im looking for things such as duck liver, truffle oil, cheeses, caviar. Those sorts of things.

[chezcherie]

surfas carries all.

[JFLinLA]

Yes, Surfas is probably your one stop shopping place but here are a few more suggestions:

The LA Times Food section 2 weeks back had a great article evaluating caviar. I think they had some problems with the stuff they got at Surfas (maybe it wasn't stored properly) so I would check their web site for info on that.

I would also check the LA Times Food section (or check the digests here on eG). They did an evaluation of the various cheese shops around LA including the Beverly Hills Cheese Store and the Silverlake Cheese Store. For cheeses, however, you can usually do quite well at a Whole Foods or Trader Joe's.

We just had lunch at Le Marmiton on Montana in Santa Monica today and they had a nice selection of different pates behind their counter to go.

By the way, some of the best fresh mozzarella I've ever gotten in town was at Sorrento (mentioned above).

That said, I'd start with Surfas.

Edited January 3, 2005 by JFLinLA (log)

[jschyun]

Also, Nicole's Gourmet Foods in Pasadena.

there's also another another cheese shop, I think in Costa Mesa? Damn, I forget the name. grandcru posted about it earlier, but I tried searching and couldn't find the post.

I prefer Bristol Farms in NB to Pascal Epicerie. Gelson's, in Irvine, is almost as good, but is more of a generic supermarket.

[grandcru]

there's also another another cheese shop, I think in Costa Mesa?  Damn, I forget the name.  grandcru posted about it earlier, but I tried searching and couldn't find the post.

That would be Picnics Deli, at 435 E. 17th St. Not a cheese superstore, by any means, but a well-chosen selection of a couple dozen, mostly imported cheeses. Very knowledgeable and helpful owner, always ready with a sample of something new.

[SiseFromm]

Try Picnics on 17th Street in Costa Mesa. They have an awesome little selection of raw milk cheeses. The chef owners are uber-cool so if you chat with them, they'll let you taste and give good recommendations on what's best at the moment. Plus, their deli sandwiches aren't to be beat. Get the ham/fig/brie sandwich!

EDIT:

Dang, I should have read the last post before I opened my trap! Yes indeed, Picnics is great. I have a nice rapport with them and I can't say enough good things about that little shop.

Edited January 4, 2005 by SiseFromm (log)

[savvysearch]

I checked the Surfas website. That is exactly the kind of store Im looking for.