Hello Los Angeles!
One of the pleasures of going to a new city is finding the shops you don't have in your own city. As our world gets smaller and smaller, this is an experience that is harder to come by. Surfas, in Culver City, CA, is one of these special places that is unique to its one location.
When I'm in LA, Culvery City isn't exactly my favorite place to visit, but it's worth it just to browse the aisles (or in my case today, stock up on baking supplies). Think commercial restuarant supply meets chef's boutique. While keeping prices reasonably low, Surfas manages to escape that grungy restaurant supply vibe (which I happen to love at times), while offering not only a full range of commercial items (a 60 quart mixer knocked my socks off), but also gourmet food items like Callebaut chocolate, specialty oils, and microbrews.
While you're there, stop into their Café Surfas and have a tea and one of their delicious cannelles.
Culver City is where it's at! In addition to Surfas they have that fantastic furniture stores like HD Buttercup, great new restaurants like Ford's Filling Station and Beacon. They have a lovely little farmers market on Tuesday evening and they have the best dive bars in town - the Backstage and the Cozy Inn. And the little downtown villiage is just so cute.
No I don't work for the Culver City Chamber of Commmerce.
Grant is right. I didn't mean to suggest that it wasn't a great place - it's just so far from the folks' house that it means a major trip for me. AND worth it!
North Hollywood to Culver City IS quite the commute. Not fun.
Wouldn't be so bad if it weren't for the madness of the 405.
As it is, I can only work up the strength to make it down to Surfas once or twice a year. Crying shame really.
I do like what they've done with the place. Even just a few years back it was more funky restaurant supply with the split levels and the entrance by the loading dock. Always nice to see the odd things one can get there.
yay for surfas! i live in the neighborhood and stumbled upon it when i was looking for 3kg blocks of valrhona chocolate (a staple in my kitchen pantry). just thinking about this place makes me giddy.
As residential real estate values continue to rise, savvy homeowners are finding overlooked ways to further boost their home's value and maximize return on investment.
According to a 2004 survey by Kitchen Remodeling magazine, a mid-range kitchen renovation yielded the highest return on investment, at a whopping 92.9 percent.
Traditionally, a kitchen renovation entailed replacing the countertops, floors, and cabinets. However, the cost of doing such renovations can be quite high due to the professional labor typically needed to undergo the installations.
Budget conscious homeowners looking to ease their checkbooks have found alternative ways to remodel their kitchen in a beautiful and functional way.
Amongst these alternatives is installing a kitchen backsplash, an under-utilized improvement that is rapidly gaining popularity in the residential sector.
About a decade ago, kitchen backsplashes were primarily used by restaurants for ease of cleaning and maintenance. Now, the extensive growth of the home improvement industry has brought with it new and creative ways to spice up the kitchen.
Here is a great site dedicated to kitchen backsplashes:
http://www.mykitchenbacksplash.com