Right across from Balthazar is one of my favorite kitchen, cooking, appliance, gadget and doodad stores of all time – Sur La Table. Many years ago, when we were busy preparing to outfit our kitchen at the beach, we took a trip to San Francisco and I 
visited a large branch of Sur La Table there and instantly fell in love. The store on the West Coast was a little more disorganized than the totally put together style of say Williams Sonoma or Pottery Barn. It had a lot more stuff in a much smaller retail space, and best of all, the folks that worked there seemed to genuinely enjoy cooking and seemed to know a lot more about the stuff they were selling. Needless to say, I ended purchasing several balikbayan boxes worth of goods that I shipped back home and which formed the backbone of my kitchen arsenal at the beach house. A few years later, Sur La Table ventured East (finally) and opened a shop in Great Neck, Long Island that I also liked, then finally, they found a location in New York City on Spring Street…
This medium sized shop was packed with all kinds of goodies from pots, pans, spatulas, glasses, cheeseboards, condiments, cookbooks, appliances, china, glass, etc. 
It was only our third day in New York so I was a bit restrained in the shopping, bagging several oven thermometers (if you don’t have one you should consider getting one to make sure you know exactly how hot your oven is), several candy, meat and other thermometers, some neat silicone doodads such as a collapsible strainer, some spatulas, pans, etc. I noticed that there was a lot of color in the pans and other accessories in the store and clearly one of the colors of the fashion season was a sort of lime or yellow green that we would go on to notice nearly every store we went to for the rest of the trip. While I was looking at some of the appliances on the shelves ( I wanted to get another Waring blender for the city, since almost all locally available blenders are horrific), it seemed too early to start acquiring large items… Consider this the appetizer of Marketman’s kitchen equipment shopping in New York!
20 Responses
i love the Sur La Table shop at the Ferry Market Building in San Francisco, small and compact but being in the centre of all the artisanal food purveyors makes for one great foodie field trip!
Got so excited when I saw the title of the post! I would have drooled if I was there. Looking forward to your feature of all the kitchen stuff you bought! :)
The bottom picture reminds me of pots of differently colored flowers. And I want the purple spatula!!!
I love this store! I go to the one in Santa Monica or Pasadena whenever I’m in the West Coast, I bought my first Le Creuset in Kiwi from them! They have everything I need for my green-themed kitchen :)
That is a little piece of kitchen heaven!
I was hyperventilating when i read your post MM. I love Sur La Table!! I got most of my stuff in Pasadena and was really in heaven! Had to stop myself from maxing out my cards =) special mention to their le creuset collection and their whimsical aprons.
Another place in Soho is Gourmet Garage. While I do love Sur La Table too (there’s one in the burbs I live in), Gourmet Garage on Broome and Mercer is also not to be missed. I am sure you have visited the place. When I first visited, all I could do was drool.
want balthazar warm chocolate cake …
I am so filled with ENVY!
I think they should open one up here in Toronto.
But for now, i frequent at Williams Sonoma, i like their stuff. I can’t wait to see your follow-up posts re kitchen stuff shopping galore in NY! I love shopping for kitchen gadgets too! My husband once told me that i’m obsessed with kitchen stuff! ehehhe
im curious though, how does sur la table’s prices compare to that of williams-sonoma? i just love their kitchen stuff!
Chinachix, I do not see much of a price difference between the two. All I know is I could spend all my money in either stores, easily!!!
It also depends on what items they have on sale for a particular season. I purchased a dutch oven at Williams Sonoma, only to find out they are on sale at Sur La Table. Then one time I bought those adjustable measuring cups at Sur La Table, only to find out they where 25% off at Williams Sonoma. Then Bed, Bath and Beyond had them even cheaper. LOL!
The store looks so gorgeous lots of gadgets to spend on! I can’t wait to go there!
Hey Marketman,
great place for kitchen gadgets allthough Sur La Table is a bit pricier than compare Bed Bath & Beyond or say Linen’s & Things. Word of advise when shopping for certain things or gadget at Sur La Table is to make sure and visit their website search for the item and print then shop and compare the price from the website and the store price. They will actually match it with the website price. Casing point four years ago when I was searching for the Delonghi deep fryer I saw it @ Sur La Table store price for $159.99. I priced it out at their website for $99.99 printed it and brought it with to the store and bam I saved $60.00 to my lunch at the
Ferry Building SF.
oh my, i have done some slurging at Sur La Table recently! i love that place…and MOMA! did you eat at Balthazar? M and I did once and tried taking photos just to be scolded! by a waitstaff, told me I can’t do that! food’s good pa naman! sayang…
Yep, Sur La Table is my favorite store and the frequent drain on my finances :). I’m planning to visit NY in July and I’m making it a priority to eat at Balthazar and sample their Duck confit (to compare with their recipe in their book)
Sur La Table (@ the Ferry Building) & Williams Sonoma are my patches of heaven on earth. Going to one or both stores (live or on-line) always tests my self-restraint, and I flunk all the time :-) That’s what VISA and balikbayan boxes are for, di ba?
For eal serious foodies, try J.B. Prince, or Bridge Kitchenware in New York…or for less glamorous but really cheap cookware and supplies do visit the stores down in the Bowery….If in Paris, visit Dehillerin, on the street where the touristy Au Pied du Cochon restaurant is…just off the Les Halles former market, now shopping mall….if you are a true foodie, you will walk in with reverence, and will feel like saying a prayer or shedding a tear from joy….
Marghi, Dehillerin, HEAVEN. My favorite. And BRIDGE we have been going to for thirty years…did you know the original owner (husband of current lady who runds it, but he has since passed away) spent some time in Cebu during the war? He always used to give us a good deal when he found out we were from Cebu!
This has become my favorite store now, switching from Williams-Sonoma, thou I still love going to that place. Sur La Table & Crate & Barrel are my top favorite specialty stores now… I only wished I had registered here for my wedding registry. I’ve never gone in to this store without any purchase regardless how many times I tell myself not to buy anything! Sur La Table is addicting! The Dallas stores are the best!!!