The Surfas Has Come to Town!

Surfas Culinary District has come to Orange County! After all these years, serious Orange County chefs and culinary connoisseurs no longer have to trek up the 405 to Culver City for the exceptional gourmet lines and professional wares available only at Surfas. Family owned and operated since 1937, Surfas has served architects, chefs, food and beverage professionals, small restaurateurs and large chain restaurant operators fulfilling their food service needs for over 75 years. Orange County has developers Scott Burnham and Byron Ward of Burnham Ward Properties to thank for their tenacity in persuading Les Surfas, his wife Diana, and son Steven, that Surfas had to come to Orange County and SoCo Collection in Costa Mesa was where they needed to be.

With media and Costa Mesa big wigs attending the ribbon cutting – only Steven knew where to look 🙂

The Surfas Culver City warehouse sales/showroom, is a landmark in the Los Angeles culinary world and stocked with thousands of items for serious food enthusiasts and professional chefs. Considered to be the ultimate source for fine imported and domestic food products, ingredients and culinary items, Surfas is affectionately referred to as “Paradise Found” by food enthusiasts, gourmet aficionados and professional chefs.

Neal’s Yard Dairy (London) – cult status British farm cheeses

If you’re reading this, you must be some level of a “foodie” and I’m suggesting that, if you’re also a last minute shopper and you have some special people in your life that are foodies, culinary professionals, wannabe culinary professionals, the chief cook and bottle washer, or just plain like to eat (and only the good stuff), then this is the place to go! In the words of the ever-discerning Dave Lieberman over at OC Weekly: “If you’ve never been to Surfas in Culver City, imagine if you took a restaurant supply store, added Williams-Sonoma (at lower prices), and then added rows and rows of fancy preserved foods, cheese, charcuterie, olives, etc. If your shopping list includes four dozen swing-top bottles, cheesecloth, an Italian olive-wood salad kit, White Lily flour, and Bayonne ham, you park once at Surfas. They also will have a test kitchen and a cafe that serves sandwiches, salads, coffee drinks, Italian sodas, and pastries.”

The finest olive oils, balsamics, infused oils and vinegars from around the world.

Need chocolate? Valrhona and Callebaut by the bagful – a pastry chef’s playground.

Larry will fix you up at the tasting bar. The Domaine de Nalys Chateauneuf de Pape Blanc was excellent.

For Mama’s special sauce.

While many people identify Surfas as a place to find anything from large-scale kitchen equipment down to the rarest of gourmet foods, Surfas has long been a leader in commercial kitchen design from small businesses to state of the art hotel kitchens. For over sixty years, Surfas has been designing and installing premier commercial kitchens from Ben & Jerry’s to the Four Seasons Hotel, Hotel Jerome, Aspen and Bon Appetit at the Getty Center, Surfas has defined itself as a leader in the industry. So, if you’re in the market for the ultimate gift for that special culinary someone – like a professional kitchen makeover, Surfas is still the place to go.

There’s plenty of parking at SoCo and, if you’re shopping on Saturday, you can also get your produce shopping done at the same time because one of the best farmers markets around, SoCo Farmers Market, is set up from 9:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m. in a section of the parking near Surfas. Grab a bite at the Surfas Cafe, everything from brick oven pizza to their speciality Mac & Cheese or, on Saturday, check out the popular and incredibly good gourmet food trucks lined up at the farmers market.

Surfas Culinary District, 3309 Hyland Ave., Costa Mesa; 714-453-COOK;culinarydistrict.com. Hours: Monday – Saturday 9am to 6pm, Sunday 11am to 5pm.

Surfas Los Angeles, 8777 Washington Blvd., Culver City; 310-559-4770;surfaslosangeles.com.

Surfas Culinary District is also located at 510 Ouachita Ave., Hot Springs, Ark.; 501-524-COOK.