the UGC: Field Trip

Field Trip
November 09, 2010

So now that I have a full size oven, I decided I should check out the cookie sheet situation at the local restaurant supply shop. I'd been wanting to go anyways, and a big shiny new cookie sheet was the perfect excuse. My dream of being able to bake one dozen cookies at a time could become a reality!

Having never been in a restaurant supply store, I wasn't sure what to expect. Also, since this was my first and only experience in a store of this type, I've got nothing to compare it to. Which is part of the reason I feel a little bad telling you that it was kind of underwhelming. I mean, it was cool because there was all this cooking stuff! Definitely things you'd expect to see (pots, pans, aprons, salt and pepper shakers, etc.) and some weird small stuff that I don't know that you'd find anywhere else (one of those little things they use to scrape crumbs off your table at fancy restaurants). Oh, and GIANORMOUS whisks. But it's all just sitting there, on some shelves, in the back of a store (the front of the store was devoted to selling large appliances). One person asked if we needed help, and beyond that, nobody was trying to sell us a darn thing. It's restaurant supply. I get the feeling that if you're there, you probably know what you need. You probably don't need help. Restaurants need supplies, and that's why this store exists. They're not there to give me a glitzy retail experience and that's okay.

And like I said, I didn't know what to expect. Maybe for the place to be cleaner? For there to be even more stuff than was already there? Sur la Table without the celebrity chef vibe? I dunno. I think I might have to go to a different restaurant supply store to compare. Maybe they're not all like the one I visited today?

Oh, and I didn't end up buying a cookie sheet. They did have them, but I've decided I'd rather shell out a little extra dough for one of my favorite Crate and Barrel cookie sheets.

I do kind of want one of those giant whisks though. I might hang it on a wall and call it art.

$\"Giant$ \n\n\nSo now that I have a full size oven, I decided I should check out the cookie sheet situation at the local restaurant supply shop. I'd been wanting to go anyways, and a big shiny new cookie sheet was the perfect excuse. My dream of being able to bake one dozen cookies at a time could become a reality!\n\nHaving never been in a restaurant supply store, I wasn't sure what to expect. Also, since this was my first and only experience in a store of this type, I've got nothing to compare it to. Which is part of the reason I feel a little bad telling you that it was kind of underwhelming. I mean, it was cool because there was all this cooking stuff! Definitely things you'd expect to see (pots, pans, aprons, salt and pepper shakers, etc.) and some weird small stuff that I don't know that you'd find anywhere else (one of those little things they use to scrape crumbs off your table at fancy restaurants). Oh, and GIANORMOUS whisks. But it's all just sitting there, on some shelves, in the back of a store (the front of the store was devoted to selling large appliances). One person asked if we needed help, and beyond that, nobody was trying to sell us a darn thing. It's restaurant supply. I get the feeling that if you're there, you probably know what you need. You probably don't need help. Restaurants need supplies, and that's why this store exists. They're not there to give me a glitzy retail experience and that's okay.\n\nAnd like I said, I didn't know what to expect. Maybe for the place to be cleaner? For there to be even more stuff than was already there? Sur la Table without the celebrity chef vibe? I dunno. I think I might have to go to a different restaurant supply store to compare. Maybe they're not all like the one I visited today? \n\nOh, and I didn't end up buying a cookie sheet. They did have them, but I've decided I'd rather shell out a little extra dough for one of my favorite Crate and Barrel cookie sheets.\n\nI do kind of want one of those giant whisks though. I might hang it on a wall and call it art.\n\n

Follow...