Earlier this summer, I was out shopping for kitchen basics and posted a photo of a shelf piled high with stainless steel bowls and sheet pans on my Instagram story. The response was astounding: so many people DMed me asking where I was. I realized not everyone knows the single best place (IMO) to stock up on kitchen basics: a restaurant supply store.
They sound (and look) like industry-only places, but did you know that anyone can shop at a restaurant supply store? While they cater to professionals, most of these places are open to the public—and if you live in a major city, chances are there’s one near you. In New York, they dot Bowery Street in Lower Manhattan (including the one I went to). Inside, you’ll find aisles and aisles of cookware and tools ranging from basic (think sheet pans or tongs) to very specific (like a chocolate curler, a giant commercial-grade immersion blender, or an impossibly tiny miniature stainless steel pan).
These stores are a great place to pick up a specific piping tip for your niche pastry project, or perhaps a charming “Reserved” sign for your “I watched all five seasons of The Bear” aesthetic, but they’re also one-stop shops for sourcing modestly priced kitchen supplies built to last. Sure, you can buy these things on Amazon, but in my experience, the exact same items are typically cheaper at a restaurant supply store (take this pair of Winco tongs, which ring in at $8.50 on Amazon and were $3.50 at the store I went to). And besides, there’s something nice about shopping for kitchenware in person and having all of your options laid out in front of you for you to see, touch, and evaluate.
