Most people probably think I’m crazy, but when I say I love food, I love ALL aspects of food.  I always enjoy a trip to Sur La Table or Williams Sonoma to browse around, but the best fun is had at a restaurant supply store.  I highly recommend looking one up in your area and checking things out.  Prices are generally reasonable, and you get a lot of unique items you wouldn’t normally find at the higher-priced cooking stores. This was my third trip to Dong Vinh’s in San Jose, but the first time I pulled out my handy-dandy iPhone to take pictures of all the fun stuff.

Check out this double panini press.  The bottom of the press looked like an induction stove.  If only my kitchen was larger (this will be a theme in this post!).

I’m always intrigued by all of the commercial grade blenders they have at this store.  I wonder how these compare to the VitaMix you can get through Costco.

I thought my Wusthof knives were awesome – I take that back.  Although, I’m not sure I trust myself with this collection.

Anyone growing up in a Punjabi family probably had at least one or more of these pots in their garage. Maybe one day, I’ll have some too :). When my parents’ neighbour saw my mom’s large pots for the first time, her comment was “I can boil my mother-in-law in that!”. Funny people.

This has got to be the biggest steamer I’ve ever seen – it was almost 2′ across.

I used to work as an accountant in a foundry, and for a summertime gift, they made us all cast iron plates like these as a gift.  I was 21 at the time, and had no appreciation for the fun that could be had bringing out a plate of sizzling goodies.

I didn’t need to buy these because I already own two.  They are great for serving pakoras.

I was just looking – promise. It was just so pretty.

Here is what I actually ended up buying – I maintained a lot of composure. I don’t own a panini press, but I do have my handy-dandy grill that I keep on my stove (see post here) – I liked the size of this grill press, and for $7, it was a great find.  The fancy toothpicks were a last minute grab, but can you imagine all the fancy sandwiches I can make and serve with these? 🙂