Yacht Chef looking for best markets/gourmet shops/wine shops....

[baconmecrazy]

I am a yacht chef who just arrived in LA on our way down to Newport Beach. We will be in MDR for 2 weeks. As you can imagine my boss is a fan of the finer things; foie, truffles, caviar, kobe, 1st growth Bordeaux etc. Can anyone tell me some of their favorite markets in the area that I could find these high end items. I am also looking for great farmers markets that have unique local produce. Wine shops with mature Bordeaux and Burgundy is also something I am looking for.

Something like a Dean and Deluca or comparable would be great.

Oh yeah, any cheap eats around MDR that anyone recommends would be great while we're at it!! Thanks so much....

[AAQjr]

Wally's wines and spirits
Wine house
Whole foods SM, Venice ect
Santa Monica Farmers Market's Wed & Sat on Arizona, Sunday on Main St. (wed being the big one)
Vicente Foods in Brentwood has a great meet dept including Wagyu
Surfas in Culver City is a combo restaurant supply/fancy foods store. They have caviar, all butter puff pastry, high end oils, vinegars, pastry supplies..
Guidi Marcello is an Italian importer / wholesale.

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Antica Pizzeria
13455 Maxella Ave, Marina Del Rey, CA 90292

Surfas Restaurant & Supply
8777 Washington Blvd, Culver City, CA 90232

Vicente Foods
12027 San Vicente Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90049

Whole Foods Market
2201 Wilshire Blvd, Santa Monica, CA

Wine House
2311 Cotner Ave, Los Angeles, CA

Wally's Wine & Spirits
2107 Westwood Blvd, Los Angeles, CA

Guidi Marcello
1649 10th St, Santa Monica, CA

[westsidegal]

if i was moored in marina del rey, and wanted to go to whole foods, i'd probably head to either the one in venice (lincoln blvd and rose) or to the one in el segundo plaza (sepulveda and rosecrans), rather than the one on wilshire blvd in santa monica.

[JAB]

Check out La Espanola in Harbor City.

[Faulkner99]

This isn't close to MDR, but a worthwhile stop. Great imported meat and cheese. Plus you can grab a quick sandwich (cheap) while you wait.

[Servorg]

For inexpensive eats check out Mendocino Farms http://mendocinofarms.com/ right in the heart of the Marina.

4724 Admiralty Way

[wienermobile]

Another yes to Mendicino Farms and it's wonderful sandwiches.

[budlit]

20/20 Wines, west LA
Guido Marcello, Sta. Monica
Bay Cities Importing, Sta. Monica

[sweetTooth]

Cheap eats near MDR:

Alejo Presto Trattoria
http://www.chow.com/restaurants/9233/...

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Tamara's Tamales
13352 W Washington Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90066

[westsidegal]

for wine, check out LA Wine Co.
they are a five minute drive from Marina del Rey.
http://www.lawineco.com/

[Servorg]

Also very close by (just adjacent to the Marina) is the Beverage Warehouse

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Beverage Warehouse
4935 McConnell Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90066

[westsidegal]

cheap eats near marina del rey:

AYARA THAI CUISIINE (westchester, east of sepulveda, south of manchester)
THAI BOOM on venice blvd near midvale
if you stick to the burgers and their excellent entree salads: 26 BEACH RESTAURANT (washington west of lincoln) if you go for their entrees, then, imho, 26 beach no longer qualifies as 'cheap.'
for chinese-inspired/american food with FREE corkage MAO'S KITCHEN in venice on pacific.
for vegetarian indian food SAMOSA HOUSE on washington near berryman.

[baconmecrazy]

Wow. What a pleasant surprise to see a local board that is so active and helpful. Keep it coming!!!

[wienermobile]

Nichols is a good coffee shop-diner in the Marina, good food and breakfast.
And also there is the Counter for custom made burgers and great shakes and I love those fried pickles.

Nichols Resturant
4375 Glencoe Ave
Marina Del Rey, CA 90292

The Counter Marina del Rey
4786 Admiralty Way
Marina del Rey CA 90292

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Nichols Restaurant
4375 Glencoe Ave Ste D2, Marina Del Rey, CA 90292

[goodhealthgourmet]

a few more cheap eats suggestions:
- Joni's for breakfast & coffee
http://www.joniscoffee.com/
- Gaby's Mediterranean
http://www.gabysexpress.com/
- Rose Cafe
http://www.rosecafe.com/About-Home.html

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Rose Cafe & Market
220 Rose Ave, Venice, CA 90291

Gaby's Mediterranean
10445 Venice Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90034

Joni's Coffee Roaster Cafe
552 Washington Blvd, Marina Del Rey, CA

[Servorg]

One other place that we like for reasonable food and good coffee (other than Joni's which we also like) is Panini's - in the same shopping center with Nichol's and Jerry's Deli (Jerry's AVOID at any and all costs).

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Panini Coffee & Cafe
4325 Glencoe Ave, Marina Del Rey, CA 90292

[baconmecrazy]

oh yeah, I went to Whole Foods on Lincoln and the seafood department SUCKS! Dead mussels, farm raised salmon, frozen scallops and shrimp. Any spectacular seafood markets out there. Particularly local, whole fish and shellfish. How 'bout a good selection of oysters.

[Servorg]

A lot of folk on this board think Santa Monica Seafood http://www.santamonicaseafood.com/ leaves much to be desired, but for local seafood it should be a good resource for you. I think there is a place out on the Santa Monica pier too, but I have not been.

[goodhealthgourmet]

not oysters, but on Sawtelle, try Safe & Save or Granada Market for fresh fish. and there re many other CH suggestions if you're willing to travel beyond the Westside. start with this thread:
http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/486281

there's really no excuse for buying 'fresh' seafood at Whole Paycheck when we're blessed with so many other options here.

[AAQjr]

The seafood situation on the westside is pretty sad. For the most part you need to head to the Asian supermarkets for any kind of quality or variety with one or two exceptions like Granada (which is tiny). You can go to Santa Monica Seafood, just expect to pay for the convenience.

[budlit]

omg, never buy fish from whole foods. instead, buy from farmer's markets, especially the Anjin II @ Santa Monica Wed. & Sat., Venice on Fridays and Thousand oaks on Thurs. Other than that, Sta. Monica Seafood or Nijiya on Sawtelle. Farm raised oysters can be had at above mentioned farmer's markets or Santa Monica Seafood. Whole Foods sucks badly in the seafood dept.
p.s. also check out Mitsuwa on Venice & Centinela for Japanese products, fish & Jidori chick

[mollyomormon]

For oysters, check out the oysters at the Santa Monica farmer's market on Wednesday morning. Look for this guy in the westernmost block of the market nearest the ocean: http://tastingtable.com/entry_detail/...

He really knows his stuff.

[Phurstluv]

Well, if we had a Dean & Deluca, I'd be a very happy girl. But we don't. We do have:

Gelson's markets - much better for fish & seafood than Whole Foods
Bob's Markets on Ocean Park & Vicente Foods on San Vicente in Brentwood for specialty butcher and meat products
The Cheese Store in Beverly Hills and the gourmet sections of Wally's Wine's and the Wine Shop in West LA / Beverly Hills.
Bristol Farms are also high end grocery store with specialty gourmet items.
Bay Cities Deli in Santa Monica for imported Italian goods, wine cheese and subs.

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Bob's Market
1650 Ocean Park Blvd, Santa Monica, CA

[mollyomormon]

And don't forget Andrew's on Montana for an excellent cheese selection!

[baconmecrazy]

Well thank you to everyone for the help. I hit up Surfas yesterday and was in heaven. All those little things I've been wanting to stock the galley with were there. I have never seen a place with more than one type of Pimenton, Surfas had 5. I love it. Although they did not have fresh foie, sevruga caviar or truffles, they had everything else I needed and more. I am going to all the seafood spots that were mentioned tomorrow to see what they have to offer. I should have known the Japanese markets have the best fish. It's like that in Seattle as well. On another note, I found a great source for oysters in Redondo. On the pier is a fresh seafood market with 25 different oysters 10 types of clams as well as other species. I was on my bike but I decided a dozen bivalves and a Carta Blanca were in order. Awesome.

[Dommy]

Quality seafood is amazing! So glad you found it! :) We had a similar meal this summer... A dozen softshell steamers and a jug of Carta Blanca... heaven...

If you get back, a cheap eat near by is Izakaya Bincho (Just down a few doors from Quality Seafood)

--Dommy!

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Quality Seafood
130 International Boardwalk, Redondo Beach, CA

Izakaya Bincho
112 N International Boardwalk, Redondo Beach, CA 90277

[Phurstluv]

We have a Petrossian caviar store in Beverly Hills.

[mstinawu]

The fresh foie can be ordered there. They has Hudson Valley foie at cost.. Heavenly.. I got a whole lobe for a bachelorette party few months ago--I ordered it and it was there in 2 days. No shipping charge either.

[Beach Chick]

Costco has a lot on your list and you'll save $$ too.
You can come down to our YC in San Diego on your way down South..
Safe trip..
Just curious, why didn't you go straight to Newport vs. MDR..it's only an hour or two?

[Faulkner99]

If you're reading this and are around tomorrow morning (Sunday), the Mar Vista Farmer's Market is one of the best in the city, IMHO, and there's a seafood vendor. Not too far from MDR.
http://marvistafarmersmarket.org/

[bulavinaka]

It's a well-rounded FM. The quality and selection is very good, and the baked goods are very good as well.

Breads at Shirley's bread stand (next to the Greek guys who also have some yummy Mediterranean goods) is very good for French-style breads, as is the newer Home Boys Bakery stand. Grab their tarts if they have any.

The Mexican food stand has some very good salsas and chips.

The seafood stand has great seafood as well as some prepared seafood as well: Squid or octopus salads and bocarones that are really good. The bacarones are great with Shirley's baguettes or batards, and with the Greek guys' roasted peppers and cheese.

The produce stands that I find particularly worthy are the Wieser Farms potatoes, the citrus stand closest to Venice Blvd, and the organic veggie stand a couple of spots south of the citrus stand. But most of the produce stands are very good.

[Faulkner99]

Agree - and as far as prepared foods go the tacos are killer. HUGE and cheap.

I also really like the very herby mixed green salad that the herb vendor carries as well as their very unique mint plant hybrid, but there was one week where they weren't there so I don't know if they are there every week.

[Ginger9]

Check out Beverly Hills Cheese Shop in Beverly Hills and Bay Cities Deli (yes, they have great wines too) in Santa Monica. BCD also has good cheap eats too. For a bunch of cool restaurants close to the Marina, check out restaurants on Abbott Kinney in Venice - my favorite is probably Primitivo.

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Primitivo
1025 Abbot Kinney Blvd., Venice, CA 90291