Fresh white truffles at Redwood City Costco...

[RWCFoodie]

Was in the Redwood City Costco day before yesterday and in the case with all of the special cheeses for the holidays they had fresh white truffles packaged in plastic containers (what a shame, without any raw rice to keep them from getting soggy from condensation). They were packed in 1/4 lb lots at about $325 or so... I believe the per pound price was $1799... I didn't look closely so can't tell you where they came from.

[Dawgmommy]

I thought that rice dries them out; I'm used to seeing them loosely wrapped in some cheese cloth which helps to absorb the moisture. Besides, they shouldn't be sitting around for long anyway, at least not at my house... ;)

[Robert Lauriston]

I went truffle hunting with a tartufaio in Alba one time. He wrapped his truffles tightly in plastic wrap, then in zipper bags, and kept them in a chest freezer.

[Dawgmommy]

Hmmm... intersting. Thanks. That sounds like a neat trip.

[RWCFoodie]

On our visit to Alba years ago, what seemed to be the preferred wrapping material was a grungy handkerchief...

[Robert Lauriston]

At the market, yes. I'm talking about how the guy stored them at home.

[walker]

Did you see the white truffle butter? (It was at the SF Costco.) Can't remember the price, maybe $11. Maybe 1/4 lb?

[estnet]

At Foster City yesterday there was a packaged white and black truffle butter - I think 8 oz each for around $17 (for both together). They were sampling and it was fine, but to me didn't have much truffle flavor - might be a bit better warmed.

[wolfe]

You must be in the high rent district, Richmond Costco clam shell at only $192.

[RWCFoodie]

From what I saw, they were by weight - but most were in the $300 range... Not possible to sniff them either. Redwood City is anything but the "high rent" district although it's close to Atherton - it looked to me like they were going to have a lot of expensive garbage because they looked like they were getting soggy.

[SteveG]

They might have been using cheese wrap. Rainbow grocery has a "saran wrap" that breathes for the cheese counter.

[goodeatsgal]

About the Redwood City Costco.... the wine guy told me the other night that Redwood City is one of the higher-end Costco's, because "Redwood City is the gateway to Silicon Valley", and a lot of people from Hillsborough and Woodside and other wealthy areas shop at that one. I can certainly attest to being surprised by the number of Mercedes I've seen in the parking lot. :-) He said Costco is considering making the wine person position full-time for that reason (it's a seasonal position right now). Same for the San Francisco Costco.

[bbulkow]

What season is wine season?

[goodeatsgal]

He was referring specifically to the holiday season. Don't know if that's generally the "wine season".

[estnet]

This is consistent with some VERY high end champagnes I saw there today - Cristal, a large (jerobom?) Cristal for 999 (yes 1k dollars, TONS of regular Cristal 174 with a $22 dollar discount (at FC it was locked and had to go to office here there were crates in the open with the gold boxes), Krug! - which I have never seen in Costco, etc.

[Eugene Park]

The Costco in Novato crushes both the RC & SF wine departments in terms of high-end stuff as well as overall breadth & variety.

[Cindy]

Funny, I'm usually envious of the SF Costco for all the asian food items that Novato never has.

[Robert Lauriston]

Whoa, Krug? How much?

[estnet]

around $169 - but I found it online at another store for 130 (plus shipping) - ryebrookwines.com. I have no connection with them and know nothing about them - but have placed an order. OTOH their price for Cristal is way above Costco price. Guess they got a deal on Krug :)

Also RWC had white truffle butter 6 oz for about $11 Urbani - interesting b/c the day before they had a different brand (and price) at FC!

[walker]

I once tried a different brand of truffle butter and used it for Ina's recipe for linguini with t.butter and parm. Simple and delicious. Has anyone tried this one from Costco?

[Robert Lauriston]

Assuming that's Krug "Grande Cuvée" NV brut, that's no bargain, K&L's selling it for $119.

[Eugene Park]

As a followup, I happened to visit a client in RC a few days ago, so I stopped by the Costco there to fill up the gas tank and get some everyday staples. The bottle of Cristal for $999.99 is a magnum of the 2000 Rose. Krug was the NV Brut. Several cases of the 2002 Dom Perignon Warhol edition were out on the floor. In the locked case were bottles of 2006 Latour, Margaux & Haut Brion, 2005 Mouton Rothschild, 2004 Penfolds Grange and some Gaja Sori San Lorenzo.