Sur La Table brings new culinary shopping experience to Westwood
(Daily Bruin file photo)
By Alejandra Reyes-Velarde
Aug. 2, 2016 3:17 p.m.
This post was updated Aug. 4 at 12:40 p.m.
Sur La Table, an upscale culinary supplies store, had a successful first week of business, with about 800 people visiting the store the first day.
The store, which sells high-end kitchenware and offers cooking classes, opened on the corner of Westwood Boulevard and Weyburn Avenue on July 23.
Retail manager Molly Muirhead said the store will host cooking classes most days. Customers can take the classes in groups, private events, or one-on-one with the resident chef. The cost will vary depending on the type of class.
Holly Amore, culinary department manager, said there will be 16 people in each group cooking class. Customers will be split into groups of four and will learn four different recipes of a particular cuisine.
People will be able to learn to make French, Italian, Thai and Mediterranean depending on the chef hosting the class, she said. The classes will be held around four times a day for roughly two and a half hours each.
According to Sur La Table’s website, the store also has a coffee bar where customers can try coffee machines before purchasing them and a knife-testing station, among other features and events.
On Saturday, the store will host a free in-store demo of farmers market tools.
Topa Management, the store’s management company, announced in October they planned to open the store in spring 2016. However, there were minor construction delays because developers wanted to preserve the building’s 1930s style, Amore said.
Topa Management officials wanted Sur La Table to appeal an older group of shoppers such as hospital staff and Westwood residents. The company aims to continue to bring more high-end businesses like Sur La Table to Westwood.
Amore said the store expects clientele to be mostly Bel Air and Beverly Hills residents, UCLA faculty, staff and students.
Muirhead added many customers who visited the store the first week seemed familiar with Sur La Table’s classes and products.
Contributing reports from Kuhelika Ghosh, Features editor.
