Author Topic: Sources for Ingredients in SF Bay Area (Read 7106 times)

zappcatt · « **on:** September 22, 2005, 09:59:38 PM »

Pete-zza had a great resource started for NYV, so I wanted to see if we could get somthing similar for our part of the world.

1) What are your favorite local places to pick up "1st rate/specialized/niche" ingredients. Caputo "00", San Marzano DOP tomatoes, etc.

2) What are your favorite local places to pick up '2nd choice/make do" ingredients. People have mentioned a Walmart brand tomato,Trader Joes dough balls/tomatoes, Smart and Final dough balls, etc.

Giotto, you have said that you were able to find some specialized products at "some" Whole Foods. Could you list which ones you had succes at? I have been to 2 of the stores, and would not mind hitting others if there is a chance they might have some cool stuff.

I have bought or used:
Trader Joes- dough balls(Sunnyvale/Saratoga and El Camino)-worked well
Trader Joes -tomato w/Basil(Sunnyvale/Saratoga and El Camino)-worked well
Smart and Final- Tomato(El Camino and Scott)- worked well
Smart and Final- La Romalla Pizza Sauce(")- have not used it ye
Smart and Fina(") 10 x 2 deep dish pizza pan, pizza screen
Whole Foods(Bascom and Hamilton)- Italbrands "00" flour-have not used it yet
Whole Foods(")- Ceramic Julienne slicer- cool but expensive..$10 more than on metrokitchen
Whole Foods(")- Fresca Mozzerella- worked well

Saw:
PW Market(Saratog and Lawrence)-large selection of Cento products

Bill/SFNM · « **Reply #1 on:** September 22, 2005, 10:47:39 PM »

It's been 5 years since I moved out of the Bay Area, but the Draegers in Menlo Park had a fresh mozzarella that was about as good as I have tasted outside of Italy. It was not branded and came in small tubs.

Bill/SFNM

zappcatt · « **Reply #2 on:** September 22, 2005, 10:55:48 PM »

Cool, I had totally forgotten about Draegers. Thery are in San Mateo and Los Altos also...will check them out.
Andronicos is another specialty store that I must visit.

Bill/SFNM · « **Reply #3 on:** September 23, 2005, 12:21:19 AM »

And don't forget about Dittmer's on San Antonio in Mountain View for pepperoni and sausages and other meat toppings. Both Draegers and Schaub's (in Stanford Shopping Center) have really good sausages. And South San Francisco is (was?) home to one of the best suppliers of specialty flours in the world: Giusto's (www.worldpantry.com)

Bill/SFNM

TONY · « **Reply #4 on:** September 23, 2005, 09:43:52 AM »

I've used La Romanella pizza sauce it's actually pretty good, especially for $1.09 a can! In Southern California Italgourmet Foods (323) 277-0211 has a nice selection of imported Italian foods..........Caputo flour, canned tomatoes, Grande cheese, etc............

Samm · « **Reply #5 on:** October 09, 2005, 03:45:51 AM »

Smart and Final is great for 5lb blocks of Precious whole milk mozzarella at $2 a lb

Luca Deli in SF on Valencia and 22nd is my source for just about anything from Italy at good prices as well. If you have not been to Luca deli and you live in the area you are missing out! This is a real, Italian deli.

Economy restaurant fixtures 1200-7th Street is open to the public on Saturdays for equipment

Hope these references help,
Samm

Lydia · « **Reply #6 on:** October 12, 2005, 06:34:32 AM »

Zapcat!

Thanks for starting this post, I'm in the bay area at least once a month.

I have one for you. Neto Sausage Co., Santa Clara 3499 Alameda between ElCamino& Lafette- carries Escalon, Emma Bella Marinara; Stanislaus fully prepared pizza sauce in back of store; Semolina Flour; Specialty cheeses and a mild brand of link pepperoni, sausages made on site.

Smart & Final (Prospect Rd. SJ) carries fresh mozzarella balls, whole milk mozzarella block & pre-shredded.

scott r · « **Reply #7 on:** December 31, 2005, 04:03:21 AM »

Damn you folks over there in the SF area have great ingredients for a home pizza maker. I was so happy to find everything I needed to make killer pies at home right in Walnut Creek where my sister lives. Here is what I found:

Whole Foods had Buffalo Mozzarella from Italy, Grande whole milk and part skim mozzarella, Grande provolone, King Arthur bread flour, and AMAZING basil that totally destroyed what we can get in Boston. This stuff tasted similar to what I had in Naples.

Genova. This is an Italian specialty store that is a chain, but I don't know how many locations they have. I found buffalo mozzarella from Italy (fresher than whole foods) Bel Gioioso provolone, fresh mozzarella (unknown brand), Ital brand San Marzanos (excellent), Stanislaus Tomato Magic, Stanislaus Alta Cucina whole tomatoes, Escalon 6 in 1, Straineese (sp?) san marzanos in cans or jars, and tons of great italian meats and cheeses of all sorts. The coolest thing was that they had the Stanislaus products in small cans. I always thought they only made their products in the big #10 cans.

In Safeway I found Frigo mozzarella made by Saputo, and some amazing heirloom tomatoes. These tomatoes looked and tasted just like uglyripes, but were just not as ugly.

Lydia · « **Reply #8 on:** January 26, 2006, 02:40:16 AM »

Quote from: sadiamond on January 24, 2006, 08:25:35 PM

If you're a consumer (rather than a professional) and want to save money on shipping, you can order in advance and buy a 5 pound bag of Giusto's High Performer High Gluten Unbleached Bread Flour for $5.40 at Earthbeam Natural Foods, 1399 Broadway, Burlingame, CA, for $5.40.

Note that Earthbeam does not regularly stock this item, so you will need to call the store in advance at (650) 347-2058 and ask them to order it for you. You'll also need to specify Order Number 102006. Earthbeam would love your business!

This is for walk-in only...this is a very small retail store and they don't do mail-order. For Giusto's mail order, you can access http://www.worldpantry.com/cgi-bin/ncommerce3/CategoryDisplay?cgmenbr=132201&cgrfnbr=171236.

Hope this helps. And no, I don't have anything to do with Earthbeam but they went out of their way to be helpful.

Lydia · « **Reply #9 on:** February 15, 2006, 10:28:19 PM »

Smart & Final Inc. Reports New Store Openings

January 01, 2006 Smart & Final Inc. announced that it has opened three new California stores in Modesto, Torrance and Gilroy.

The new San Rafael store is located at 935 Anderson Drive, San Rafael, Calif. 94901 and is approximately 21,800 square feet.

December 21, 2005 Smart & Final Inc. announced that it has opened a new store in Whittier, Calif. The new Whittier store is located at 15214 Whittier Boulevard, Whittier, Calif. 90603 and is approximately 19,500 square feet.

DNA Dan · « **Reply #10 on:** July 21, 2006, 02:09:47 PM »

Former pizza cook here. I have seen the process firsthand and done it many times. What pisses me off is that a lot of the restaurant foodservice stuff is deliberately kept from the retail market. Is it illegal for people to sell foodservice products retail? Otherwise I am sure someone would do so over the internet. I suppose it's protecting the trade. Anyway, here are my contributions to stuff I know of in the south bay area.

Sauce: I have bought 6 in 1's Escalon, San Marzano DOPs, and others from JJ&F Market in Palo Alto. (on elcamino). They have a surprising selection of 3-4 types of premium tomato products. Smart and Final is a good source for La Romanella Pizza Sauce (fully prepared or just heavy paste with basil) This makes an okay sauce, but what I am really looking for is RedPack Pizza Sauce. This is the holy grail of pizza sauce and they strictly keep this thing out of the retail market. I emailed them and was told that it is a foodservice item only. Any leads? We used to use a packages spice mix, again which I am sure is foodservice only. I don't quite remember the brand, but I know Redpack Pizza Sauce was the base for the sauce.

Cheese: I am still working on this one. I haven't found Grande or anything like that locally. It's difficult to reproduce that chewy- stringy stretch that restaurants have. I tried everything, but retail cheese just doesn't have it the same. This is a part of the process that was hidden from me! The "first street" pizza blend from Smart and Final was decent, but still not enough stretch.

Dough: Now I know this is foodservice. I have the exact brand from someone I know in the industry. It's the BEST ever!

Toppings: For sausage I use Badalamente in Willow Glen (on Willow St.). You have to call in your orders for Italian sausage because they only make it fresh each day.They sell to the public and also supply a bunch of restaurants in the area. This stuff is kick ass! For pepperoni, I have tried La Villa, again in willow glen on Lincoln. Expensive as hell for a stick, but man, this was by far the best roni I have ever had.

Lydia · « **Reply #11 on:** July 23, 2006, 11:52:14 AM »

Hi dan

Welcome to the forum, and than you for listing a new source in Palo Alto.

I haven't seen the Redpack products for some time. Last time was Cash & Carry in the Central Valley. I will keep my eye out for Redpack products.

If you're down El Camino towards SJ Airport, You may want to talk to the guy at Neto Sausages. He's small independent sausage producer, if your going to purchase these tomatoes on a regular basis he may be willing to work with you. I suggest going at lunch time on an empty stomach. They are usually grilling sausages for the lunch special, and it's the only time they are cooking their products.

I keep an eye on Big Lots; when a company decides to update their labels, the products will usually show-up there to move them quickly. (Foodservice Containa, Angela Mia, Escalons have all showed up there).

I just purchased the First Street brand of shredded whole milk mozzarella and moterey jack. I'm not sure if I got a bad batch or not, but the it's melting gritty (I don't recall this happening the last time I purchased them).

Anyway, just thought I'd give you a heads-up about the recent problems with the cheeses.

_______________________________________________________________________

Resource update

Sources for premade dough:

Resturants; Frankie, Johnnny and Louiggi too and Giorgio's sell their dough to customers. The prices are listed on the menu. It's a hand-toss NY style dough. I don't have the price sheet with me at the moment but I think they ran about $3 for a good sized ball.

vitoduke · « **Reply #12 on:** July 23, 2006, 05:13:45 PM »

I live in Napa, and our local Safeway has 6-in-1's. I think it's about $1.50 a can.---Mel

Lydia · « **Reply #13 on:** July 23, 2006, 08:19:21 PM »

Mel

Thanks, for the post. It's good to know that your local Safeway is "actually" stocking the 6 in 1's.

When I spoke with Escalon they told me that they had done a trial run with Safeway, and had a good response. Unfortunately, none of the Safeways I have visited in the Central Valley or South/East Bay are stocking them. I just checked again this weekend and still no sight of them.

I'm anticipating that more stores will be stocking them toward the end of the year or so.

DNA Dan · « **Reply #14 on:** July 24, 2006, 02:18:54 PM »

I found some Redpack products online! Surprisingly enough at Amazon.com's gourmet section.

http://www.amazon.com/s.html/ref=br_ss_hs/102-4505784-5316134?platform=gurupa&url=node%3D3580501&keywords=redpack

This still isn't the stuff I am looking for though. I have found their "Redpack Pizza Sauce" to be quite different from Redpack tomato sauce. It "sticks" to the dough much much better. Anyway, at least you can make a nice round of ravioli with it !

I heard back from Redpack sales and they confirmed that the "pizza sauce" is a foodservice item only. Someone needs to open a restaurant business and sell this stuff online.

Lydia · « **Reply #15 on:** July 24, 2006, 02:48:10 PM »

Dan

Thanks for the follow-up and link to Amazon, I wouldn't have thought to check there.

If you haven't tried it yet, you might want to try allowing the tomato sauce to set in the fridge overnight in a covered container to allow for evaporation. It should improve adhesion and if you are adding any seasonings it will also allow the flavors to fully develop.

Based on my experience with other foodservice brands, my thought is that the crushed tomatoes in thick paste would be most like the pizza sauce you're used to. It would also be a good product to add to the tomato sauce for a better pizza sauce texture.

Lydia · « **Reply #16 on:** July 24, 2006, 02:56:30 PM »

Quote

For sausage I use Badalamente in Willow Glen (on Willow St.). You have to call in your orders for Italian sausage because they only make it fresh each day.They sell to the public and also supply a bunch of restaurants in the area. This stuff is kick ass! For pepperoni, I have tried La Villa, again in willow glen on Lincoln. Expensive as hell for a stick, but man, this was by far the best roni I have ever had.

You've got my attention!

Will you tell me about the pepperoni...is it spicy, hot, smokey? how expensive?

By chance do you have a number/address for Badalamente?

DNA Dan · « **Reply #17 on:** July 24, 2006, 03:29:34 PM »

Badalamente Sausage
374 Willow St
San Jose, CA 95110-3224
(408) 294-7115

Like I said, it's best to call in and tell them you want X pounds to pick up later in the day. He usually makes some extra for the stragglers that come in later, but I have gone a few times and they were closed because they sold out. It's very mom and pop and they close very early. Get some extra, it's awesome grilled on the BBQ with peppers and onions eaten in a sandwich slathered in mustard!

I think the roni stick was about $6-8 a stick. I bought some wine and other goodies so I don't remember the exact cost. What I liked best about the roni is it had excellent flavor. It was not spicy, hot, or even greasy when cooked. It just tasted like a nicely mild flavored meat. It was perhaps what an ideal pepperoni should taste like, excellent flavor, good texture, without the hot taste, or greasy waxy taste.

While you are there, if you aren't a La Villa regular, order yourself a pint of their cheese ravioli to go hot. Their sauce is somewhat sweet, with beef. This isn't my favorite type of sauce, but the rav's itself are to die for. Their ricotta filling has this wonderful creamy texture to it. I am sure you will enjoy them. They will cook them up fresh for you while you wait.

As for the evaporation of tomatoes, I am in the development phase for making my own tomato evaporator for next year's round of sauce. I currently process about 250 pounds (10 lugs) of tomatoes annually into sauce for pasta. This isn't good for pizza because it lacks "sticking power" that you usually get with a higher solid content. In case you were wondering, I process them using two 80 quart pots, two outdoor burners and an italian tomato sieve. In total we get about (100) 1 quart jars out of 250 pounds. My best estimate routinely is about 10 quarts a lug. Ahhh the fun of being italian!

Lydia · « **Reply #18 on:** July 24, 2006, 09:59:01 PM »

Dan thanks for the info. Hopefully I can get over that direction soon.

Quote

I currently process about 250 pounds (10 lugs) of tomatoes annually into sauce for pasta.

That alotta tomatta!

I thought I used large quantities, but I think you've got me beat on this one.

Is this a serious hobby or occupation?

DNA Dan · « **Reply #19 on:** July 25, 2006, 12:31:51 AM »

Unfotunately it's an obsession with good food more than anything else!

1) 125 pounds in (1) 80 quart sauce pot
2) Squeezed with a Villaware spremy into a 60 quart pot,
3) Comparison of size next to the propane tank
4) 108 jars of the good stuff.

So do you think the vacuum pump to evaporate off the water at a low temperature needs to be food safe or NSF? Any ideas where I can get one? I think making your own tomato paste is straight forward as long as you have the right setup.