What’s happening with Surfas, the great SoCal cooking shop

Surfas, the store that has been a culinary haven for home cooks and chefs since it opened in Culver City in 2005, where you could wander the aisles and lust after shiny stock pots, iron tortilla presses and heirloom beans, will close on July 15. The adjacent café, known for its pressed sandwiches and salads and caneles, closes today. But owner Les Surfas, whose father started the company in 1937 — the original Surfas was in a Los Angeles garage — is already looking for a new location for the store and plans to reopen soon.

“I’ve been in negotiations on a number of other locations,” said Surfas, who noted he is trying to get as close to the National Boulevard building as possible. “We’re not going out of business. We may be out of a location for a while, but we’re definitely going to reopen with better ideas.”

Surfas sold the property about 2½ years ago, and the property is going to become part of the HBO headquarters. The Costa Mesa location of Surfas, open for five years, closed June 5.

“We really wanted to consolidate and have one really great store again,” said Surfas of the OC location closing.

While Surfas plans to close the Culver City store mid-July, he says he and his family will continue to focus on the company’s commercial accounts, designing and building restaurants as well as supplying them with equipment. Surfas is also working on a new online store for the company’s products, which will be up and running “in the near future.”

Depending on which new location Surfas chooses, the store may or may not have a cafe.

“We have a really good crew that has been with me for many years and we’re looking at it as an opportunity to start Day One of our next 80 years in business,” said Surfas.

He also plans to return to Culver City in two years with a cafe and a consolidated store that will sell what he calls “the best of Surfas.” Here’s to hoping rendered duck fat is on that list of items.

Surfas Culinary District, 8225 National Blvd., Culver City, (310) 559-4770, surfasonline.com.

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@Jenn_Harris_

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