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Williams Sonoma

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kati.b

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Williams Sonoma

by kati.b » Sat Mar 10, 2007 4:38 pm

Does anyone actually buy cookware from here? They seem so overpriced to me and I just have to wonder if the quality is really good enough to qualify the $$ spent.
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Doogy R

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Williams Sonoma

by Doogy R » Sat Mar 10, 2007 5:25 pm

I have been there so many times, admired what they have, and thought as you do that they're way overpriced.
Great food along with great company is truly one of lifes best treasures.
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Lori R.

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Williams-Sonoma

by Lori R. » Sat Mar 10, 2007 6:07 pm

Not me...unless I have a gift certificate!
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Robin Garr

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Re: Williams Sonoma

by Robin Garr » Sat Mar 10, 2007 6:12 pm

kati.b wrote:Does anyone actually buy cookware from here? They seem so overpriced to me and I just have to wonder if the quality is really good enough to qualify the $$ spent.


Like the others, I think you pay a little extra for the name at Williams-Sonoma. I'd say Campbell's for personalized service, Heimerdinger's for knives, or maybe best of all, Dine Company on Preston for restaurant-quality equipment at excellent prices.
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Leah S

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by Leah S » Sat Mar 10, 2007 7:13 pm

OOOh I love to go wander shopping at Dine. I always need a little something, and can usually find too much other stuff I'd like to have. I tend to be on Preston more often than I think about going to Fetzer's, although I got my Hobart at Fetzer's. Do you go there? How about Chefware or whatever the name is of the place at 15th and Main?
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C. Devlin

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by C. Devlin » Sat Mar 10, 2007 9:21 pm

WS is way beyond pricey. I love to look, but I never buy. I buy fabric from Wal Mart for bread couches, look up deals on the internet (Ebay, for example), and this past summer I bought a great old 30 quart hobart mixer from a guy who lives out our way who has used restaurant equpment packed into two barns (and literally up into the rafters) and a back field adrift with stainless steel equipment.
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BDKollker

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by BDKollker » Sun Mar 11, 2007 5:20 pm

Thank goodness for that mixer, because that bread you do is absolutly delicious!!!!! True artisinal bread that blows blue dog out of the water.
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C. Devlin

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by C. Devlin » Mon Mar 12, 2007 12:33 am

Well now you've done it, Blake. You've made me blush.

The mixer was a concession I struggled with because until that point everything was entirely hand-crafted. Easy in small batches. Hell for bigger batches. Especially, maybe, for small people like me. I'd like to say my upper body strength isn't what it used to be, but it wasn't ever anything to write home about in the first place. So I use the mixer sparingly, and briefly, very briefly, but it's especially crucial now that I have increasingly larger batches to bake. At the same time, I continue to add a lot of the ingredients by hand after the intial mix because to me it makes a difference. My husband (my biggest critic next to me) says he can't really tell, but I can.

I went looking for a 20 qt. mixer only to be told by several used equipment dealers in town that they rarely have anything in that range anymore. And then a friend mentioned this guy who lives out in the boonies just a mile or so from us. And golly. It's sort of mind boggling. Yeah, nobody has anything because this guy has every used piece of restaurant equipment in the midwest sitting in his barns. I was impressed even before he showed us his massive walk-in freezer outfitted for his 20-some cats. We looked at a bunch of 20 qt mixers but they all looked too small, and so I kept hemming and hawing. And then he said, "Ya know, I just got this really old 30 quart Hobart you might like," and yeah, I did. Nothing fancy. But I fell in love on the spot.

Before we refurbished her, I called her Isabella Rossellini because she was beautiful even without the paint. She makes me happy every time I see her.
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Sonja W

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Williams Sonoma

by Sonja W » Sun Mar 18, 2007 8:58 pm

WS is expensive, but they have a selection that's hard to beat. And their staff is knowledgeable about the products and excited about cooking.

I used my WS Christmas gift certificate to purchase a Chef's Choice knife sharpener. Couldn't be happier with it. My knives slice through onions like butter. Butter!

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