In Search of Great Kitchen Stores Series: Cooking Gallery, Truckee, CA

Suzanne & Romeo

Last week, in our first blog post, we outlined our Love'n Every Bite blog trip to Truckee, CA. This week I want to share with you, in depth, our visit with Suzanne and Mike Preaseau, owners of the Cooking Gallery. This beautiful, expansive, dog-friendly kitchen store is nestled in the heart of historic downtown. In the nearly 20 years I've lived in the Sierra Nevada Foothills it has been one of my favorite spots to get lost. The Cooking Gallery has been a family-run business for 36 years ever since Suzanne and Mike's father bought the budding Tahoe City business in 1975. The store ran successfully for 20 years there before moving to Truckee.

It was our good fortune that both Suzanne and Mike were in the store the day of our visit! They were not expecting us. Dawn & I entered the store and introduced ourselves (and Lulu) to Suzanne and her dog, Romeo. Suzanne and Romeo were very enthusiastic about showing us around and had just showed us their newest hot seller, the Chef'n StemGem Strawberry Stem Remover (try saying that out loud) when she got very busy with customers. After looking at this cool little tool that takes the crown and the core from the strawberry, I browsed the store for items on my wish list while Dawn, with Lulu in tow, snapped photos of the beautiful product displays.

Quite serendipitously, Mike and a friend just happened to walk in (on Mike's day off) to get something. Suzanne introduced me to Mike saying: "I want you to meet my brother: he does all the ordering". To add to the serendipity, it turns out that Mike's friend had just suggested that Mike blog about the store when we arrived saying we wanted to do just that! I love how Spirit works to bring the good we want into our lives! Mike began by telling me that the price of ceramic knives has come way down: a 6" Chef's knife which used to cost $200 is now $50. I have never used a ceramic knife and after learning that they are sharper and stay sharp 15 times longer than a Wusthof which I do have, I am sure there is a ceramic knife with my name on it in my future. We moved on to non-stick cookware with Dawn photographing us and at one point I looked back and saw Mike's friend taking photos of all of us with his iPad and posting them to Facebook! What fun! Mike's friend, if your reading this - thanks, we'd love to connect and get those photos for our Love'n Every Bite Facebook page.

Mike and I discussed the the health risks associated with the PFOA in Dupont's Teflon non-stick cookware. He is, like many other retailers in recent years, trying out the next-generation GreenPan which has an aluminum exterior with Thermolon Endurance non-stick interior coating. Thermolon-coated cookware is reported to release 50% fewer greenhouse gases during production and contain no toxic substances that could be released at high temperatures like Teflon does. Manufacturers of the GreenPan report that the coating has a high heat resistance (850°F or 450°C) and is scratch and abrasion resistant. It was developed as a response to the US EPA's request that manufacturers reduce their PFOA emissions by 95% before 2010. Among the Cooking Gallery's non-stick inventory you'll find Creuset enamel-coated cast iron, 3-ply stainless, Lodge Logic Cast Iron, a new light-weight cast iron skillet called ExcelSteel made by CookPro Inc., in addition to the GreenPan. Mike says that most of his customers ask for the convenience of non-stick cookware.

Mike shared with me that one of his personal favorite non-stick products is the good-oleLodge cast iron skillet which is fortified with iron - something our bodies naturally need a supply of and which will bio-degrade if it is tossed out. Once seasoned, that cast iron can last you a lifetime. Lodge is an American eco-responsible company with 100 years experience. If the events of the recent years of nuclear reactor failures and economic imbalance have taught us anything at all, it is that we live in an interconnected network of cause and effect. It makes good sense to consider the health of our bodies and the environment as top criteria when considering any purchase including cookware. It is my belief that to consider the whole is the loving, healthy thing to do! Green has many shades: find the color that's right for you!

I personally have not used coated cookware for more than 20 years since the time when I switched to cast iron and Calphalon Tri-Ply Stainless with glass lids. I have learned to soak my stainless after cooking things like eggs. I have a great little scraper tool I use after soaking and it's easy-peasy! For myself, I'm just not attracted to a coating that can get into my lovingly-prepared food.

What do you think, to coat or not to coat?

Inquiring minds want to know: what kind of pans do your use and why do you use them? Do they serve you well? Is it convenience of clean-up, your eco-friendly heart, your concern for health, your desire to make a good investment, save money, or some other criteria?

Let us know what you think about non-stick and if you get a chance to visit this lovely store - do! Truckee is a great place for fun, good food, and re-creation.

Catch Dawn next week when she reports back after our trip to the premiere party before the Placer County Real Food Cookbook Worldwide PBS Broadcast which airs on National TV station KVIE September 14 at 7:30 pm PT. Little Auburn makes it national! I once had my foot on national TV...but that's another story!

In two weeks, I'll be providing more information about the upcoming 2nd Annual Lake Tahoe Restaurant Week in October and my review from one of the participating restaurants - the only one so far as I can see that markets the fact that they serve gluten-free entrees.

Till next time - May you know the Love that goes before and makes the way plain and happy! Deb