Paella pans in West Loop area?

I'm looking for 2 paella pans (not nonstick). One 17" or so and one 12" or so. Donh't want to spend $$$ at Williams Sonoma and figure the Warehouse District must have a store that carries paella pans. Any suggestions?

It’s not quite the West Loop but Deli-Berico, the shop in the back of Café Iberico, carries paella pans and other cookware from Spain in addition to probably the best selection of Spanish ingredients in Chicago. They usually have a good selection of sizes but you might do well to call first because their cookware stock level can fluctuate quite a bit. Prices don’t seem unreasonable to me.

Café Iberico
739 N LaSalle Dr
Chicago
312-573-1510

I've seen some at Costplus WorldMarket - not that I'd purchase cookware there myself (or anything else for that matter).

I know it's not in the area, but I got my pan here and was very pleased.

http://www.paellapans.com/

Northwestern Cutlery has them in multiple sizes. They're underneath all the spatulas on the east wall near the entrance.

I didn't note cost, but I suspect they're pretty competitive.

Northwestern Cutlery Supply
(312) 421-3666
810 W Lake St
Chicago, IL 60607

CTB wrote:I'm looking for 2 paella pans (not nonstick).

CTB,

Not much help, but I recently purchased a paella pan at Cook's Catalog Clark Street store's going out of business sale. Main reason I bought the things, they were so cheap I bought two sizes, were Jeff B' past paella posts and Antonius's posts where he uses a paella pan, for example Comida en Colorado. I've also had the pleasure of hearing Pigmon's talk about paella, which he knows well.

The paella pans turned out to be a great spur of the moment purchase as this Sunday, at m'th'su's house, Pigmon and Trixie-pea put my large pan to it's best possible use. The paella was incredible, easily as good as anything my wife and I had in Spain, and has spurred me to start experimenting. M'th'su's Moroccan leg of lamb on the WSM was terrific as well, but oh, that paella.

Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night


(Left to Right) M'th'su, Trixie-Pea, Pigmon



On a more helpful note, Northwestern Cutlery has red handled paella pans on the web site, and their prices are typically quite good. If you go to Northwestern Cutlery, but sure to bring a few knives for sharpening, they do an excellent job on knives.

Enjoy,
Gary

In addition to the Comida en Colorado post (thanks for including the link, Gary!), where I show a basic form of rice cooked in a paella that I make, I've posted on various other dishes I've made en paella, including not just rice dishes but also pasta dishes. Here are some further links:

• Fideuejat amb mariscs (Maccheroncelli valenziani con frutti di mare)
http://lthforum.com/bb/viewtopic.php?p=67862#67862



• Fideus amb Carbassó (i Mandonguilles de Carn de Xai)
http://lthforum.com/bb/viewtopic.php?p=68257#68257

• Arròs amb faves en paëlla
http://lthforum.com/bb/viewtopic.php?t=6163

• Moros y Agnósticos (black beans and rice)
http://lthforum.com/bb/viewtopic.php?p=67500#67500

• Arroz con Morcilla estilo Trisastres
Rice with Blood Sausage ‘Tri-Taylor Style’
http://lthforum.com/bb/viewtopic.php?p=67519#67519

• Arròs Verd
http://lthforum.com/bb/viewtopic.php?p=67981#67981

• Arròs amb verdures o Arròs ‘xamfainat’
http://lthforum.com/bb/viewtopic.php?p=69818#69818

My advice: do not buy an expensive, fancy pan. They may be nice but the cheap pans that rust are the real deal and, though they take a while to get used too, they work really well, once one understands their properties.




Olé!
Antonius

Thanks to all for the recommendations. I live near Northwest Cutlery and have them sharpen my knives every so often. I had not noticed paella pans but will look near the spatulas...

Great paella pics, friends! Seeing your intrepid rain-soaked endeavor left me thinking about some gi-normous paella pans I saw at The Spanish Table, a store in (or technically near) the Pike Place Market in Seattle several years ago. The pans came in sizes designed to be used outdoors over a wood fire to serve many people - like 3 or 4 feet across. (The largest carbon steel pan listed on their website goes for $600 and serves 200 people.) Since seeing these years ago, I have been wishing to have an outdoor paella event, but, until recently, I knew no one who really understood that wish. Thank you, LTH-ers for restoring my dreams of paella!

http://www.spanishtable.com

I admire Trixie and Pigmon's persistence almost as much as their paella. The raspa looks very good.

Now, for a big paella, here's how we roll in Ybor every year:



PS, there's charcoal under that pan.

JeffB wrote:I admire Trixie and Pigmon's persistence almost as much as their paella. The raspa looks very good.

Yes, indeed. I got caught up in copying over images and links and didn't get around to praising the maker's of the rainy-day paella. Bravo, P and T-P!

A

P.S. Where did you get the special outdoor cooker?

Antonius wrote:P.S. Where did you get the special outdoor cooker?

Antonius,

It's the bottom half of my turkey fryer setup, fairly standard equipment for any BBQ guy worth his salt.

Enjoy,
Gary

G Wiv wrote:

Antonius wrote:P.S. Where did you get the special outdoor cooker?

Antonius,

It's the bottom half of my turkey fryer setup, fairly standard equipment for any BBQ guy worth his salt.

Enjoy,
Gary

That's funny. In Spain, they make special cookers that resemble your piece there just for outdoor use of the paella (which is, as I'm sure many know, the traditionally favoured context). I have a picture of one in a Catalan cookbook I have. Very funny...

A

In Spain do BBQ guys worth their salt use their paella cookers every now and then for turkey frying...?

***
Trix, Pigmon, the rainy day paella is inspiring! Which reminds me - I need to make an Iberico run to load up on a paella pan and/or other cookware.

G Wiv wrote:Not much help, but I recently purchased a paella pan at Cook's Catalog Clark Street store's going out of business sale.

Gary, do you mean Chef's Catalog on Clark?