Fancy but Frugal : Surfas offers low prices on an array of gourmet foods and supplies. It also stocks a big selection of kitchenware.

The fancy-food departments in the supermarkets are out of bounds for those on a budget. Recently I was sorely tempted by some Major Grey chutney at $3.85 for a nine-ounce jar. But then I visited Surfas, a gourmet foods and restaurant-supply store in Culver City and found a two-pound jar of Roland’s Major Grey chutney (more than three times the size and a lot more mangoes) for $5.35--a sizable increase of product at considerably less per ounce.

It’s hard to comparison shop the gourmet foods here because many are simply not available to the general public anywhere else. Surfas is where the chefs, restaurateurs and gourmet cooks shop.

Start in the freezers at the rear, where you’ll find an 18-inch brioche filled with smoked salmon mousse. Just thaw, slice and eat. This is produced by chef Michel Blanchet, whose talents with salmon were revered at L’Ermitage and L’Escoffier. At Surfas, the price is $7.40 per brioche (or $10.40 a pound). Elsewhere, if you can find it, it’s $12 a pound.

Many items come in the large commercial sizes, and one way to solve that is to shop with a neighbor and divide up the loot. For example, a 2.2-pound jar of capers is $16.95, equaling six small jars that would ordinarily run about $4 each.

The wonders of haute cuisine fill the shelves. Balsamic vinegars and exotic cooking oils abound, and the prices are about 25% to 35% less than the sum at fancy food stores. A very large (one liter) bottle of extra virgin Badia A Coltibuono olive oil would retail for $38.95; the price at Surfas is $29.75. A 1 1/2-pound jar of anchovies retails for $16.50 or more in specialty stores, while the price here is $12.50.

Have you ever tried truffle butter melted into your pasta? Very dramatic. This unsalted butter with white truffles would run $5 for a two-ounce tub, if you could track it down; it’s $3.98 here. If you always pass on recipes that call for saffron because it’s so costly--$8.50 to $10 for one-quarter ounce--think again. The price at Surfas is only $3.35.

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Before the ’94 earthquake, Surfas was strictly a restaurant supply store, but Van Rex Gourmet Foods down the street was virtually destroyed, and the owners decided to share space. What a lovely marriage it is. Van Rex provides the food, and Surfas the equipment with which to prepare it.

Stainless-steel bowls range from 64 cents to $7.20 for one 19 inches in diameter. At most stores, figure $15. Ice-cream scoops that are priced $12 and up elsewhere are generally $9.45 here but were on special the day of my visit, for $5.98. Check out the 18-gauge heavy-duty cookie sheets for $4.99. A wonderful selection of knives from Germany by Forschner contained among other things a 10-inch serrated chef’s knife for $25.99 (retail $34).

Allow yourself plenty of time at Surfas--enough to send your culinary imagination soaring. Eat before you go.

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WHERE TO SHOP

What: Surfas.

Location: 8825 National Blvd., Culver City.

Hours: 9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Monday through Friday; 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday.

Cards: American Express, MasterCard and Visa.

Call: (310) 559-4770.