createLe Sanctuaire
5th Floor
San Francisco, CA 94108.
Mon-Fri: 10:30-4:30, Sat: By Appointment Only
I looked up the word sanctuary in the dictionary and the definition is as follows:
- A sacred place
- A refuge
I frequently take refuge in the sacred place that is Le Sanctuaire. It is the proverbial mecca for spices (and also, by the way, high end kitchenware). Among the wide range of spices you will be certain to find something you will love (and possibly will never have heard of before) that will transform an everyday dish into something exquisite.
Fany Setiyo will eloquently guide you through her products to make sure you come away with just the right thing for your palate. She turned me on to the many fantastic peppers gracing her shelves, among which I am particularly partial to the Tasmania and Chinese Long Peppers. The spices are fresh, aromatic and fragrant; quite simply, beyond compare.
They write on their website “Le Sanctuaire was conceived from the desire to provide only the rarest choice ingredients and restaurant-quality kitchenware to passionate chefs with the most discriminating appetite for culinary excellence.” That’s me. And probably you too!
This is one of my favorite stores — it offers fantastic kitchen appliances and tools that make unique and practical gifts, especially for my husband. I love their selection of exquisite china, cookbooks, serving dishes, teapots and saltbowls too. In addition to their spices, they have a wonderful array of salts in different flavors and colors to suit your every dish. I could go on and on…
There is a bar over the road that is really handy. It helps you recover from the after-shock once you have taken in that you just spent a week’s wages on spices.
Truth is, it’s worth every penny (sorry, cent). I bought some delicate, red peppercorns for $6 and a bag of Tasmanian peppers (on Andrew’s recommenation) which cost $21 (and, of course, you only use a tiny amount with each dish, so it’s not really that expensive). I used the red peppercorns with some fresh, wild Alaskan halibut and the Tasmainian on a grilled flank steak. Andrew’s right… these simple dishes morphed into something quite exceptional!