Williams Sonoma

Whenever I am at WG Mall, I am compelled to dart in W-​S to see what’s cooking. Sometimes literally. The delicious aromas are discernible five stores away and from the upper floors, too. W-​S has a number of highly talented cooks on staff (including at least one former chef) and their dishes are terrific.
In addition to their vast knowledge of W-S’s wares, these culinary experts teach a series of free cooking classes on Sundays (typically). The classes span a wide gamut from knife skills to pie-​making to clever things to do with vegetables. And so attuned is W-​S to the happenings in the food world, that a student may be exposed to a trend BEFORE it hits the big time. For instance, I sampled and learned how to make kale chips more than five years ago when no one was infatuated with kale or thinking about cruciferous vegetable snacks. Now, kale chips can be found at T.J. Maxx. Can’t get more mainstream than that!
Notably, the classes are free and W-​S awards attendees a discount to be used on anything in the store.
For cookware, kitchen accessories, meal starters, and spices, W-​S is peerless. Indeed within a few weeks of learning of a NYC store that focused on rare and obscure salts (via NPR, natch), I had in my hot little hand a jar of said salt purchased from W-​S. No train ride required.
BTW, W-S’s sales can be phenomenal. Get on their mailing list.