Store

It sounds like ChefShop.com's home is somewhere in cyberspace, but really, it’s a shop in the Interbay neighborhood. You can create entire banquets from the smart selections of pastas, sauces, mustards, oils, vinegars, olives and barbecue essentials found here; if you're shopping for someone else, you can put together your own gift basket (or choose one of theirs). Sure, you could sit at your desk and order the same things from the Web site, but then you'd miss out on all the delightful accessories and impulse-buy items offered, such as real chef tongs or retro shot glasses.

TIP: No matter how high your bandwidth, you can't sample food online. In the store, there are at least four tasting stations open every day: sea salt, honey, Balsamic vinegar and olive oil.