Shopping

A reliable resource for both the curious home cook and the serious restaurant professional, the 11-year-old Chef's Warehouse in Fort Myers is also huge and fascinating.

My latest find there is the Pig Tail Food Flipper for $15. This long-handle utensil promises to replace tongs, fork and spatula as it turns and flips food in a flash while never causing bleeding or marks on meat. The surgical-grade stainless-steel shaft and curlicue hook are attached to a wooden handle that even has a rawhide knotted strip so you can hang the thing next to the grill. You're going to have Emeril's moves when you wield this wand.

But there are other realms to explore-counters of mismatched china, stacks of those cute little metal cream pitchers ($2.69) you always see in restaurants, wineglasses, rows of tiny white ramekins, even those nasty amber-colored nubbly plastic tumblers that budget eateries serve iced tea in. They're 74 cents each.

There are thick wooden spoons from France ($2), professional grade knives of all sizes and for every purpose, bar products and a 16-inch long wire whisk for $6.95. A bundle of 100 bamboo skewers is only 89 cents. You could make chicken satay for the whole neighborhood! Lincoln frying pans are big sellers because they're crafted to be banged and tossed around in busy restaurant kitchens. A 10-inch, nonstick pan is $36. Believe me, you want one because you may never have to buy another.

Chef's Warehouse is also the place for a $3,000 dishwasher or a $3,200 convection oven. For $200 you can get an electric rice cooker that makes 25 cups at a time. Plenty of sushi, anyone?

The customer base is 50 percent home cooks and 50 percent restaurant pros. But in dollar volume, 70 percent comes from the industry professionals who need sinks, ovens, plateware or maybe a $19,000 walk-in cooler.

A section of Chef's Warehouse is devoted to cooks' clothing-everything from nonslip rubber clogs ($89) to a majestic white toque ($28) and those cute pants with the elastic waist that are part of the professional cook's uniform. These pants are called a "chef's baggy." A lot of home cooks love them, too, because they have a relaxed cut and are machine washable.

Aprons, sexy-looking chef's jackets, baseball caps: They're all there, and so is Chef's Warehouse manager, Hap Schneider, a 30-year veteran in the food industry who advises young chefs and helps veterans put together budgets and lists of equipment that the would-be restaurateur then takes to the bank or potential backers.

"Traditionally, cooks who work the line wear white coats, and the prep cooks wear white pants and white shirts," explains Schneider. "The trim on the coat of the sous chef would be different from the executive chef, and there used to be strict rules about the color of the pants. But today most chefs have relaxed their military grip on what the staff wears, so there is more flexibility. But white coats are still preferred. It's a matter of cleanliness. And the coat addresses a safety issue. The double-breasted, side-button white coat protects a cook from hot grease splatters."

Chef's Warehouse sponsors cooking classes at the Cape Coral Yacht Club in cooperation with the Cape Coral Parks and Recreation Department. So after you've bought your kitchen gadgets, you can take a lesson in how to effectively use them. Or you can browse the store and just ask Schneider.

It's a pink-and-black spring and summer. Classic sophisticated black cozies up to the youthful perkiness of pink for a fresh look that is a tiny bit retro and full of flirty fun. You can thank the house of Chanel for pulling it off at the couture shows in Paris. And you can go right to Jennifer's in Fort Myers to see this continental look coordinated in at least two dozen ways that will delight and seduce any shopper from teenager to ladies of a certain age.

"I don't know anyone who couldn't look wonderful in a little or a lot of pink," says Jennifer Williams, who established her eponymous clothing store 20 years ago at Cypress Square. "This is a great year for pink, from fabric flowers, to a T-shirt to slip under a black suit, to skirts and slacks to handbags and shoes and even to satin or grosgrain ribbon belts. Even if you think you can't wear pink, this is the year to step out of the box and go for it."

Williams is forever encouraging clients to step out of the box. For those who don't know how, she offers home consultations. A client fills out a questionnaire that defines lifestyle as well as design and color preferences. Then Williams, or one of her five-member team, comes to the woman's home, organizes her closet and shows the client how to compose outfits based on the separates she already owns. Finally, the expert devises a shopping list that will fill in wardrobe gaps. The price is $50 per hour.

Part of the education process is undergarments. "There have been tremendous innovations in fabrics over the past few years. Clothes are more body conscious and have Lycra and Spandex," Williams explains. "And yet many women are still wearing the same old underclothes. Believe me, some of them ruin the look of these new designs. There are sensational new body-slimming undergarments such as the Spanx power panties and body wraps. Women who haven't investigated these items, which my husband calls women's devious tricks, really should." The $25 Spanx power panties promise to suck in the tummy and eliminate visible panty lines.

Besides home consultations, Williams organizes trunk shows, fashion make-over sessions, fashion shows at other venues, and lots of charity events that raise money and public awareness for ACT, Harry Chapin Food Bank, American Heart Association, Canterbury School and others.

Williams is definitely plugged into the local community. Her family moved to Fort Myers from Miami when she was 12. After Fort Myers High School, she majored in business at Edison Community College. She knew she was destined for fashion retailing while working with Judy Smith, who owned Moulin Rouge.

"She was a great teacher and a smart businesswoman," says Williams. "When Judy sold her store, I started my own with 600 square feet at this location and later added 600 more. My client is the woman looking for contemporary clothes with timeless style."

Jennifer's quality brands include BCBG, Yen, Laurie B, and Nell Couture. Clothes prices range from $28 to $380. Shoes by Matisse and A. Marinelli range from $32 to $120.

What's on Williams' must-have list for summer? "Definitely a fun, pink, leather handbag," she says. "Then a pink-and-black printed skirt and one of our new wrap bracelets made of black leather and semiprecious stones. A five-strand one is $124. Looks sensational with evening and day clothes."

The Tanger outlet center is undergoing substantial upgrades geared to compel tourists and locals to notice the open-air, bargain-priced collection of stores as they drive to and from Sanibel Island on Summerlin Road in south Fort Myers.

More than a dozen different tropical colors are brightening the buildings that have been bumped out to enlarge the appearance of most of the stores that occupy the mall. The enclave looks like a village of inviting wood-frame houses rendered in Florida vernacular architecture. Owner Stanley Tanger has also added a nature-walk element to the shopping experience: lots of native plants as well as exotics that do well in this climate. Small metal signs give the name of each tree, flowering plant or shrub.

So now as you wander from store to store you can stop to admire the hibiscus or learn the proper name of a palm tree you've been noticing all over town. Chasing down bargains on upmarket brand names and participating in a botanical education project-multitasking is so satisfying, isn't it?

Chef's Warehouse

11791 Cleveland Ave., Fort Myers. 275-9966.

Jennifer's

13451 McGregor Blvd. (Cypress Square), Fort Myers. 481-8582.

The Tanger Outlet Center

20350 Summerlin Road, Fort Myers. 454-1974.