All posts filed under: Things for Eating

modern-twist

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  I was drawn to the modern-twist booth at this winter’s New York Gift Fair by their unique collection of food-grade, hand-screened silicone placemats. Based in the San Francisco/Oakland area, modern-twist makes a range of products, from bracelets to coasters, in a manner that allows them to be both a socially and environmentally conscious company. Free of BPA, latex, and chemicals, their products are good enough to literally eat off. The line of  12” x 16” KIDZ mats, starting at $17 each, are filled with child-friendly scenes by contributing artists that can be doodled on with washable or dry erase markers and wiped clean again with a damp cloth. Adults can have fun too, with a line of silky smooth silicone place mats in subtle geometric and floral designs. Other product designs from modern-twist include trivets, coasters, wine glass markers, jewelry boxes, pillows, and a line of silicone bracelets that will appeal to kids of all ages.

Heath Ceramics Summer Collection

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It’s beginning to warm up here in the New York City area, and people can get a little carried away that winter is finally over. Once the temperature hits 60 degrees Fahrenheit, suddenly every other person on the street is walking around half-dressed. I think some men buy special calendars that announce it’s the Official First Shirtless Day of the year because, as if all at once, all you see is chest hair and bad tattoos. Launching in April in limited quantities, Heath Ceramic‘s new collection of tabletop pieces is also eager for the summer to arrive. Along with a fresh color palette including California Poppy, Grapefruit, and Birch, the collection revisits the company’s previous experiments with exposing the natural clay body texture of their designs. Like those fancy bakery cookies that have their ends dipped in chocolate, these luscious glazes are tempting enough to bite into. Clay is exposed at defined points on many pieces, either towards the neck of a vase or base of a bowl. In the collection, matte glazes also continue …

Fruity Fruit Basket

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Fruity is a new fruit bowl designed by Charlotte Arvidsson for the Danish design company Normann Copenhagen. Arvidsson, a graduate design student in Sweden, has designed Fruity to arrive flat and be easily assembled and disassembled (it can be freestanding or suspended). Made of plywood, Fruity is inspired by the rings of water that form around a raindrop. Its open structure makes it easier for you to keep an eye on how fresh your produce is — from all angles. $26.00 USD.

The New English China

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Although it’s from the land of Wedgwood and Royal Doulton, The New English is not your grandmother’s china. With designs featuring anatomical drawings, skulls, and insect montages, it might not be yours either, but I find them really striking. So many china patterns are exactly the same, why not have one that no one will ever forget, even if it sparks a nightmare or two? Available in the U.S. at Inheritance Shop in Los Angeles.

Nogg Chicken Coop

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Handcrafted in the U.K., nogg is intended to appeal to domestic farmers who can afford to keep their chickens in something more stylish than a wooden box. When I first saw this egg-shaped chicken coop, I had a serious discussion with my husband about the feasibility of raising chickens in our New Jersey backyard — but we decided we couldn’t tolerate moving them into our basement for the winter. What’s great about the nogg though, is that you can almost justify getting it just for its sculptural form alone; the chickens can come later. Built to house two to four chickens, nogg is handcrafted in batches of 20 from sustainably sourced cedar. A collaboration between furniture designer Matthew Hayward and creative director Nadia Turan, this chicken casa is fox-proof, offers easy access to the removable base tray inside, and sports a glass roof that twists and lifts for easy ventilation. At nearly 2000 british pounds including VAT (over $3000), nogg is certainly a luxury (and one that animals are going to poop on after all), but think about it …

Kusmi Tea

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I tend to judge luxury food items this way: I must want to eat the packaging along with the product inside of it. The Kusmi Tea company has been making its traditional Russian style tea for 140 years, but I only just discovered them after they announced they will be available in the Bloomingdales in Manhattan (they also have a U.S. flagship store on Third Avenue). The tea bags are lovely — they come in a muslin bag with a delicate string, and they seem almost too nice to be disposable. I am also drawn to the colors of the packaging, which are bright and floral but not overtly feminine. The entire design is very modern and clean, right down to the teabag tag which instructs you how long to steep the bag and at what temperature. I sampled the best-selling Detox, a blend of mate, premium green tea, and lemongrass flavored with lemon. I usually make my own lemongrass tea, after I got hooked on it during my trip to the Seychelles, but this …