Tuesday, June 26, 2007

Das Vinoglobe


This ingenious little goodie was featured in Sunday's New York Times as the newest "must have" wine accessory. It's the Vinoglobe. We used one during an event here at the store and we were duly impressed. The concept: the glass sphere manipulates the air flow around the wine as you pour and aeriates and decants immediately. It made a significant difference in freshly opened reds.

There's even a groovy little flash demo video at http://www.vinoglobe.com/.

Wednesday, June 13, 2007

Modern Design Icons And Independent Designers


We can't think of a more adorable and iconic kitchen product than this. It's the Hug Salt & Pepper Set from Mint. We love the thoughtful design...we love the inherent sentiment...and we love the story of the designers who created it.

Mint's very first product was the 'Hug' Salt and Pepper Shaker. Although the three founders of Mint thought it was a beautiful piece of modern design, it seemed as though they were they only ones. After suffering the rejection of several major manufacturers, the team had to reevaluate their plan. They produced the Hug Salt & Pepper Set with their own funds and it quickly became the number one selling item at the Museum of Modern Art's store. Luckily for us, they were confident in their design and it would not be long before those same manufacturers were lamenting the day they ever doubted those fellows from Mint.

Throughout the year, we will be offering more and more product from independent designers. You will see more and more great contemporary handmade items and products from new designers that have chosen to remain independent from the large corporate wholesale entities.