“Morphescape” is Gaia&Gino’s white glazed porcelain tableware designed by Karim Rashid.

The non-stop continuation of a single undulating surface is divided into every need for the table so you can actually have an entire table connected by each function as a modular scape. The inspiration is the city scape of Istabul from  minarets to mosques to the modern city and the Bosphorus. But it could be any city in the world.

Karim Rashid was born in Cairo in 1960 - half Egyptian, half English, raised in Canada and practices in New York. His perspective and clients are global and while he considers himself more of a cultural provocateur, his projects range from products, interiors, fashion, furniture, lighting, art and music to installations.

www.gaiaandgino.com
www.karimrashid.com

You favor wine instead of a sixpack cold beer for tonight’s dinner? Or you simply want to stack your wines for cooking in a space saving way?

I love to present my selection of 6 “premier cru” for next weekend’s dinner this way…

Harry Allen’s whimisical and practical 2005 release in the Reality Series is a polyster resin cast of a joined wine bottles which have been sliced in half. The resulting object forms the base for creating or presenting stacked wine bottles.

Available in matte black or gypsum white.


Wanna buy? www.retromodern.com

via www.betterlivingthroughdesign.com

Some of you might recall the post a couple weeks ago where I tried the Tomato knife that was hohum and didn’t really convince me. Well, here’s something completely different:

Swiss kitchen utensil manufacturer Zyliss just launched a magnificent tool, a soft skin peeler that work magic with Tomatoes… They also won a red dot award for the knife, so it not only works well, it is also pretty (we really love those products…) So forget about dipping those little red suckers in to boiling water before you can get the skin off, this knife has a super fine serrated blade that get’s the skin off the softest of vegetables… On top of it it also comes with a super sharp tip, that lets you remove any blemishes with surgical precision.

Oh and did I mention it retails for under 10 Dollars? Beauty…

A candle - another finding from Frankfurt’s Tendence - with an extremely flat design, creates an elegant translucency and reveals its inner wick structure that defines the path through which the fire will travel. This wick structure creates excitement and completely draws attention to the candle.

Will it burn? What will be its path? What will be left once the structure is gone?

The inspiration for the design comes from the molecular structure of cholesterol, which is then figuratively burned away in front of the spectator. In a restaurant scenario, while appetizers are being enjoyed, the candle is lit. It is active and splits up into multiple flames. Later, as the main course is served, the candle slows down and burns with a calmer, dim light. After this more tranquil period, it begins to become active again, before burning out at the end of the evening.
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Fortunately we could spent some time for store checking around Madeleine and Rue Saint-Honoré… Established in 1886 by Auguste Fauchon, Fauchon is one of the world’s leading gourmet food and specialty companies. As an “epicure in the know” you should have seen this being once in Paris. Its gastronomic selections encompasses tea, coffee, chocolate, cookies, caviars, fois gras, black truffles from Perigord, spices and dozens of further ingredients.

The modern shop with its product presentations and all the lovely packaging is a well worth seeing piece of art!

26/30, place de la Madeleine
75008 Paris
www.fauchon.com

Since its debut in September 2004, GAIA & GINO has well established to create a new Turkish design brand. The first of this collection was the “Liquid Glass” glassware by Defne Koz, a Turkish designer living in Milan.

Internationally acclaimed designer Karim Rashid in New York designed the best known collections. Karim reinterprets the dining experience by creating a series of unique innovative products:

“MORPHESCAPE” the non-stop continuation of a single undulating surface is divided into every need for the table enabling one to have an entire table connected by each function as a modular scape. The inspiration is the cityscape of Istanbul from Minarets and mosques to the modern city and the Bosphorus.
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Since this spring Leonhard Pfeifer’s “sushi board” has shown up several times in design magazines.

As Leonhard told me yesterday, his sushi board is ready to sell now!

Biggest plus: the sushi board is incredibly space saving on a small table or a bar.

It is supplied with 2 sets of chopsticks, each plate has an integrated soy sauce bowl and the board is finished with a non-toxic lacquer. He named it a sushi board, but - combining style with function - of course it’s just as useful for cheese and crackers, tapas, canopes - in fact you could use it to serve everything except soup.

Price: approximately 70€

More info on stockists? Ask Leonhard at

www.leonhardpfeifer.com

Uhh… another lovely gem that caught my eyes during my Tendence’s reconnaissances:

I already raved of Ibiza a few days ago… but the fact that Cafes Ibiza is a leading company in its field with a long tradition in the roasting and manufacture of finest coffees… that was new to me. They were born in nineteen-fifty and since then, they have been selecting the finest harvests to offer us their Balearic flavor.

First to say: I like the design of their packaging!!! Buy 20 packs and decorate them in one of your open kitchen cabinets …looks great! - that’s how they were presented at the fair.
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Since 2004’s introduction of “touch!” - with the patented velvety coating - people know, that KAHLA is one of Europe’s most innovative procelain producers.

Italian or Indian? Asparagus or sushi? Fine dining or finger food? Never before has food been so varied and your guests so diverse. Your home is your castle – as well as a refuge for your family and friends, kids and colleagues. Cooking is relaxation, eating a pleasure, and both together a prime way to enjoy being at home – this is an intelligent solution, tailor-made to your personal approach to life, one that always remains faithful to one thing, your very own style…

…and since Tendence KAHLA innovates again and gives us a new tools to individualize our table decoration: Notes

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Growing up part time on Mallorca, I remembered this little B&B as, well a usual B&B. Small, quaint, a little old and dusty, but full of charm. S’hostal d’esporles was one of many small hotels in the small, by tourists unfrequented villages, that are so compelling by the mere fact that they withstand the urge to attract hundreds of potential guests. How stunned was I when I saw the pictures of the remodeled, now Hotel Rigel Esporles. Blame it all on Rafael Trobat and Miguel Miró who run the only acceptable interior decorating company on the island, Puigdorfila. Their impeccable taste and sensibility have transformed this little mom and pop into a precious little gem. Still only 10 rooms, the exterior remained unchanged, yet the inside is a new world. You needed a reason to visit the island of Mallorca? It doesn’t get much better than this. Great location, great food and an attentive young staff should make this visit one to remember. Make sure to travel in October, it wont be as hot as it can be in the summer and the tourists will have disappeared by then, leaving you to explore one of the most amazing islands you’ll ever visit.