[Faith, a candidate for one of the writer positions at The Kitchen, submitted this product review. Welcome, Faith! Readers, comment away!]
You may already be familar with Lotta Jansdotter's textile and ceramic designs, but just in case you're not, you really should check out her beautiful tableware and linens collection.
Based in San Francisco, Jansdotter designs, among other things, beautifully patterned ceramic bowls that would look perfect on a summer table filled with fried zucchini or a bright pasta salad. Her table linens are simple and lovely without being too dressy or fussy. She uses natural linen - a strong, long-lasting blend printed with spare, modern patterns and California-inspired colors of pale blue, sea green, and rust red.
Ceramic pieces run from $24 and table linens range from $12 for a pair of coasters to $48 for a beautiful long table runner.
didn't Lotta recently move to Brooklyn?
sarah - good catch. you're right about her new brooklyn locale. but maybe when faith wrote/submitted this post, lotta was still in sf? the move was indeed quite recent (her own web site still references that she is sf-based).
This is more of an editorial/content comment...
I'd rather see blog entries about utensils, gadgets, ingredients (commonplace, seasonal, or unusual) and how to use them, cookbook/recipe reviews or quirky kitchen related ephemera...
This blog entry moves towards 'kitchen-style' not 'kitchen-use'. I'm personally not a big fan of design blogs where each entry exclaims 'look how cute this is!'
JenPDX,
More 'how-to' and less 'look how pretty'? I agree, though I think it's easy to let design creep in - especially when the other parts of AT are so focused on it!
A word, if I may: I do have an updated clip with Jansdotter's move to Brooklyn, but I didn't get it in in time to be posted. She has indeed moved to Brooklyn (Boerum Hill) and so she won't be shipping orders again until August 20, when, presumably, the physical store opens as well.
And about the kitchen style - I agree, even though I wrote this! - but one thing I do appreciate about the Kitchen is its attention to all aspects of putting good food on the table. I like that it pays attention to presentation and atmosphere and the role they play in the kitchen. However, there are plenty of gushy design blogs out there and I am glad that design alone is just one small piece of the Kitchen's content.