Sarah Coffey

Good vibes only, please.

We’ve always known ChefShop as an online resource, although it’s also a brick-and-mortar boutique in Seattle. Way back in the nineties, ChefShop founders Tim Mar and Mauny Kaseburg wanted to provide their customers with LOTS of information about the artisan products they were selling, which — at the time — most people weren’t doing.Their strategy translated well onto the web, and ChefShop.

Even if the brand name Bialetti doesn’t ring a bell, you probably recognize the little aluminum stovetop coffee maker shown above. Included in the Museum of Modern Art’s permanent collection, the ‘Moka Express’ was originally designed in 1930 by Alfonso Bialetti and it remains in production today. The Bialetti company proudly states, “You will find this little stovetop coffee maker in 90 percent of Italian homes.

Product: Bon Ami Cleaners Price: $3 – $4 Rating: Recommend* After we wrote a post on how to shop for green cleaners, Bon Ami sent some test products to our office to see how they stacked up against other non-toxic green cleaning brands. Recently rebranded with a lighter, more streamlined look (that still preserves the classic chick logo), the kit included the classic powder cleanser, dish soap, all-purpose cleanser, and liquid cleanser.

The Kitchn has reviewed a few Victorinox products — including their ceramic fibrox-handled chef’s knives, their 8-inch chef’s knife, and picnic knives — and they generally come out with high ratings, especially for the price points (although not everything Victorinox sells is cheap). Their forged, carbon steel knives can run upwards of $100, but their stainless steel, plastic or fibrox-handled versions clock in around $30 for a chef’s knife.

If you’re on the hunt for cheerful retro tablecloths, tea towels, or housewarming gifts, this webshop is a good one to bookmark. House 8810 stocks 1950s-style patterns for the kitchen and dining room, as well as practical items like collapsible wire laundry baskets and fabric market totes. Also worth noting — there’s a festivities section online, where you can find unique party decor and favors. I’m a fan of the printed cotton happy birthday treat bags ($15).

We’ve been a fan of Seattle-based Henrybuilt kitchens since Maxwell used their cabinets in his apartment renovation a few years back, so we were intrigued to learn about Viola Park, their brand new sister company in Los Angeles. Unlike Henrybuilt kitchens, which are highly customizable, the Viola Park collection is modular and more affordable. The collection also includes a series of islands, which can be purchased as part of a complete kitchen or on their own, as a piece of furniture.

This Philadelphia-based online store is a resource for high-quality kitchen brands that you don’t find everywhere else — products like French La Cornue electric/convection cookers, pottery by Emma Bridgewater, and Mauviel saucepans and roasters. They’re also a kitchen and bath design house that carries everything from tile to appliances to glassware.

Angela Beck’s printed fabrics remind me of the bandanna-style napkins my mom had for years. They were perfect for family dinners — cheerful and able to withstand stains, they looked good even as the dye faded over time. Made in India from block-printed cotton, the Pomegranate collection includes similarly casual tablecloths, runners, placemats, and napkins in traditional styles.

It’s been a while since we first profiled Los Angeles store Tortoise in 2006, and the New Year seems like a good time to revisit this simple, unlcuttered Japanese import shop. Now with two locations and a newly renovated/expanded store to their name, husband and wife team Keiko and Taku Shinomoto continue to focus on long-lasting, durable products that are functional and beautiful.

Looking for a creative way to wrap your homemade gifts? San Francisco-based Studiopatró makes hand-printed tea towels, market bags, and aprons that are pretty enough to give on their own or tied around a box of cookies.Christina Weber runs the design collective, and she describes the “people behind the cloth” as “friends and collaborators who cut, print, sew, photograph, and generally lend a hand.

Italian brothers Danny and Joe Di Bruno opened shop in Philadelphia’s 9th Street Italian Market in 1939, and their story is one of a small business finding a niche market to survive the age of megastores.

Usually we think of cast iron stoves as coal-black potbellied pieces, but British company Aga is sort of like the Le Creuset of cast iron stoves — they coat their ovens in colored enamel that gives them a slick and glossy surface.They sell electric and gas ranges that claim to retain heat exceptionally well. The first Aga stove — a cast-iron cooker — was patented in 1922 by Swedish inventor Nils Gustaf Dalen.