Now Might Be the Time to Buy That Le Creuset Dutch Oven

April 14, 2020 Admin 0 Comments

And other good purchases for right now, from the ‘Add to Cart’ newsletter

This post originally appeared on April 14, 2020, in Add to Cart — the weekly newsletter for people who love shopping (almost) as much as they love eating. Subscribe now.

I’ve always been a sucker for house tours. I’ll watch Vogue’s 73 Questions videos with the sound off, just to peep the houses; I love a good Curbed House Calls column; and I regularly fall down Apartment Therapy clickholes looking at other people’s apartments.

While the slick, produced tours can be ultra satisfying (or devastating — watch Liv Tyler’s Architectural Digest house tour and weep), recently I’ve found myself comforted by the mundane. Instagram right now offers endless peeks into kitchens famous — Gwyneth Paltrow is posting unedited videos of her and her kids’ dinner prep, Eric Ripert is prolifically churning out home cooking tutorials — and non-famous alike, as seemingly everyone I’ve ever met is now streaming directly from their homes and into mine.

Needless to say, peeping the kitchen tools, artwork on the walls, perky plants, and other delightful home touches (I’ve spied some excellent stocked bar carts through Zoom) provides a much-needed shopping distraction right now.

Things to buy

• H/t to Khushbu Shah for reminding us how crucial serrated knives are. I love my powerful little Wusthof serrated paring knife, while Eater EIC Amanda Kludt is a fan of Food52’s 9-inch serrated knife.
• Le Creuset has been having major sales, so you can get a 4.5-quart Le Creuset Dutch oven right now for $268 (and other pieces for much cheaper, if you’re not looking to spend that much).
• I’m getting envious of everyone’s speckled dishes (mugs at the edge of the photo frame, plates under baking attempts), which I’m convinced 99 percent of the time are East Fork’s signature dinner plates in “soapstone” (sort of a grayish pale blue). This Etsy set offers a similar vibe.
• Any sad home desk situation can be helped (even if just a little? Maybe??) with a glass water carafe. I’ve always liked the cork-topped ones, like this glass pitcher from CB2 or an even cheaper one from Target.

Things to know, merch-that-gives-back edition

• Prominent PR agency Care of Chan has launched a shopping initiative called Save Restaurants, curating an online shop with merch (some you may already recognize) from restaurants such as Contra, Chez Ma Tante, Frenchette, Gjusta, Sqirl, Tacos 1986, and Veselka. Check out this Roberta’s sweatshirt.
• Merch 4 Relief is partnering with restaurants to create and sell new merch, with 95 percent of the profits going directly to the restaurant and 5 percent to a restaurant-worker relief fund. Restaurants include Eem in Portland, Oregon; Canlis in Seattle; and Toro in Boston. Seeing as I’m Philly born and bred, I’m eyeing this Palizzi Social Club tee.
• This new Court Street Grocers T-shirt comes courtesy of Merch Aid, which is creating merch by pairing artists with small businesses — restaurants, markets — to design original items.
• Bragard, maker of classic, simple aprons, is working with the Polonsky & Friends agency to sell a new version of its iconic Travail apron, with 100 percent of profits going to the Restaurant Employee Relief Fund.
• John Donohue, an artist creating framed NYC restaurant prints, is also using his work to contribute, donating 50 percent of all print sales to the Restaurant Workers’ Community Foundation’s relief fund.
• For more intel on local merch in specific U.S. cities, check out these lists.

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