19 kitchen and tableware gifts for keen cooks and hospitable hosts
From hand-forged Japanese knives to mouth-blown French glassware and appliances that look as good as they work, here are 19 kitchen and tableware gifts to delight any keen cook or generous host.
Looking for a gift that will thrill any keen cook or proud host? The perfect kitchen gift blends form and function, whether it’s a beautifully crafted knife, a hardy cooking pot with shelf appeal or an elevated everyday appliance.
1.
The knife that’s a cut above the rest
Whether you need to build a fire in the wilderness or prepare a spread of food over the festive season, a utility knife is a practical addition to any cutlery set.
Made by fourth-generation Niigata-based blacksmith Mutsumi Hinoura, the Ajigataya Utility Hunting Knife has a shirogami steel blade and an elegant white-oak handle that’s a joy to hold.
niwaki.com
2.
Top of the glass: Pick up tumblers from La Romaine Editions
Pauline Vincent, the founder of tableware brand La Romaine Editions, often draws inspiration from the table settings of her childhood summers and from the craftspeople of France.
This set of tumblers is made by a master glassmaker in Biot, a small village near Antibes in the south of France that is renowned for its glassblowing tradition. Each tumbler features bubbles trapped under the surface of the glass – a quirk that might be considered an imperfection but is instead turned into a point of interest for your tabletop.
laromaine-editions.com
3.
Take home the trophy with Danish tableware brand Akua Objects
Conceived by Paris-based curator Leia Sfez and her husband in 2023, The Oblist supports emerging artists and designers by gathering beautiful pieces from different craft traditions under one roof.
This Karl vase by Danish tableware brand Akua Objects, named after co-founder Annika Zobel Agerled’s husband, is hand-blown in Bohemia in five different shades, including clear, hazel or black glass. Its soft, triangular shape and side details give it the look of a chic trophy. It’s clearly an item that deserves pride of place.
oblist.com; akuaobjects.com
4.
Try out Panasonic’s minimalist microwave
Has the microwave fallen behind in an era of high-speed, intelligent kitchen appliances? Panasonic certainly thinks so: welcome the Japanese Countertop Microwave, or NN-SF57RM to give it its official name.
The Osaka-headquartered manufacturer has redesigned the clunky turntable-in-a-box’s overcomplicated interface and side-swinging door to create something a little more intuitive. And don’t worry, your food will no longer be unevenly cooked – Panasonic’s heat sensor detects steam levels to figure out when the heating process has run its course. Hot stuff.
panasonic.com
5.
Make your kitchen a cut above with a Flawk butter knife
Singapore-born London-based Ashley Law is a small-scale property developer with a keen eye for design. But after establishing her practice, Flawk, in 2022, she has now decided to home in on smaller objects, starting with this stainless-steel butter knife with a beaded handle.
“Knives often celebrate hallmark occasions whilst also being used daily,” says Law. “I wanted a versatile version that could also be a statement object.” Functional design, it seems, is Law’s bread and butter.
flawk.co.uk
6.
Fork out on cutlery from Katto
Katto’s ultra-sharp British steel blades and ergonomic walnut wood handles make light work of slicing. “The best chefs want the quality of their cutlery to reflect the quality of the produce on the plate,” says co- founder Josh Roberts. “Having beautiful steak knives communicates the restaurant’s standards immediately.”
It’s why you’ll find their blades at London restaurants such as Kol, Simpson’s on the Strand and The Devonshire, which have named Katto as the purveyor of the superior steak knife.
katto.shop
7.
Turn up the heat with Gaggenau’s ovens
German home-appliances manufacturer Gaggenau’s sleek ovens show off your cooking skills as well as your taste. “The kitchen is now often part of the living room,” Gaggenau senior industrial designer Alexander Stuhler tells Monocle. “That means that you might have a view of it from your sofa. So it’s important to design appliances that you want to look at.”
Here, that means a simplified user interface, smooth joints and a floating control ring. Your food might not be ready any sooner but you will definitely enjoy watching it work.
gaggenau.com
8.
Toast the season with a champagne-coupe set from Lobmeyr
Hosting always appears effortless when everything looks the part – so look no further than these patrician champagne coupes from Viennese glassmaker Lobmeyr. First designed by Austrian architect and designer Josef Hoffmann in 1917 as part of a set of 19 vessels – from decanters and dishes to flutes and tumblers – the elegant stemware features a modernist shape that favours form over decoration.
Today these delicate coupes are handblown in muslin glass – a technique that results in a delicate, wafer-thin finish. Careful when saying prost!
lobmeyr.at
You can explore more of Josef Hoffman’s furniture designs in ‘The Monocle Book of Designers on Sofas’.
9.
Toast to Balmuda’s latest steamy appliance
Japanese homeware brand Balmuda’s idea of incorporating steam into its toaster designs created a bestselling kitchen appliance. For its latest product, the Toaster Pro, the company worked with professional chefs.
The steam technology still makes crisp toast that’s fluffy inside but this edition also has six modes, including “croissant” for heating without toasting, “pizza” for high power and a “salamander grill” that fires blowtorch-level heat from above for the perfect cheese on toast. And if you’re able to source real Japanese milk bread, “shokupan mode” will warm it up with a light crisp.
balmuda.com
10.
Start your morning with La Marzocco’s compact coffee machine
This compact version of La Marzocco’s barista-approved coffee machines allows you to make café-level flat whites at home. “The Linea Micra is designed to offer the same performance as our commercial machines, scaled for home use,” says Stefano Della Pietra, La Marzocco’s head designer.
The machine’s clean-lined aesthetic reflects the manufacturer’s Florentine roots, making the Linea Micra an elegant, eye-catching addition to your kitchen countertop.
lamarzocco.com
11.
Here’s a scoop: Hay’s stainless-steel Italian ice-cream cups
Danish design firm Hay’s Italian-made ice-cream cups are worthy of the creamiest pistachio gelato or freshest raspberry sorbet. Made in stainless steel with a slim stem and a coupe-shaped bowl, they’re an elegant vessel for any dessert.
Whether it’s an affogato or a boozy rum and raisin that gets you and your guests excited, it’s the cups themselves that are the real treat.
12.
Pick up an art deco egg cup from Puiforcat
The curved silhouette of these sterling-silver egg cups by French silversmith Puiforcat will add charm to the breakfast table.
Inspired by art deco designs from the brand’s archives, the Cannelle cup is adorned with fine grooves, while the flared rim of the Cyclamen model is based on Puiforcat’s classic tumbler. You can also personalise your purchase with an engraving.
puiforcat.com
13.
Turn up the heat with Vermicular’s handsome cookware
When brothers Kuni and Tomo Hijikata inherited the family foundry in Nagoya, they switched from making textiles to the world’s finest enamelled cooking pots.
Vermicular’s versatile oven pot is still the brand’s signature item but it is now joined by a rice cooker and cast-iron pots and pans. After using this cookware you’ll accept no substitutes.
vermicular.jp; line-inc.co.jp
14.
Pour yourself a drink from The Side Cart
Are you staying in tonight? Good call. Fix yourself a drink or, better yet, invite some friends round and wheel out the drinks trolley. If you don’t have one, here’s an option that features Münsingen-based USM’s signature chrome-plated steel engineering while embracing Buchanan Studio’s sleek London aesthetic. Neat.
usm.com
15.
Sip your morning brew in a handmade mug from Monoware
Swiss creative consultant Daniel Baer founded British tableware brand Monoware in 2019. Its Barista collection features a range of Portuguese-made, matte-glazed stoneware cups, mugs and saucers.
Designed to improve the everyday ritual of drinking coffee, the vessels’ soft shape makes them an attractive addition to any kitchen.
monoware.com
16.
Blow off some steam with a brew from an Alessi kettle
Not everything designed in the 1980s stands up to today’s grand designs but this classic kettle feels like a welcome return to common sense. This Richard Sapper creation for Piedmont kitchen brand Alessi has aged well thanks to its domed stainless-steel body, sinuous black handle and latch, and brass pipes that whistle – the notes E and B, if you’re wondering – as the water boils.
The sound was inspired by Sapper’s memories of riverboat sirens on the Rhine. The kettle hints at an important truth often forgotten in the kitchen: not everything needs to be automated.
alessi.com
17.
Raise the bar with a sculptural glassware set
The best works of design strike the balance between beauty and practicality, which is exactly what this cup-and-carafe combination by J Hill’s Standard does. Designed by Dutch creative Aldo Bakker, the two pieces can be stacked on top of each other, forming a decorative display that would just as easily suit the shelves of a well-stocked bar as a design gallery.
The ensemble comes in three colour variations: anthracite grey, opaque ochre and chic clear glass. An admiration of form and material led the pair to create the perfect drinks set for your bar or tabletop.
jhillsstandard.com
18.
A clever coffee machine from Morning
Singaporean accountant-turned-entrepreneur Leon Foo had an idea brewing. After establishing his roastery PPP Coffee in 2009, he wondered why people could control their heating and lighting via a quick tap on a phone but they couldn’t do the same with their coffee.
The resolution wasn’t a quick fix. But nine years on (after getting plenty of experts to spill the beans) he invented the Morning Machine: a sleek, Nespresso-compatible steel contraption that lets home brewers control the temperature, pressure and water-to-coffee ratio through a nifty app. In doing so, kitchen pours can enjoy the same depth of flavour as speciality coffee spots – a welcome perk before the daily grind.
drinkmorning.co.uk
19.
Fix up, look sharp with Borough Kitchen’s knives
“When it comes to knives, I look for three things: sharpness, ease at which food releases from the blade and the feel of it,” says Justin Kowbel, co-founder of London’s handsome kitchenware retailer Borough Kitchen. For sourdough lovers, Kowbel recommends the Kai Shun Premier Bread Knife. “The direction of the serration changes at the midpoint, effortlessly cutting through tough crusts.”
The Kai Shun Classic Scalloped Santoku (middle) slices through everything from vegetables to cuts of meat. And for something a little extraordinary, choose the Masamoto FS Series Nakiri. “A nakiri’s straight blade is excellent for fine chopping,” he says. “There’s a reason why Masamoto is one of Japan’s most respected knifemakers.”
boroughkitchen.com
