Barcelona-based French illustrator Malika Favre is known for her punchy and playful art style which has been described as a combination of Pop Art and Op Art. Over in Brussels, French artist Alice Roux uses her background working in set design and fashion, and currently as a visual artist, to create objects and furniture. After the two creatives discovered each other in 2020, they began on a years-long collaboration that started with a one-off table but grew to a four-piece capsule collection named Nested Lines.

The proverb “Birds of a feather flock together” couldn’t ring more true in this collaboration. The collection, which consists of a coffee table, a side table, and two wall shelves, reveal a cheeky (dare we say beaky?) surprise upon closer inspection. During conception, Favre came up with a pair of abstract, interlocking Toucan birds that lay within the perimeter of Roux’s rounded coffee table, symbolizing a nest itself. After multiple drawings and sketches, four were chosen as the final designs. Then, it was time for Roux to bring the art to life.

Photo: Malika Favre

Photo: Alexandra Colmenares

Photo: Alexandra Colmenares

Roux studied Favre’s designs in great detail, carefully refining the curves, tangents, and angles. After experimenting and nailing down the perfect paint colors, she created resin surfaces using her own technique that adds the pièce de résistance to the wooden frames.

Photo: Jérôme de Gerlache

Photo: Jérôme de Gerlache

Photo: Jérôme de Gerlache

Photo: Jérôme de Gerlache

Photo: Jérôme de Gerlache

Each vibrant piece takes 6 to 10 weeks to complete, a process than began with Favre’s design inception in Spain to the woodwork in Portugal to Roux’s Belgian workshop for the painting and resin treatment. Available only on request, every piece is signed and numbered, further solidifying the special nature of this unique, artistic collaboration.

Photo: Malika Favre

Photo: Malika Favre

Photo: Alexandra Colmenares

Photo: Alexandra Colmenares

Photo: Alexandra Colmenares

Photo: Alexandra Colmenares

Photo: Malika Favre

Photo: Alexandra Colmenares

Photo: Alexandra Colmenares

Photo: Alexandra Colmenares

Photo: Alexandra Colmenares

Photo: Pascal Boudet

Malika Favre Photo: Mari Luz Vidal

Alice Roux Photo: Grégory Copitet

To learn more about the Nested Lines collaboration, visit nestedlines.com. See more about Malika Favre and follow her Instagram here. Learn more about Alice Roux and follow her Instagram here.

Film credits: Direction by Jérôme de Gerlache, Images Jérôme de Gerlache/Pascal Boudet, and Music by Cyesm

As the Senior Contributing Editor, Vy Yang is obsessed with discovering ways to live well + with intention through design. She’s probably sharing what she finds over on Instagram stories. You can also find her at vytranyang.com.

“So many people will never embark on an RV trip simply because they are intimidated by how to do it,” notes Stefan Solyom, Pebble CTO, a new electric recreational vehicle venture developed by a roster of former Apple, Tesla, Volvo, and Lucid employees. Despite those hurdles, countless vacationers set out onto the road during the pandemic to vacation in trailers and RVs. The trend in turn sparked the development of a new generation of tech-laden recreational vehicles, both large and small, each more Tesla in nature than the clunky Winnebagos you might remember parked in our grandparent’s driveway.

The 100% electric Pebble Flow rolls in representing the more lavish end of the trailer lifestyle, and certainly delivers several magnitudes more comforts than traditional car camping. With a starting price of $98,500 and stretching 25′ long, 7’6″ wide, and surprisingly tall at 8’8″ in height, the Flow measures well against the comparably modern and more aerodynamic Lightship L1’s 27′ long, 8’6″ wide and 7’6″ tall dimensions. For additional comparison against the standard bearer of trailer design, the Flow’s price lands in the same ballpark as an Airstream Flying Cloud.

One perk of owning a Pebble Flow – and many future EVs – is the option to tap into V2H (vehicle to home) charging, turning the trailer into one sizable backup battery when parked at home.

Like the aforementioned Lightship L1, Pebble Flow’s designers recognize hauling a battery-laden trailer is a literally heavy task, and have thus outfitted the Flow with a dual-motor Active Propulsion Assist System to mitigate range anxiety.

The Flow’s designers also identified hitching a tow vehicle to a trailer can be a daunting task for the uninitiated, so they engineered the trailer to handle the task itself through an array of sensors, automatically aligning trailer to tow vehicle.

Campsite meals are made considerably easier to prepare using the Flow’s fully stocked kitchen that includes a removable induction cooktop, a 4-in-1 convection microwave, and a full-size fridge. There’s even a flip-up service window in times when al fresco is the way to go.

The Pebble Flow’s Murphy bed retracts into a desk to transition from relaxation to work mode in seconds.

Wraparound windows give occupants an immersive view of their surroundings, while also inviting ample natural light to emphasize the spaciousness within.

Pebble CEO and founder Bingrui Yang’s 9-year tenure at Apple leading iPhone development is reflected in Pebble’s lofty goal of making a large recreational vehicle as intuitive to use as that centerpiece of many modern lives. The Pebble app is thus the centerpiece of the vehicle’s design, controlling lights, door locks, temperature control systems, and vehicle monitoring. “We are automating the hardest parts of the RV experience with the same technologies that power the most advanced automotive innovations,” says Yang, “If you know how to use an iPhone, you’ll be comfortable using our product.”

The Pebble Flow’s Remote Control mode allows owners to maneuver and park the trailer from outside the vehicle once unhitched, simplifying the oftentimes nerve-racking task for RV newbies, both while out adventuring or upon returning home.

Those interested in glamping in comfort and pre-ordering the Pebble Flow can learn more at pebblelife.com. And if by chance you’re planning to attend this year’s LA Auto Show going on now, you can see the Pebble Flow firsthand at its debut through November 26th.

Gregory Han is a Senior Editor at Design Milk. A Los Angeles native with a profound love and curiosity for design, hiking, tide pools, and road trips, a selection of his adventures and musings can be found at gregoryhan.com.

What do you think of when you read “portable desktop PC?” Maybe a powerful gaming laptop delivering desktop tier performance, or perhaps an all-in-one desktop that can be moved when needed, but is mostly intended to stay put. The HP Envy Move is something entirely different, neither a laptop nor a dedicated all-in-one desktop like the Apple iMac – a genuine portable desktop PC designed to be moved from desk to anywhere else in the home with the handled ease of a suitcase completely untethered from a power cord.

Announced earlier this month during the company’s press event, HP’s Envy Move All-In-One PC features a modern, if quietly unassuming design, that gives off strong dedicated 24″ monitor vibes. It is in fact a 5K QHD (2560×1400) LCD touch-sensitive display, with a built-in Bang & Olufsen engineered speaker running the length of the bottom of the screen.

An elegant touch is the use of the same fabric material used to cover the computer’s acoustic Bang & Olufsen speaker front and its integrated keyboard storage pocket pouch, essentially wrapping around the device’s lower front and back sections.

Turning the corner you’ll notice the Envy Move’s prominent handle and kangaroo-style keyboard pouch, and it becomes more obvious this machine is designed with portability in mind. Weighing a smidge over 9-lbs, comparable to a large laptop, and like those machines it is engineered to operate under its own power using a cache of built-in batteries capable of delivering up to 4 hours per charge.

One keen feature is the integrated self-deploying kickstand feet; upon placing the computer onto a surface, the weight depresses two small protractions enacting each of the PC’s feet stands to swing outward to create a stable stand, a clever design when moving a portable, but still large 24″ screen.

The Envy Move’s specs – up to 13th Gen Intel Core i5 processor, 6-16 GB of memory, and up to 1 TB of storage – categorize this machine as a family computer. To further make its case as a multi-functional PC for everyone, HP showcases the portable desktop’s range, from bringing it into a room to do yoga, for children’s homework, or serving as a portable home theater solution.

A 5MP camera with an integrated AI image signal processor can determine when anyone is seated in front of it, with an ambient light sensor set to dim or boost brightness optimizing battery life. And perhaps most interesting, HP has included an adaptive sound system that kicks in to complement viewing distance, pushing back the sweet spot a few feet when a person is seated further away to watch, versus listening from a closer distance while working.

The HP Envy Move’s form factor optimized for sharing amongst family family members or roommates with the ease of a laptop or even a tablet is a novel approach to address the evolution of how and where we use computers. It’s unfortunate for many households that this portable device didn’t arrive earlier when many needed this degree of flexibility paired with desktop power.

The Envy Move is available now on HP.com for a starting price of $899.99.

This post contains affiliate links, so if you make a purchase from an affiliate link, we earn a commission. Thanks for supporting Design Milk!

Gregory Han is a Senior Editor at Design Milk. A Los Angeles native with a profound love and curiosity for design, hiking, tide pools, and road trips, a selection of his adventures and musings can be found at gregoryhan.com.

That’s a wrap on Design Milk’s gift guides for the 2023 holiday season! Don’t worry if you missed any – we’re rounding up all 20 gift guides below so they’re all in one place when you’re ready to do your shopping. Click each banner below to take you to that guide! Happy shopping!

Hope you enjoyed our Gift Guide 2023 series and thank you for supporting Design Milk!

Caroline Williamson is Editor-in-Chief of Design Milk. She has a BFA in photography from SCAD and can usually be found searching for vintage wares, doing New York Times crossword puzzles in pen, or reworking playlists on Spotify.

The nature of a design studio is to create custom projects specific to their clients but Float Studio, a New York-based design practice, had a very unique task: designing Food52’s new headquarters. As a business, the community- and food-centric platform does it all, including testing every recipe, shooting its own photography, and curating hundreds of products for its online shop. Designing an office that offered a solution to all of Food52’s needs is no small feat but since the brand had been a client of Float Studio since day one, the designers had lots of background knowledge to work with.

Located at the Brooklyn Navy Yards’ Dock 72, the new space perfectly encapsulates Food52’s design sensibilities and community-centric ethos. With five test kitchens, a massive prop warehouse, and even a room just for storing the surfaces the team shoots on, the headquarters is a culmination of more than a decade of learning how Food52 works best, which, ultimately, means lots of flexible rooms and beautiful, homey touches. Just like how the kitchen is the heart of the home, this office is truly the heart of Food52.

The main challenge that Float Studio’s co-founders, Brad Sherman and Nina Etnier, faced was replicating the hospitable and intimate environment of Food52’s former (and smaller) office in the new 40,000 square foot space. To unify all the rooms, they chose a muted color palette that imbues a calming feel throughout. Custom furniture by Float Studio sit alongside products made in collaboration with Food52’s brand partners and online community.

A test kitchen allows employees to not only trial recipes but the cookwares and products that Food52 curates and sells. The Bertazzoni ovens, cooktops and dishwashers are made for the home, meaning they are not professional grade, so that the recipes can be more closely replicated by a home cook.

Behind the test kitchen is the company’s social and demo kitchen which more closely resembles a home kitchen and features a long sage green island with a tiled backsplash providing a backdrop for the open shelving.

The waiting room is lined with open shelving showcasing products by Food52, as well as Schoolhouse and Dansk (the two were acquired by the company in 2021). Two knitting chairs by Audo Copenhagen provide additional seating next to the sculptural Sideways Sofa by Carl Hansen & Søn.

The meeting rooms are named after each one’s specific color palette, like The Mush Room, Togarashi, Negroni, and Moon Pie.

The town hall space is equipped with, of course, another kitchen, a bar area, and plentiful seats and tables for all-hands meetings, events, and everyday work.

Employees can choose from a multitude of areas to work, including Uhuru workstations for heads down work to cozier seating areas for casual meetings.

Archival drawings of Dansk products are showcased on the gallery wall. A side table made by Float Studio offers the perfect amount of space for a laptop and drink.

Recent and vintage cookbooks are stored neatly next to a faux hearth that further creates the ambience of a home

Eight photo studios are separated by curtains allowing the production team to combine spaces if needed.

Food52’s cofounder Amanda Hesser’s office

As the Senior Contributing Editor, Vy Yang is obsessed with discovering ways to live well + with intention through design. She’s probably sharing what she finds over on Instagram stories. You can also find her at vytranyang.com.

For many years studio monitors were equipment mostly outside the realm of the average person – specialized speakers primarily for audio engineers working inside a studio environment used to fine tune a track/score at very close listening distance. But with the evolution of individual artists producing their own music from their own homes (i.e. Soundcloud musicians), monitors have become more commonly found in bedrooms and home studios. Swedish audio specialists AIAIAI designed the UNIT-4 monitors to cater to these homegrown music creators, a new generation who might benefit from speakers they can lean into while fine tuning their tracks, but can also be taken out into the wild wirelessly to share the fruits of their labor.

AIAIAI notes the UNIT-4 is capable of reference monitor sound with ultra-low latency playback (just 16ms for uncompressed audio when paired with an X02 transmitter); frequency response is rated for 50Hz to 20kHz with further customization invited using the AIAIAI app’s EQ curve controls, optimized “to create and mix music with accurate sound representation and powerful performance.” These features should make the monitors an ideal pair for anyone who has to make due with the space they’ve got at home, those apt to work from a temporary music mixing setup while traveling, or for a DJ who wants speakers sans concerns about latency or dealing with additional wires.

Typically, monitors are designed to be placed closely to the listener allowing them to discern the most intricate details of tracks, and are not moved around often, if at all. On the other hand, the UNIT 4s are a fraction of the size, and are much easier to pick and go thanks to the monitor’s bass vent doubling up as a carrying grip.

The UNIT-4’s recycled plastic components and glue-free construction make these speakers easily repairable, upgradeable, and recyclable.

Wireless playback is employed using the brand’s own dual antenna W+ Link wireless technology or via Bluetooth 5.2. There’s also the option to plug-in a source the old fashioned way using a 3.5mm mini-jack or 6.3mm balanced TRS inputs.

The UNIT-4 can be used with or without its included grill.

On the sustainability front, a large percentage of the AIAIAI UNIT-4 is constructed using plastic components made from 100% post-consumer recycled plastic, and entirely assembled without glue. This construction not only cuts down on the use of virgin plastics, it also benefits in the process of repairs, while upgrading components, or at the end of its life cycle, aid in recycling.

The AIAIAI UNIT-4 is available for $800 a pair.

Gregory Han is a Senior Editor at Design Milk. A Los Angeles native with a profound love and curiosity for design, hiking, tide pools, and road trips, a selection of his adventures and musings can be found at gregoryhan.com.

The rocking chair’s appeal can be attributed to something beyond the physical motion inherent to its form, for the rocking chair is a piece of furniture inviting unhurried contemplation and relaxed playfulness only matched by its swinging cousin, the hammock. There you are, perpetually moving, but never really getting anywhere. But that’s all part of its charm. The Penguin Rocking Chair is a classic representation of that intermediary state between sitting and moving, our personal favorite rocking chair, all done with a visual lightness that looks every bit contemporary today as when it was first revealed in 1953.

Like many things said and done, the rocking chair as we know it is often attributed as an invention of American polymath, Benjamin Franklin. But according to Witold Rybczynski, author of Now Sit Me Down, a comprehensive history of the chair, this is not correct. A bill for a “Nurse Chair with rockers” crafted by Pennsylvania cabinetmaker Solomon Fussell in 1742 was the first formal mention of a rocking chair in writing. Timelines tracking the first mention of rocking chairs also reveal a 6-legged predecessor common to Sweden called the “gungstol” (now readily available today in spirit as IKEA’s POÄNG rocker, sans those 6 legs).

The mid-century years are not typically the era most associated with the rocking chair. Yet, lo and behold, there was Ray and Charles Eames in 1950 with their playful fiberglass single-shell RAR armchair, and George Nakashima’s single-armed 1960’s design. Before that, Hans Wegner’s Shaker and Windsor inspired rocking chair had the Danish relaxing all the way back in 1944.

And so too, iconic Danish furniture designer Ib Kofod-Larsen imagined his own rocking chair, the Penguin, in 1953. It was one in a series of seats, a variant of a more traditionally legged dining chair of the same name. And now furniture brand Audo has revitalized the design with a few modern touches.

Kofod-Larsen’s original design for Christensen & Larsen featured wrought iron framework, a cushioned upholstered seat, and an angled molded birch back that gave the chair’s profile a sort of mid-century silhouette on skis vibe. The design abides by Kofod-Larsen’s Danish Modern dictum: “Design furniture for everyday use, not to impress people.” You can still occasionally find originals in varying degrees of condition online and in vintage shops.

Each chair is made to order, with 7 standard upholstery colors available for the fully upholstered edition or 9 standard upholstery colors for the wood back rocking chair model (alongside the choice between natural oak or walnut for the seat’s back).

Audo’s revived Penguin Rocking Chair maintains the original’s sculptural open design, offered as an all-wood curved back and seat chair, one with wood, leather, or fabric upholstered seat and back, or a combination of both, with all versions supported by a steel frame. Today the Penguin Rocking Chair’s cut steel frame is welded by robotic welding and then powder coated; the seat and back are each made from bent plywood with the rockers CNC carved from ash before being painting.

What’s particularly exciting for enthusiasts of Kofod-Larsen’s timeless design is now you can get his rocking chair with an all-wood seat and back, or with Kvadrat wool worsted upholstery, boucle, or leather in a dizzying range of colors and textures (custom upholstery available through Audo’s upholstery program at an extra cost). The color options open up the Penguin Rocking Chair to take on a contemporary presence transcending its vintage origins, likely to surprise the uninitiated that people were rocking out in style 70 years ago in such modernist fashion.

The Penguin Rocking Chair is available starting at $1,165 with the fully upholstered edition priced starting at $1,880, both at us.audocph.com.

This post contains affiliate links, so if you make a purchase from an affiliate link, we earn a commission. Thanks for supporting Design Milk!

Gregory Han is a Senior Editor at Design Milk. A Los Angeles native with a profound love and curiosity for design, hiking, tide pools, and road trips, a selection of his adventures and musings can be found at gregoryhan.com.

Give the gift of memorable moments that come with fun times! From wine advent calendars that keep the good spirits flowing to stunning twists on your classic games, these 10 gift ideas are sure to bring connection and laughter this holiday season.

Advent calendars aren’t just for kids – adults can enjoy them too, and I’m sure there are many who would love this one! With 24 mini bottles for your recipient to enjoy for 24 nights, it’s a great way to sip and discover different wines from around the world without having to commit to a full-sized bottle. Plus, they’ve sold out for three years in a row, so you know it’s good!

At Bright Cellars, new members can get their first 6 bottles for $55 – an absolute steal for the wine lover in your life! Catered to the receiver’s taste buds, selections are based on a quiz that will match them to their preferences. Each bottle comes with a wine card full of information so wine novices can learn more about their matches too!

One of the best things about the holiday season is the drinks that come with it. Picture a yummy, steaming cup of your favorite seasonal drink – all within reach from a single cube. Inside is everything you would need: a pouch of black tea, a mug, a frother, a jar of Spiced Apple Toddy cubes, and their holiday kit of Gingerbread, White Peppermint Mocha, and Eggnog cubes. They even have mixology kits for alcoholic beverages, which would make for such a fun and novel experience at any gathering!

Cornhole is a beloved game that brings everyone together. Known for its thoughtful craftsmanship and premium quality, Shinola takes this set a step further by featuring a custom design that seamlessly marries style and durability. Beyond the holiday season, it can be used any time, promising good times and some friendly competition for years to come.

Stir up some fun with a party game that’s easy to play and laughter-guaranteed. This game accommodates both small and large groups, and requires a bit of mental stimulation and a whole lot of social interaction. As you take turns trying to read each other’s minds, you’ll find it’s trickier than it seems to lock in the perfect guess if not everyone is on the same wavelength.

A refreshing twist to your classic dominoes, this set by Jonathan Adler features colorful prints in Adler’s Helsinki theme. Whether it’s to add to your personal lineup or to gift to someone else, this Scandinavian-modern set is a fun upgrade for game night or as a coffee table conversation piece.

Another classic board game with a major upgrade – this clear and smoke gray acrylic chess set truly speaks for itself. While the pieces are a little tricky to differentiate, there’s no denying that this set would look so beautiful wherever it’s placed!

If you know someone who can solve a Rubik’s cube, this is a humbling present that will leave them stumped. Behind this unassuming wooden design hides a deceptively challenging mission. The goal is to strategically maneuver the marbles to their matching colors using the sliding middle panel. The trick is that half the marbles are inseparable double units. Puzzled? We are too.

When a cozy evening of entertainment calls for both focus and relaxation, consider this puzzle that’ll keep you and your company, or the person you’re gifting it to, engaged for hours! With 1,000 pieces to sort through, it’s a puzzle that requires a keen eye to distinguish the right pieces. It’s all about the details, which is exactly what makes it difficult because every piece looks like it can fit somewhere else!

As one of the most popular puzzles in the world, Hanayama’s cast puzzles can be a fun (or evil) gift depending on your recipient’s critical thinking skills. They’re a fun challenge and come in six different difficulty levels. The objective is to disassemble the puzzle by rotating, sliding, or manipulating the different pieces. If one is successful, they’ll have to reassemble it back to its original form – that is if they can remember how they got it apart to begin with. (Shown above is a level 5 puzzle.)

See all of our 2023 Gift Guides!

This post contains affiliate links, so if you make a purchase from an affiliate link, we earn a commission. Thanks for supporting Design Milk!

As the Social Media Consultant, Maivy is always dreaming up new ideas to curate content. If she’s not glued to her phone, she’s probably at the dog park with her pup Koda, training at the gym, or trying the latest food/drink trends! See the BTS of her life over on Instagram.

Ceramicah co-founders Micah Blyckert and Alexandra Cadiz are both former architects who have the know-how and style to translate their insight into minimally designed products. The duo behind the Los Angeles-based ceramics studio carefully considers every design element to make certain that what’s being created is greater than the sum of its parts. Their attention to detail and understanding of how things come together are special, unique qualities that come across in all of the studio’s pieces.

The new Tera Sconce, an extension of Ceramicah’s Tera Collection, complements the studio’s already popular Tera Lamp. Made using both wheel-thrown and slab construction, the sconce’s proportions have been designed to work well in any space. That includes commercial, as it’s UL-listed and ADA-compliant!

Unglazed Stone Photo: Lauren Moore

Featuring a dimmable LED lightbulb and oil-rubbed bronze hardware, the Tera Sconce is made entirely of ceramic with a standard 4″ diameter backplate attached for easy installation. A variety of finishes are available to choose from: natural ceramic, matte glazes, hand-applied lime plaster, and crackled Raku.

Glazed Toshiko Photo: Lauren Moore

Glazed Fossil Photo: Lauren Moore

Lime Plaster Beige

Glazed Ivory

Glazed Toshiko

Glazed Fossil

Lime Plaster Siena

Lime Plaster Deep Green

Unglazed Sand

Unglazed Stone

White Crackle Raku

The Tera Sconce is available exclusively on Ceramicah’s site and through Lawson-Fenning.

Kelly Beall is Director of Branded Content at Design Milk. The Pittsburgh-based writer and designer has had a deep love of art and design for as long as she can remember, from Fashion Plates to MoMA and far beyond. When not searching out the visual arts, she’s likely sharing her favorite finds with others. Kelly can also be found tracking down new music, teaching herself to play the ukulele, or on the couch with her three pets – Bebe, Rainey, and Remy. Find her @designcrush on social.

Whether you’re shopping for the aspiring home chef, the seasoned gastronome, or the culinary explorer always seeking the next kitchen adventure, our carefully selected list promises to elevate their epicurean experience. From innovative gadgets to posh ingredients, each of the gifts on this list not only inspires creativity in the kitchen but also adds a touch of design sophistication to any culinary space. Delight the food enthusiasts in your life with these thoughtfully chosen gift items that go beyond the ordinary and celebrate the artistry of cooking.

There are those who are determined to perfect their knife skills… and then there are those who seek perfection period. Winner of the iF Design Award in 2021, The Ritter Piatto 5 manual food slicer combines solid traditional craftsmanship with modern technological know-how. It is operated by a smooth-running crank with a beech wood handle and does not require external power allowing it to be used anywhere. Thanks to highly functional materials and its timeless design, the slicer fits into practically every environment. It is equipped with a guide bracket for better results when slicing large and hard-to-cut pieces. Once the food is sliced, it drops onto the bamboo board provided for this purpose. Four suction cups ensure non-slip safety.

The Hog Island Oyster Club Box comes with a mix of Hog Island oysters and specially curated oysters from sustainable growers delivered to their door. Their first box will include a shucking knife, shucking gloves, and Chef-curated recipes! After you place your gift subscription order, they’ll email you a digital gift certificate so you can share your gift with the giftee whenever the time is right.

The cherry on top of this gift is adding Noma Project’s Forager’s Vinaigrette, perfect with shallots for a mignonette to remember. The blackcurrant wood oil, is harvested from blackcurrant branches when they are young, tender and vibrant green with chlorophyll and blend them into a bright and aromatic oil. The Wild Rose Vinegar is made from fragrant wild rose petals, foraged by hand and blended in an incredibly high concentration to create a delicate, balanced, and floral vinegar. Forager’s Vinaigrette is also delicious for salads, grilled vegetables, and as a marinade for raw seafood in a ceviche.

Ideal for curious young chefs eager to help in the kitchen, the Le Petit Chef collection is a beginner knife set designed to safely teach kids cutting and peeling skills they’ll use their whole lives! This trio keeps safety top of mind for little hands with a knife that features a rounded tip and educational ring to help position the fingers and prevent the hand from slipping onto the blade. Another finger ring on the peeler teaches kids to have a more secure grip, allowing safe peeling. The tools are all made with stainless steel blades and beech wood handles. These real kitchen tools are sharp – adult supervision is recommended when using the Le Petit Chef products. Combine the Opinel trio with Fredericks and Mae’s exclusive cutting boards inspired by Modernist painting’s bold colors and lush tones.

For any aspiring chef or lover of food, Massimo Bottura is an icon. Imagine sharing the story and recipes of Casa Maria Luigia, Massimo Bottura and Lara Gilmore’s idyllic guest house, set in the heart of the Italian countryside. Casa Maria Luigia offers exquisite food, as well as amazing art, intriguing design objects, beautiful interiors, and an impressive collection of cars and motorcycles. Through illuminating texts, simple recipes, and evocative images, this book captures the extraordinary experience of staying at Casa Maria Luigia. The book features 85 recipes for dishes and drinks served at Casa Maria Luigia to make at home, including jams and preserves, cakes and pastries, frittatas and focaccias, salads, and drinks, as well as a selection of fish, meat, and vegetable dishes.

Let’s face it, butter makes it all better! But not all butters are created equal. And then there are flavored butters, like seaweed, or Espelette. Give the gift of exquisite butter from Le Beurre Bordier in a beautifully designed glass container by Ferm Living, made from 100% recycled glass. The gift is made complete with ButterUp, the best thing to happen to your breakfast since sliced bread. A special knife designed to turn a hard brick of butter into sumptuous, spreadable ribbons. Its form was perfected by self-proclaimed “butter enthusiasts” who prototyped a plethora of models before finally settling on a design that features a wide blade with built-in grater for maximum butter-to-bread surface area. Spread the love to your foodie friends.

Nothing is more satisfying than returning home and laying out your farmer’s market bounty. Here is the container my family uses to hold the fruits and vegetables in a single straight line while we start planning our week’s menus. The elongated oval shape is reminiscent of an old-fashioned racetrack. It’s made of one single piece of slightly curved beech wood and designed by Ron Gilad, for Danese Milano.

Having your chef knives on display and at the ready is essential for so many aspiring chefs. This solid natural oak wood 2-in-1 shelf and magnetic board offer both functions united by a simple twist. The shelf comes in 3 versions: natural oak, smoked oak, and black oiled oak.

Need a delicious bottle of wine that looks as interesting as it tastes? Well look no further. I had the pleasure of tasting with wine broker and former sommelier, Matt Ahern, founder of the Wonderland Project. With the help of pedigreed Sonoma grape growers, the Wonderland Project was born in 2010 to celebrate California. Each bottle is adorned with eye catching artwork commissioned by Cheyene Randall. From orange, rosé, and red, the tasting notes read like poetry, filled with details that transport you to the vineyard at harvest time.

Linens are the perfect base to any holiday table setting. But do we always need to buy new? My current obsession is Susan Holland’s vintage echo printed linens by PLUCK Collective in Miami. This collection brings new life to existing objects. From wine staining to marigold printing, I love how the prints reflect the random unpredictability of nature itself. Similar to how a well-worn marble countertop tells the story of your entertaining past, Pluck’s rich linen’s imperfections and texture make them as stunning as they are forgiving to inevitable party fouls or accidents.

Carmen and Aaron grew up in parallel worlds, both raised in Spain by Chinese parents, both from families of hard-working entrepreneurs. As kids, they both ate Spanish and Chinese food, often combined together in delicious and inventive ways. Nearly 20 years ago, they moved to the US, where high-quality Spanish charcuterie was hard to find. And thus, Mercado Famous – an unbelievably special brand of quality Spanish meats – was born. The showstopper gift is the King of the Charcuterie, the centerpiece of the party, a whole Jamon from a free range, 100% Serrano pig, shipped whole for you to slice fresh. Grain fed and cured for over 18 months, it’s the finest and most prestigious ham in the world. Perfect for elite dining, holiday parties, and bold tapas menus. Serves 40.

Follow along so you don’t miss any of our 2023 Gift Guides this year!

This post contains affiliate links, so if you make a purchase from an affiliate link, we earn a commission. Thanks for supporting Design Milk!

TJ Girard is a sought-after food designer and creative consultant, celebrated for staging theatrical, interactive food + beverage experiences. She now resides in California where her creativity is solar powered! TJ writes the Design Milk column called Taste.