Practical Magic

30 impeccable kitchen gadgets from the food world’s finest. PS: Is it too early to add these to your holiday list??

Hi everyone. First, ICYMI: We ran a special Saturday send ⬇️ inspired by this Eater piece on restaurants leaning into handmade details. As much as we love going out/the restaurant world, we’re also all about finding ways to make eating at home feel more special, too.

Second, for this dispatch, we’re hitting rewind to learn what happens BEFORE the table gets set. In lieu of another arbitrary list of flashy kitchen gadgets, we tapped our OTH network of FOOD’s finest—ie, chefs, restaurateurs, designers, and more to share the Real Kitchen Tools they actually use in their work AND home lives. But first…

Newsy Things This Week:

1. Hard to Get — Resy released a pretty comprehensive guide for getting some of the most difficult reservations in the city. While we’re still Team Walk-In, knowing what day/time tables drop at places like Somssi or Ha’s Snack Bar is great intel to bookmark.

2. Major Moment — For GQ, Daniel Riley spoke to Major Food Group owners Mario Carbone, Rich Torrisi, and Jeff Zalaznick about their “bid for world domination.” Fun tidbits/takeaways include why Carbone’s Veal Parm now costs (!) $98, the exception for their no-one-eats-for-free rule, and what they really thought about those “abusive reviews” from British food critics.

3. Sandwich, Inc. — Because we can’t seem to get enough sandwich chatter, Salt Hank’s, home of New York’s Most Talked About French Dip, has been acquired by Wonder. It joins the company’s portfolio of food brands like Ess-a-Bagel, Di Fara Pizza, and, most recently, Blue Ribbon Fried Chicken.

4. Kitchen Confessions — We loved this piece Merie Subryan of Section Plane wrote about why it’s so hard to find a beautiful range hood in America. It weighs whether the appliance should be seen as a statement piece or an accent (she finds herself looking for something in between), and shares alt ideas for above your stove, like this Muller Van Severen Hanging Lamp.

5. New + Notable — Bon Appétit named the Best New Restaurants of 2026, and two New York notables — Lei and Kabawa — made the cut. See the full list of hits across the country here.

What We’re Buying This Week:

1. Paul Smith’s take on the iconic Artek Stool 60. Use while hosting drinks as a side table or pull-up seat. They’d make nice bedside tables, too.

2. The Cone Ice Cream Cup from HAY’s new stainless-steel collection. Perfect for some shiny end-of-summer scoops.

3. In preparation for fall (*sigh*), we’re considering a scent switch-up and are into this beetroot/blackcurrant/patchouli blend from Jo Malone. It smells delicious and the campaign imagery is also 🤩.

4. A new sake that combines Burgundy winemaking with Japanese brewing. Yukiguma’s secret, as we learned in Wallpaper*, is its use of pure spring water — which only 4% of Japanese breweries do — from Osaka’s Ikoma Mountains. We love it.

5. RANDOM/RANDOM teamed up with Lower East Side eatery Comal on a limited-run capsule of T-shirts printed with atmospheric photos of the restaurant. It’s a cool take on merch minus in-your-face branding.

Next week, OTHers—We’ve landed a super special interview tied to an extremely buzzy restaurant opening (it’s a BIGGIE). See you then. — Team OTH

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Kitchen tools are sacred.

Maybe not for everyone, but for this crowd here at OTH, we understand the bond that is essential when it comes to the objects we use to make our meals.

Gloria Vanderbilt 🤝 her teapot

They need to function, but also offer some kind of interesting/unique/expertly designed mechanism, shape, or proportion that delivers a comforting and satisfying physical response when we use them. Even if it’s just a can opener or coffee pot.

The things we choose for our kitchen become much more than THINGS in our space — they’re extensions of our everyday lives. And how they work and look is critical to their ability to enhance our interior worlds as well as the meals we put on the table (ie: any kitchen tool hidden away in the back of a drawer that only comes out once a year should likely be taken to the thrift shop ASAP).

A great and noble kitchen tool need not be the most expensive or the rarest. It does, however, need to be one you feel like you’d be lost cooking/LIVING without. Something you reach for again and again, no matter how easy/complicated the dish.

That’s why we asked people who work with/around food for a living — including Los Burritos Juarez’s Julia Bainbridge, Eataly USA’s Alex Saper, who recently helped open Graciela, and Insta-famous baker Gaby Scalzo (remember that cake she made for Olivia Rodrigo?) — to share the culinary gadgets that make their work and lives easier — and, in many cases, more stylish, too. A color-blocked electric kettle. A sculptural butter knife. A garment-dyed bib apron. And 30+ more instruments AND objects to inspire ahead of fall’s arrival (when we’ll no doubt be cooking more soups and turning the oven back on).

Shirah Brodsky, Founder, Pom Pom Ice Cream

1. Hay Sowden Electric Kettle—“This is one of my most adored kitchen items. It has such a playful yet intuitive design. I would go so far as to say that it makes boiling water fun, if that’s a thing?!”

2. Semi-D Dimes Peppermill—“Is it strange to be obsessed with a peppermill? The colorful, glossy, wooden one from Dimes is among my favorite things. It has a very captivating quality. People always notice it and love it. It’s iconic.”

3. Love Eats Composter—“I learned from an environmental scientist friend that composting is the most impactful thing we can do for the earth daily. My diet is about 98% fruits & vegetables and creates a remarkable amount of food scraps, so a good compost bin is vital! This one does its job well and is also aesthetically pleasing, which is important (to me, at least!).”

Julia Bainbridge, Co-Owner, Los Burritos Juarez + Author, Good Drinks

4. Y-Peelers—“Unlike traditional peelers, a Y-peeler has a horizontal, double-sided stainless steel blade mounted on a Y-shaped frame. It’s lightweight, comfortable to hold, and peels cleanly with very little effort. It’s also the only tool I’ll use to make carrot ribbons. (Which, yes, I’m still doing that. I never stopped!).”

5. The Chef Press—“I’m late to The Chef Press. Now I use one whenever I’m searing meat, fish, vegetables, or firm tofu. For years, though, I tolerated mediocre browning and uneven contact with the pan. It bothered me, and even though I knew there was a better way, I never bought the tool. Masochist. Anyway, I’ve healed.”

6. Mini Cutting Board—“Just as my mother has a scarf for every outfit, she’s always had a cutting board for every prep job. As a young adult, I fancied myself more economical than she was—more virtuous, even. Mom was wasteful. I was a minimalist. (Smug.) One big, 10-pound Boos board handled everything in my kitchen.”

“Turns out, sometimes you just want to slice a peach. On one of those days when you’re feeling a little more in control, you decide you’re going to use a cutting board like a grown-up instead of hacking away on the countertop: You protect your knife, your counter, and yourself with an eight-by-six that doesn’t require getting your elbows deep in the sink just to wash it. Mom was right.”

Alex Saper, Partner, Graciela

7. Mr. Niland Stainless Steel Fish Weight—“Josh Niland of Saint Peter in Sydney designed this for fish, but I use it for everything; it lives on my grill. Chicken goes on skin-side down, the weight goes on top, and it presses everything into full contact with the heat so the skin comes out perfectly crisp. It’s the simplest tool I own and probably the one I’d miss most.”

8. Majime Meraki No. 1 Chef’s Knife—“This is the knife I reach for every single time. It’s absurdly sharp (it glides through anything), and it’s honestly a beautiful object. Some tools you use because you have to; this one I use because it makes me want to cook.”

9. Grills by Demant One-Handle Mesh Basket—“I cook over a wood-fired grill at home, and this basket means nothing (cherry tomatoes, zucchini, anything small) falls through the grates. Best thing that’s come out of it: A friend threw fresh clams in the basket right on top of the coals when Pablo [Rivero] was visiting upstate. So simple, so delicious—the perfect summer meal.”

Emma Leigh Macdonald + Rowan Spencer, Founders, MPC Restaurant

10. Tivoli AM/FM Radio—“An essential for listening to NTS while we cook. We thought about how having a record player right in the kitchen would be amazing (as you would see in the bar alongside liquor and serviceware in Japan, or at Marlow & Sons; RIP), but in reality there’s a reason you don’t typically see one in a space where food prep or cooking with heat is happening. So we keep a little separation between our records and the kitchen and sit a little AM/FM Tivoli radio with Bluetooth on our shelves for easy audio access.”

11. Squeeze Bottles—“We keep our oils and vinegars in clear restaurant squeeze bottles at home. It’s nice to have fewer logos, and to be able to buy the big three-liter olive oils and decant them.”

12. Aarke Electric Kettle—“Every Irish household has one, and there’s no going back from the design or the temperature control of the Aarke stainless steel version.”

13. Fred Aartun Butter Knife—“Fred carves these amazing wooden knives and spoons in Copenhagen: A friend brought us one of his knives this past winter, and we use it for soft butter (we’re thinking about bringing it to Gem Home for our next pop-up as well).”

Gaby Scelzo, Pastry Chef + Writer, Perfect City

14. KitchenAid Stand Mixer—“I’m sorry, I know it’s expensive and heavy and takes up a considerable amount of counter space in your kitchen. But if you’re a baker, a KitchenAid will undoubtedly make anything you make better. A hand mixer simply cannot incorporate air into your cookies and cakes and meringues the way a stand mixer can. And if you don’t bake, you can get the ice cream machine attachment to churn the ice cream flavor of your dreams. Or the pasta-making one to roll out fresh fettuccine for dinner. I’ve even seen people use theirs to pull chicken for chicken salad, or freeze the bowl before adding ice cream and candy to make homemade blizzards. The KitchenAid is your oyster…”

15. GIR Spatula—“This is the best spatula you will ever use. It’s seamless and silicone, which is why it’s so easy to clean thoroughly and never stains or holds onto smells. The handle is the same texture, so it feels really nice in your hand, too, and has never cracked, snapped, or split on me the way every other spatula has. I have one in every color.”

Brianna Giannizzero, Head Cheesemonger, Roscioli NYC

16. Girolle—“I love to bust out this girolle at a dinner party…it makes perfect little flowers of Tête de Moine cheese. But my actual favorite way to use it is popping a wheel of Tomme Brulee (a bruleed French sheep cheese) on there to get some of that delicious toasted rind in every bite. Aside from how cute the cheese curl flowers it makes are, the super-thin layers melt on your tongue when cut this way.”

17. Formaticum Cheese Knife—“If you enjoy eating pieces of ooey gooey, sticky, or creamy cheeses, this cheese knife will change your life. The holes in the blade reduce surface area, which helps the cheese pop right off, rather than sticking to it. I find myself using this knife at home for so many things, too: butter, cakes, and avocado…really anything soft, sticky, or delicate.”

Georgia Macon, Chef + Owner, Mère Bakery

18. Town Cutler Offset Palette Knife—“This is my run-into-the-burning-building tool. Last time they went out of stock, I panic-bought inventory of random kitchen boutiques across the country. What I love about it is the slightly wider-than-normal squared edge, ideal for scoops, swoops, and getting your corners *perfect*.”

19. 16-Inch Carpenter Square—“I sincerely use this more than most of my other baking tools. Ideal for portioning trays, marking croissant shapes, getting perfect lamination butter packs, and creating the whole bounty of the other ‘smooth lines, right angles’ we bakers so love.”

Peter Kim, Founder + CEO, The Infinite Table

20. Matfer Bourgeat Carbon Steel Pan—”This is my single most used pan, and I use it for one thing, and one thing only: making eggs. (I eat a lot of eggs.) It is the absolute perfect pan for omelettes, small batch scrambled eggs, or a pair of sunny-side-ups. This is a pan that sometimes comes with me in my suitcase.”

21. Thermoworks Thermometer—”Point it at your pot or pan to know exactly what your temps are, which allows for much more consistent cooking. Thermoworks is the gold standard and takes the guesswork out of searing and frying.”

22. Searzall—”My buddy Dave Arnold invented this, which is basically a handheld broiler. You can use it to finish off meats or give cheese that delicious browned-corner-of-the-mac-and-cheese flavor.”

23. Masienda Tortilla Press—”Ah, the joy of freshly made tortillas. It’s so much easier than most people realize (it only takes a few minutes!) and the difference in flavor is like comparing fresh bread from a bakery to supermarket Wonder Bread. This Masienda one is gorgeous, and the oversized plates let you make Memelas and larger-format tortillas, too.”

Charlotte Brecher, Executive Pastry Chef, The Modern

24. Benriner Japanese Mandoline—”One of the most versatile tools I own. It’s compact, incredibly easy to use and clean, and produces consistently perfect slices for everything you may need to cut. It works just as well in a home kitchen as it does in a professional one, which is why I recommend it so often.”

25. Lavatools Javelin Thermometer—”My thermometer, always in my signature yellow, goes everywhere with me during the day (I’m known to carry a lot of my tools around in my apron). It’s consistently accurate and has held up to years of daily use.”

Chris Milazzo, Chef + Owner, Third Time’s the Charm

26. Gozney Roccbox Pizza Peel—“This was not the first pizza peel I ever bought (I’m pretty sure it came with the oven), but it is the best and remains the workhorse in our peel rotation five years on. It’s light, easy to clean, and doesn’t stick. Our CDC has at times refused to use any of the pricier peels we’ve tried, and I can’t say I blame him.”

27. Rendall Co. Bib Apron—“We met Deirdra Jones of Rendall Co. right before we opened. She brought a sample of this bib apron, and I immediately knew I would blow our uniform budget. The apron swaddles you like a baby, which is great when you’re having a stressful day in the kitchen.”

28. Choice Disposable Sports Towel—“Need to polish a glass? Check. Wipe stray sauce off a plate? No problem. Pat dry raw chicken? Easy. Wipe the sweat from your brow? Done and done. There’s nothing this towel can’t handle.”

Joshua Turka, Owner, 5th Quarter Butcher + Provisions

29. Vintage Griswold Cast Iron Skillet—”No pan is more perfect for cooking a steak or pork chop.”

30. Brooklyn Butcher Block in End Grain Walnut—“It’s much friendlier on the knives than plastic!”

Patrick O’Connell, Chef + Proprietor, The Inn at Little Washington + Author, Main, Middle & Gay

31. Mandoline—“Every home cook should invest in a mandoline. It’s a must-have, wonderfully versatile slicer that makes short work of julienne vegetables, paper-thin discs, and shoestring potatoes.”

32. Jaccard—“A Jaccard is a fabulous kitchen tool. It can be used to tenderize meat or aid in the absorption of a marinade. It’s perfect for veal scaloppini, a pork chop, or breast of duck.”

33. Chinois—“Every great French kitchen relies on a chinois or ‘China cap’ for passing (ie: straining) sauces and soups to achieve a velvety, airy texture. A chinois is much finer than a typical strainer and produces more refined results.”

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