Also while in NYC this weekend I went to the New York International Gift Fair – when I was living in NYC I always wanted to check out the show but never had a way in. A few lovely ladies from Natural Life attended our Nest cocktail party at Tamara Magel’s showroom on Friday night and said they could put us on their vendor list – Amy and I immediately took them up on the offer. One company I fell in love with at the show was Japan’s Kinto.
The company, which was in their first showing at the NYIGF, makes a ton of cool kitchen tools, which I thought were both pretty and functional.
Above is a floating tea-strainer that is silicone. I wish I had a better picture – it’s a half circle of silicone with holes and a half circle without, you put the tea in, pop the two halves together and drop it in your hot water. It comes with a little silicone “rest” as well so that when you take it out it doesn’t stain your table or dirty a plate.
Above is another tea strainer – this one is collapsible to be flat and comes with a little holding box (like a retainer case) so that you can compactly brew tea on the move.
This is an awesome little dish for both steaming food and serving it. It’s hard plastic ( I’m not quite sure of the kind) and you put some water in the bottom, nuke the whole thing with your food on the little holey part with the lid over it (that looks like it has read broth in it in the pic) and voila, perfectly steamed food ready to serve. Not only were they very nice at the booth but they weren’t overwhelming visitors with overdone presentations, it was a bare setting that really highlighted the design and colors of the pieces. Overall my first trip to the NYIGF was a big success!