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Studio William, the incredibly talented UK-based designer and producer of hospitality flatware and cutlery, has announced its BALSA design flatware has just been awarded the GOOD DESIGN Award 2015, from the Chicago Athenaeum of Architecture and Design. Each year, The Chicago Athenaeum presents the GOOD DESIGN Awards Program for the most innovative and cutting-edge industrial, product, and graphic designs produced around the world. The BALSA flatware design has an elegant, clean form, combined with sophisticated balance and ergonomics. This is only achieved utilizing the highest design and manufacturing skills. Studio William design the top surface of the BALSA knives to have a totally flat, clean form. However, the BALSA knives have an unexpected choil (the unsharpened section of a knife blade in front of the guard) on the underside of the handles which allows for a dramatic reduction in gauge thickness. This enables Studio William to achieve the perfectly refined weight and balance. In designing the remainder of the BALSA pattern, Studio William deliberately elongated and made slender the fork heads and spoon bowls to enable the diner to pick up smaller food portion sizes, allowing the diner to focus on…to really think… about the tastes and textures that chef has created. For more information on BALSA flatware or Studio William, go here: Studio William: BALSA Flatware Design Wins Good Design Award
other standard products such as Lucaris Crystal, Studio William flatware, Chelsea glassware, and dKe dinnerware. Supplying the entire tabletop, MCIC has built quite a following in an incredibly short period of time. The new website also has a downloadable version of the MCIC 2013 catalog. Great products, great people....and now, a great new site. To see the new website from Merchandise Connection International Corp and learn more about their wide portfolio of products, go here: http://www.merchandiseconn.com/
Since bursting onto the U.S. hospitality market, Merchandise Connection International has always offered an abundance of styles and shapes in dinnerware, glassware, cutlery, and now, slate serving pieces. Through stringent quality control, effective management and efficient teamwork, the company has achieved a significant position within the North American tabletop industry in a very short period of time.
To learn more about Merchandise Connection International Corporation or to get a copy of their new catalog, go here: http://www.merchandiseconn.com/new/
With selecting items for your restaurant tabletop, selecting the right manufacturer is often as important as selecting the right product. Design, quality, and continuity of supply are just a few of the reasons to consider the company, as well as the product. There are many exciting companies right now in the tabletop category, but TabletopJournal will be keeping an especially watchful eye on a handful in 2013. In no particular order, some of the hospitality tabletop companies that will be on our radar screen are:
There are a number of other tabletop companies that also merit watching. Corby Hall, Rosenthal/Sambonet, Arc Intl/Cardinal, Candle Lamp/Sterno, Churchill ….are all bringing new products to market, adjusting their way of doing business, and generally, doing some pretty cool things to help operators differentiate their restaurants.
There’s also a few of you out there who asked us not to mention your companies….you know who you are…..who are ready to make some pretty big news of your own. So, while we’re just getting started, we think 2013 is going to be a very good year! Just remember…..tabletop matters! British flatware company, Studio William, has reinvented the steak knife to develop the innovative and visually striking Meat Blade® - engineered for efficiency, designed for drama and created to enhance flavour.
Chief Executive of Studio William, William Welch, said, “good flatware should enhance the dining experience. When professional chefs invest in high quality meat and cook it with such care, it should be delivered to the diner’s mouth in the most efficient way to ensure no flavour is lost. The Meat Blade® enables customers to experience the full succulence and flavour of the meat, with no loss of juice.” The Meat Blade® is a sophisticated, beautiful tool, with a theatrical, hunting knife-like appearance to add to the ceremony of the meal. The handle and decorative guard are carefully formed in 18/10 Stainless Steel, to feel weighty, well balanced and comfortable in the hand. “With Meat Blades®, chef is able to bring a touch of theatre to the main course. The charismatic design evokes a celebration of the meat, while the technical blade provides optimum performance at a price which is affordable,” William added. Meat Blades® are available in Larch, featuring a decorative handle, and Mulberry with undecorated handle and both come in sets of four knives. Each set is boxed for safe storage in a sustainable bamboo* presentation box, allowing managers to count the knives in at the end of each service.
A relative newcomer to the hositality scene in America - Merchandise Connection Internation Corporation - has opened a lot of industry eyes in an incredibly short period of time. With great products at great prices ....and, even better service.... MCIC has made big waves in the glassware, flatware, and dinnerware segments on America's restaurant and hotel tabletops. TabletopJournal recently at with MCIC's CEO Kian Forouzesh to discuss the interesting company that he and his team are building. Here's what he had to say..... What is the current vision you have for MCIC? Although we are beyond the start up phase, we still like to call ourselves a startup because we are a work in progress. The current vision is that we would like to cover all the tabletop aspects – dinnerware, flatware, glassware – at a variety of price and quality levels. We started as a medium price/quality dinnerware company, then added flatware, glassware to fit that segment. Then, as our customers demanded, we grew into other levels – first in the higher end products, and then eventually into more basic, banqueting and catering level products - in those same categories. So, our vision is to be a complete source of tabletop across a variety of price and quality levels as our customers dictate. We want to be a complete tabletop supplier able to fit into our customer’s budgets for all their foodservice outlets from employee dining and cafeteria on up to high-end, white tablecloth restaurants. Your product range is already wide ranging in terms of quality and categories….are there any holes you’d like to fill in the MCIC product offering? Yes. We have a fantastic program of dinnerware at lower and mid levels with products that are correct with their quality and also offer great value. But, we would like to add a dinnerware at the very top of the market. Our accessory line is excellent, but at the very high end tip of the dinnerware market, we would definitely like to expand. However, keep in mind that every single product line we have, we truly believe in. We do not have products simply to show them. We must believe in the product and its place in the market, before we decide to get behind it. So, sometimes it takes a while to find the right “fit”. What is the criteria you look for when you are considering a new brand or product? First, we consider the quality and how it fits with where it is priced. It has to be the right value. There is value at all quality levels and, hopefully our products are seen by our customers as good value whether they are buying our low-mid tier products or our upper end lines.Secondly, when we consider a new product we think about how will it fit into our existing product range? It must help us round out our tabletop offering and not simply be a duplicate of something we already have. Ideally, it will be complementary to our current products. Are there any other brands/products or categories that you will be adding to the existing portfolio? Of course. We are a company that always is looking to grow. As we speak we are in negotiation with a European manufacturer for tabletop accessory pieces that we feel the chefs will love. We hope to have these products available for our customers this Fall. There are other categories that we are discussing, but those are a bit further out so, I am hesitant to speak about them now. But, we definitely are looking to grow.
MCIC has been involved in the foodservice and hospitality markets for approximately four years. Often, it takes time to gain traction as a supplier that operators have trust in, but you have had exceptional success early on. Tell us about some of those successes. Fortunately, we have had a number of very good successes. For instance, with the Lucaris glassware line we have been able to show decision makers, in chain hotels in particular, its strength and durability, the clarity, and how well Lucaris showcases their wine offerings. Lucaris has often been used in wine tastings around the world and won awards for its ability to enhance the taste of the wine. So, it shouldn’t be a surprise that we have Lucaris as the preferred glassware for the St. Regis brand at Starwood Hotels, for instance. Customers won’t choose Lucaris because wins awards or it is well known in the Pacific Rim, they choose it because it is a great glass, an excellent value, and will work well for them operationally.
I had mentioned earlier that we will soon announce something in the serving accessories area, but we are a young company and we are always looking for cool, new complementary products.
When people see the exciting products such as Lucaris, Studio William, and DKE dinnerware that MCIC is bringing to the marketplace, what should they do to get more information or to purchase them? The best way to contact us directly is through our Website: www.merchandiseconn.com. That way, we can respond quickly with the required information. Also, we address our customers’ needs by either mapping them to one of our sales representative in their geographical location, or if a representative is not present in that specific location, we will support them directly though our own company. Ok, final question. We know that you, and the entire team at MCIC, have been working very hard to introduce your product lines to the North American hospitality market. But, it seems that in addition to great tabletop, hospitality people also love great music. What’s on the Kian Forouzesh iPod? I listen to everything, depending upon my mood, from classical to hard rock. Usually, it’s classical music when I am working with papers, reading, or writing emails. When I’m driving its hard rock, heavy metal…Korn is my favorite….crazy stuff. When I’m at home, I put on lounge music, grab a glass of wine, and try to relax. So, everything has its place. Studio William: New LEAF Spoon Featured in V&A Museum's "Sweet Instruments of Desire" Exhibit9/16/2012
British cutlery company, Studio William, is introducing a totally new concept in entertaining with the launch of Leaf, a multifunctional and sensual tool designed for eating desserts.
TabletopJournal has said it before....few tabletop companies differentiate the dining experience in so many ways as does Studio William. So, if you want to be like everyone else, keep buying the same old flatware and cutlery as every other restaurateur. If you want to give your guests something different, a unique dining experience....you will look into Studio William. To see the entire collection of sensual tabletop products from Studio William, go here:
http://www.studiowilliam.com/en/ In America, Studio William products for the hospitality industry are available from Merchandise Connection International: http://www.merchandiseconn.com/new/ Pastry Forks .....from Studio William. Ergonomic in the hand, the sparkling Mulberry pastry fork from Studio William is sophisticated and timeless. With the perfect fit and feel....tines of the correct length and proportion.....all the details well thought-out with enhancement of the dining experience foremost in mind. Isn't that the point, really? Studio William - where every detail is carefully considered and expertly implemented - from weight to balance, from ergonomics to specific dish requirements. After all....shouldn't pastry have it's own fork? Studio William. To learn more about Studio William and its entire collection of flatware for the hospitality market, go here: http://www.studiowilliam.com/US/en/
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