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Colorizing the Classics
For years Tiffany glass has been pretty much transparent, but the company has recently revived a Louis Comfort Tiffany legacy – think lamps – and created an exclusive new collection that’s all about color. Handblown bowls, vases, and candlesticks come in pastels, shot with bold hues, striped, or tattersalled. And these awesome pieces are the work of such genius American glassblowers as Jesse Reese, Josh Simpson, and Bill Gudenrath, among others, along with two Venetians, Carlo Moretti and Salviati (from $150 for a candlestick to $325 for a large bowl to $975 for a large vase).
TIFFANY & CO./727 Fifth Avenue, at 57th Street/212-755-8000
A Tricycle Built for Three
Now that three-kid families are fast becoming a New York City norm, Kettler’s new tandem tricycle is oh-so-street-smart. This German company’s Jumbo Color Kettrike instantly converts (with add-ons) into a three-seated trike or (by removing the tandem insert) into a single. For a parent’s peace of mind there are locking handlebars and a detachable push bar. The Jumbo has a tubular-steel frame, vinyl-tread wheels, slip-resistant pedals, and polypropylene-resin seats ($199.90, as shown; push handle, $59.95).
GEPPETTO’S TOY BOX/10 Christopher Street/212-620-7511
Hoe-in-One
It’s a gardening truism that whatever trowel, watering can, pot, or seedling you need is sure to be somewhere you’re not. With the new PFC garden caddie, you can organize your planting life. This heavy-duty tubular-steel cart is mounted on all-terrain tires so you can roll it over rocks, hilly fields, even through mud. There’s a rack for tools, a platform to hold plants (with straps to secure heavy loads), and a mesh bag for gloves, seed packs, bug lotion, whatever. The handle height is adjustable, and, wonder of wonders, the caddie folds for storage (around $60).
BARSON HARDWARE/35 West 44th Street/212-944-8181
ZABAR’S/2245 Broadway, at 80th Street/212-787-2004
Instant Designs for Living
Nader Hakakian and his sons Seemak and Babak just might put some decorators out of business. At Domus Design Collection, their new stadium-size, Philip Johnson-designed emporium, you can quickly furnish every room in your apartment. See a bedroom you hanker after? You can buy it all – pillows, sheets, blankets, the rugs on the floor, the bed lamps, even the fully outfitted freestanding closets. The furniture is European, with lots from Italy, and some of the pieces have been in continuous production since the fifties and sixties. Modernism, with its spare lines, rules: There are de Sede sofas, Tisettanta beds and storage units, Elson & Company rugs, Halifax tables, Saporiti Italia chairs (from $35 for a microfiber pillow to $2,000 for a bed to $50,000 for a 22-piece nonstop modular sofa).
DDC DOMUS DESIGN COLLECTION/181 Madison Avenue, at 34th Street/212-685-0800
Plank Endorsement
Savvy chefs have resurrected the ancient Native American technique of grilling fish and fowl on wood planks. But these professionals mostly use cedar roofing shingles purchased in large quantities at lumber yards – no problem if you’re cooking for zillions but a tad impractical for feeding just a few. Now Chinook, a Seattle company, has come up with a better way: untreated red cedar planks in very manageable sets of four. Just soak one of the planks (in water or, better yet, balsamic vinegar), place it on the grill, and wait till it smokes; then add a slab of salmon, a fillet of halibut, a breast of chicken, even vegetables, and be amazed at the resulting deliciousness ($12.50).
BROADWAY PANHANDLER/477 Broome Street/212-966-3434
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