This week on the Strategist, we’re covering all things tabletop: the best plates, yes, and also everything that goes around (and underneath) them. Welcome to Tabletop Week.
Flatware is not especially easy to shop for online — or in general, for that matter. There is just a lot to consider: weight, style, materials, dishwashability … and much of it looks so similar. So we decided to piece together a guide that would both help a novice know where to start and surface unusual sets for those who want something beyond the basics for a wedding registry or cutlery-drawer refresh.
Most modern flatware is made of stainless steel, making a lot of it more affordable than the silverware of yore. Dung Ngo, the editor-in-chief of August, a design-and-travel journal and small press, says that stainless steel actually “democratized cutlery for everyone.” Ngo, a flatware collector who runs an Instagram account dedicated to utensils, explains that the change from silver to steel followed the advent of the Bauhaus and other early-20th-century design movements that celebrated everyday substances like plywood, plastic, and stainless steel. (Most sets on this list are made of 18/10 stainless steel — unless otherwise noted — as it’s the safest option in terms of heft and durability.)
The 35 sets below include something for most everyone, from traditional silverware, to traditional-looking flatware made of stainless steel, to the official flatware of the 1972 Munich Olympics, which Ngo calls “the Rolls-Royce of cutlery.” A note: I included single-service sets that typically comprise five utensils, but you’ll also find full-service sets.
In this article
I.
The Best Sets Across the Board
Utensils that were recommended repeatedly.
The French Mainstay
Sabre’s Bistrot set was by far the most recommended flatware set among the experts I spoke to, with 15 people calling it out as their favorite. The French cutlery is characterized by acrylic handles available in over two dozen “cheerful” colors “that brighten up the dinner table,” according to Big Salad founder Joanna Goddard, and rivets that are used to hold their nonmetal parts to their stainless-steel bodies. “I’ve always loved these because of their high-low design approach,” says Shane Davis, a partner and the creative director of community space Public Records. Alice Russotti, co-founder of Porta, agrees. “They just work with everything. They feel a little special for everyday and easy and effortless when friends are over,” she says. “I can just as easily see them in a fine-dining restaurant as I can in a school cafeteria,” adds Claire Olshan, the founder of snack brand Dada Daily. The Bistrot line is also available in teak, which Coral and Tusk founder Stephanie Housley prefers.
The Best Basic Bistro Set
Recommended by several designers, this bistro set has rounded handles, which may feel more comfortable in the hand than the Sabre set above. Dan Pelosi, a.k.a. GrossyPelosi and author of Let’s Eat, chose this set as his everyday flatware because “they are nice and chunky (I have bear paws for hands), are not slippery, and have a perfectly modern yet nostalgic design,” he says. They’re also incredibly durable, according to Pelosi: “They have been through both my sink and dishwasher a million times, have been thrown in totes, taken on car rides, and have fallen on the floor a lot and still look amazing.” Designer Elena Frampton likes the Lyon’s simple look, which she says makes the flatware feel approachable — an element that “puts people at ease” when you’re entertaining.
Newly Made Flatware With a Vintage Soul
Mepra’s Italian-made cutlery also came up several times — in particular, this set in a vintage pewter finish. Fashion designer Peter Som says that he’s “actually quite obsessed with these” as they hit all the points: “They feel good in the hand, the weight of them is substantial but not heavy, the knife edge actually can cut (and dinner knives cannot be sharpened, so what you get is what you get), and each part of the set is in proportion to each other (I hate it when the soup spoon and dessert spoon are too similar in size — I know I think about these things — and here, they’re distinctly different).” But his favorite thing about the set is its matte-pewter finish. “For years, I’ve had silver stainless sets that are super shiny until I found these — they give off a satiny luster that’s just so subtle and soothing,” he explains. Set designer and prop stylist Beatrice Chastka also loves its tumbled finish. “They have a minimalist, elegant shape that magically works with both modern and more traditional table settings,” she adds. Interior designer Gail Davis prefers another Mepra set, the Dolce Vita in Champagne, which has a slightly scalloped bottom detail that she says are reminiscent of 1930s-era silverware from her grandparents.
The New (Old) Favorite
Flatware from English designer David Mellor also came up several times. Restaurateur Brooks Reitz, founder of Hedley and Bennett Ellen Bennett, and Kerrilynn Pamer of CAP Beauty all love this bistro set in black that’s made with acetyl resin and brass rivets. “I love the combination of steel and resin, and the fact that these are made in the U.K. The riveting makes them a beautiful object, and by resisting anything that looks too precious, it marries well with the rest of our tabletop choices,” Reitz says. Bennett, who received the set over five years ago as a wedding gift, also loves “the very beautiful brass hardware” and the fact that it’s something she will have for a long time and will “still keep its beauty.”
Alessi’s Achille Castiglioni–Designed Flatware
Alessi’s Dry collection, which was designed by Achille Castiglioni in 1982, is what Herman Miller creative director Kelsey Keith uses at home. After polling a bunch of her design friends and visiting the Castiglioni Studio (where she “manhandled” all the Dry prototypes), she put the flatware on her wedding registry. “I love the contrast between the matte finish of the handles and the mirror finish of the cutlery,” she says. “It’s sleek in terms of material (no muss, no fuss) but warm in terms of the design.” Plus, she adds, “We don’t have to be precious with it — it looks beautiful in a real place setting, but it’s still practical for everyday use.” I also own this set and love how hefty and substantial it feels without being too heavy. It also washes beautifully in the dishwasher and always comes out looking like new.
An Apple Design Researcher’s Set
Cutipol’s slender silhouette is a favorite of Alyse Archer-Coité, who works in design research for Apple, as well as food writer Claire Saffitz. Archer-Coité calls these made-in-Portugal utensils “elegant forever” thanks to their exaggerated proportions — long, slim handles topped with large, rounded heads. Saffitz prefers the Goa style, which has resin handles that come in several colors. “I love the rounded forms of the spoons and forks and the smooth feel of the resin handles (ours are stainless steel with black handles). The pieces are unique and modern without being too weird or hard to actually use,” she says.
And a Less Expensive Dupe
For a more affordable version, consider the Aero line from Crate & Barrel, which interior designer Ghislaine Viñas, L’Appartement 4F co-owner Ashley Coiffard, and Strategist junior writer Brenley Goertzen all use. Viñas says she’s “partial to the tapered polymer handles and sculptural heads,” which give the dishwasher-safe pieces “a bit of a Jetsons feel,” while Coiffard appreciates how “visually interesting” they look and how “super lightweight” they feel. “Honestly, every time someone comes over and uses this silverware, they’re like, ‘Oh, I really love this.’ I always get compliments.”
A Wedding-Registry Favorite
The Caesna set from Crate & Barrel is a perennial wedding-registry favorite. It’s also the set that New York Magazine deputy editor Alexis Swerdloff uses at home. (Strategist senior editor Jen Trolio owns 15 of the collection’s coffee spoons, and Fishwife co-founder Caroline Goldfarb loves its canapé fork for eating tinned fish.) After spending hours perusing reviews online, Swerdloff settled on these for its “modern without feeling too modern look and its substantial feel.”
II.
The Best Flatware With a Design Pedigree
Collectible cutlery from various architects, designers, and furniture-makers.
Arne Jacobsen’s Danish Modern Flatware
“You can’t pick this up without thinking how gorgeous and streamlined it is,” says interior designer Ghislaine Viñas of this set, which was designed in 1957 for Copenhagen’s SAS Royal Hotel — and used by the crew in Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey. Made of 18/8 stainless steel, it’s also dishwasher-safe.
Antonio Citterio’s More Rubenesque Flatware
The longer necks on these utensils give their curved proportions a bit more of an hourglass shape. Designed by Italian architect Antonio Citterio for Iittala, the flatware is made of 18/10 stainless steel and is dishwasher-safe. Viñas calls the utensils “bold and distinct” thanks to what she says are their “perfect proportions.”
Henning Koppel’s ‘New York’ Flatware for Georg Jensen
Viñas says that utensils from Georg Jensen, a heritage Danish brand recognized for providing goods to the queen of Denmark, are the type of flatware “you can keep for the rest of your life.” Made of 18/8 (and dishwasher-safe) stainless steel, she says the brand’s Henning Koppel–designed New York flatware has an “elegant and curvy” silhouette that makes it “friendly and comfortable.” Viñas adds, “This is the kind of flatware you pass on to the next generation.”
John Pawson’s Flatware With Five-Pronged Forks
Conway Liao, the founder of home-goods brand Hudson Wilder, pointed us to this set. It was created by British designer John Pawson, who is known for his simple, minimal aesthetic. The dishwasher-safe, 18/10 stainless-steel flatware has a shinier mirror finish and a five-pronged fork, one more than the standard four. (Minimalists should know the set is available with a three-pronged fork, too.)
Carl Hugo Pott’s Olympics-Worthy Flatware
Ngo describes flatware from German company Carl Hugo Pott as “the Rolls-Royce of cutlery” — all “super well-detailed and finished but not elaborate in any way.” This particular (dishwasher-safe) set is made of 18/10 stainless steel and was the official flatware of the 1972 Munich Olympics.
Gio Ponti’s Slightly Off-Kilter Flatware
The spoons in the Italian architect and industrial designer’s set are “slightly hollowed out and look a bit like conch shells,” Archer-Coité says. And the heads on all three of the utensils are unique — they cheat to the left of the bodies. Made of 18/10 stainless steel, the flatware is also dishwasher-safe.
Peter Raacke’s Red, Ringed Flatware
The German product designer debuted this Mono-Ring flatware in 1966, according to Archer-Coité. The trademark ringed handles (made of polyamide) have a functional purpose, too: to allow the dishwasher-safe, 18/10 stainless-steel utensils to be hung from a stand (which happens to be included with the 24-piece set).
‘Brutalist’ Flatware by Maarten Baas
This 18/10 stainless-steel flatware that Dutch designer Maarten Baas created for Valerie Objects is what Ellen Van Dusen uses at home. She says the serrated knife “looks like a crude drawing of the real thing,” echoing the retailer’s description of the set as “brutalist.” Of the dishwasher-safe utensils, Dusen adds, “They’re high-quality and durable and also feel great in your hands.”
Editor’s note: Valerie Objects lists prices in euros, so the price shown is an approximate conversion in U.S. dollars.
A Sterling-Silver Set by Josef Hoffmann
While Austrian architect and designer Josef Hoffmann’s utensils have not been in production for as long as other silverware-makers’, they’re no less collectible. Recommended by Archer-Coité (who says she “yearns” to own this silverware), the spherical finials on the handles make each piece look like an exclamation point.
A More Accessible Hoffmann Set
Here’s another collection by Hoffmann that’s a little more readily available. First made for Wiener Werkstätte in the early 20th century and now available in a similar format through Alessi, they’re what Yannik Neufang, co-founder of architecture studio Office JDY, uses. “I want my fork and knife to be well designed, and I also don’t want to be too serious about it,” he says. “The pieces are very simple but also just so wonderfully odd in proportion that they’re guaranteed to initiate some fun conversation at the dinner table.”
A Japanese-Danish set
Clémence Polès, founder of Passerby, loves this set from Copenhagen-based studio Frama. Designed in Japan and inspired by the original Ole Palsby design from 1989, it has a “subtle design” that Polès says “draws attention to the quiet beauty of everyday objects, reminding us that even the most utilitarian tools can possess aesthetic intelligence.”
III.
The Best Silverware
Silverware comes in two forms: all sterling silver or silver-plated. The latter is more affordable and more durable. The former is easier to clean and has a high resale value. And short of inheriting a set of your family’s heirloom silverware, procuring real sterling-silver cutlery can be expensive. Sourcing vintage is your best bet, but you can also buy new silverware if you so choose.
Silverware Designed for Aaron Burr’s Wife
Maconda Goodspeed, an artist who has been collecting antique sterling-silver pieces since the 1960s, says that her favorite online sources are eBay and Replacements. A favorite pattern she collects is Madam Jumel by Whiting Manufacturing Company, an American maker that has been around since the 1800s. (In addition to Whiting, other makers she says to look out for are International Silver Company, Towle, Durgin, and Bigelow, Kennard & Co.) She kept acquiring it after finding out the pattern was designed specifically for Eliza Jumel, Aaron Burr’s wife.
A Collector’s First Silverware Set
As Goodspeed explains, “one may choose a pattern for aesthetics but also sentimental reasons.” It’s the latter that led her to begin collecting the Old Colonial pattern from Towle, an American silversmith founded in 1857. “My grandmother had a set of spoons, all different ones, and there was one that I really always loved from the time I was a kid,” she says, explaining that the spoon she fell in love with is from the company’s Old Colonial collection.
An Affordable Vintage Silver-Plate Set
Going the silver-plate route can be another way to build your collection. Pottery Barn offers sets of vintage hotel flatware made of bronze or copper that’s been plated with silver. While each 5-piece set will be different, it’s the mix-and-match quality that makes the hunt so fun.
A New Sterling-Silver Set
Food stylist Rebecca Jurkevich came to David Mellor’s Pride collection through her work. “After all my years of styling, I have yet to find a fork that is as perfect as the David Mellor Pride fork,” she says. “It is functional, elegant, and casual.” While she prefers the set in sterling silver, it’s available in stainless steel and silver plate as well.
Antique Coffee Spoons From Tiffany & Co.
Flatware collector Lynn Goldfinger specializes in vintage hotel silverware, some of which she sells on her website Paris Hotel Boutique. She says that hotel-branded flatware is even harder to find in sets, which is why many of her customers “mix and match different logos and crests from different hotels.” Those who don’t go this eclectic route, she says, tend to follow a specific trend: buying vintage silver or silver-plate Tiffany flatware, like this set of tea spoons, because it often has French-style patterns similar to those on vintage hotel flatware.
IV.
The Most Maximalist
Rainbow-colored cutlery and unexpected metallics.
A Colorful Bistro Set
Silverware doesn’t always have to be silver-colored, as we saw above. Liza Curtiss, principal at Le Whit design studio, recommends this set from Mepra that has resin handles that come in over 20 different color options, with some sets including mixed, complementary shades, too. Made without rivets, the set is a tad sleeker than your average bistro set. As Curtiss puts it, the flatware is “playful yet still refined,” no matter what color you choose.
A Multicolored Set With ‘Manic, Merry Energy’
British designer Matilda Goad’s set is similar to the Mepra above but has a solid acrylic handle and is what Domino creative director Kate Berry uses at home (in the blue and red colorways). “They really brighten a table, are lightweight, and have a festive feel,” says Berry. Vogue.com editor Chloe Malle is also a fan, saying that they have a “manic, merry energy” to them. Each utensil in this eight-piece set is a different rainbow color. You can also purchase sets of forks and spoons separately.
A French-Made Set With a Tiny Bee on Each Piece
Laguiole is a French company founded in 1828. Its flatware is especially substantial, with a heftier than usual composition of 25/10 stainless steel. Frampton recommends the brand to those who might prefer that weight, as she does. Laguiole’s flatware, according to Robert Khederian, is also recognizable by a bee emblem where the handle meets a piece’s head, a tiny detail that he says sets it apart.
A Durable, Golden Set
Consider going gold with this set that New Yorker writer Helen Rosner recommends. “I love the juxtaposition of the pieces’ super-minimalist, ultracasual lines with the matte-gold color (fussy, ridiculous),” she says. They have a nice heft and are also durable. “I’ve had them for over a decade (they were a wedding gift) and I treat them like absolute garbage, no special attention or care whatsoever, and they look terrific,” she says, though she notes that the gold coloring is starting to fade in a few spots on the knives. As for the pieces’ silhouettes: “The dinner fork and the salad fork are both so well balanced and elegant — sharp tines that aren’t too long or too short.”
A Truly Affordable Gold Set
Heather Goerzen, director of content and design at Havenly, likes this less expensive set from Target’s Threshold collection for its “simple form, sophisticated finish,” and, of course, the price — less than a lot of meals you might eat with it. It’s made of dishwasher-safe stainless steel, but the company does not note the composition.
A Matte-Black Set
All-black flatware can also be incredibly striking. This matte set is recommended by interior designer Mikayla Keating, who recommends it for creating a “clean modern tablescape.”
V.
Best Full-Service
Service for four — or 12 — guests at extremely appealing price points.
The Best Value
If you’re starting from scratch and don’t want to think about it too much, you can’t do much better than this 65-piece, service-for-12 set, which was recommended by two folks, Keating and design writer Ameena Walker. Walker says the pieces “feel lightweight but sturdy” and that, along with table settings for 12, “you get a serving spoon, a serving fork, a slotted serving spoon, a butter knife, and a sugar spoon.”
A Danish Set
Here’s a very design-y set — without the designer price tag. It’s what Rachel Karten, founder of social-media newsletter Link in Bio, uses. “Our cutlery qualifications were pretty clear: not ugly, handled a dishwasher well, and felt nice to hold,” she says. “This set exceeded our expectations on all fronts — we just re-upped the amount we have because we love it so much.”
A Modern Set
A hybrid of Alessi Dry and Fortessa Jaxson sets, this similar-looking set comes with service for four for a fraction of the price (and is available in matte and shiny finishes). Sam Bernstein, founder of hospitality group Table22, describes them as “really good basics: They’re minimal but thoughtfully designed and relatively affordable, so you can feel free to use it every day.”
Hammered Flatware From Oneida
This set has a more rustic feel, thanks to its hammered handles, and is from Oneida, which has been making utensils in upstate New York since the mid-1800s. Keating recommends the dishwasher-safe utensils to folks looking for a “textured design.” Like all Oneida flatware, the set is backed by a limited lifetime warranty.
A More-Expensive-Than-It-Looks Set
Another registry favorite, this set from Zwilling comes with service for eight and has a sophisticated, more-expensive-than-it-looks design.
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