The combination of Verner Panton’s design and Menu’s award winning thermo cups is eternally modern and an immediate classic.

Verner Panton was always on the cutting edge – willing to test new designs, new styles and new technologies; his colourful design radiates curiosity, optimism and joy.

The pattern on Menu’s thermo cups is called Geometry 1 and is from 1960; it represents Verner’s first and most famous textile design, for which he received The International Design Award in the United States in 1963.

Menu’s thermo cup is also an award winning design, created by Pernille Vea; the cups are constructed in two layers of porcelain with a hollow isolating centre, ensuring that you never burn your fingers and maintain the cold or heat of the contents equally well.

In 2003, the thermo cups were awarded the FORM 2003 prize and the DesignPlus prize in 2004.

The cups are made of porcelain of the highest quality, fired at 1320 degrees Celsius, ensuring strength, durability and an easy to clean surface; the glazing is acid-free, and therefore does not change colour and doesn’t contain lead or cadmium.

The new cups come in attractive boxes bearing designed by Verner Panton, containing four coloured cups or four cups with black decoration. Retail price £29.95 available in the shops from May.

Web: http://www.menu.as

Following the phenomenal success of their NewWave Caffe collection, Villeroy & Boch has launched the NewWave Acapulco tableware for 2008.

The Acapulco pattern inspired by colourful South American prints, originates from one of Villeroy & Boch’s most successful collections of 1977 and has been re-introduced onto NewWave; combining the appeal of a retro pattern with a modern shape.

This ethnic-style collection has been inspired by travel and exotic destinations and translated into contemporary designs for today’s discerning consumers. The graphic range features bold prints of flowers and birds in vivid contrasting colours.

The striking Acapulco new line includes:

NewWave espresso cups, cappuccino cups, coffee cups and mugs featuring the signature sweeping handles.

Matching party plate saucers, large enough to serve biscuits on and for resting coffee spoons are also offered, making the Acapulco collection ideal for serving after dinner coffees.

Web: http://www.villeroy-boch.com

Tel: (020) 8875 6060

Royal Copenhagen is launching its first new complete service of the 21st century.

Elements consists of 15 items, which come in 15 colours and plain white, and is the work of Louise Campbell, the front runner in a new generation of Danish designers.

It is the first time this century that Royal Copenhagen has launched a complete service, with all the items being developed right from scratch.

Elements is strongly traditional and unashamedly modern, the contrasts between the heritage of centuries and life in the new millennium become one.

On the one hand the shape of the service contains fragments of the Blue Fluted service of 1775, Flora Danica from 1790 and Half Lace from 1885, while on the other hand, the approach to colour is radically different from the traditional blue and white colour palette of Royal Copenhagen.
 
Elements includes everything from cups and plates in various shapes and sizes, to jugs, rectangular platters, salad bowls and dishes; each item comes in its own colour as well as plain white, with the palette ranging from bright orange to turquoise, cerise and dusky green.

The new pattern is painted by hand using a brand new technique that makes this rich use of colour possible.
 
Elements is flexible enough to accommodate global cuisine, whether the table is set with a salad bowl in turquoise, or sushi served on a rectangular porcelain platter with a grass-green design.
 
Example of price: Small dish/board £20.25 in white and £35.50 painted.
 
Web:  http://www.royalcopenhagen.com

Tel:    (0800) 963 763

Clare Harris established Talking Tables Ltd. in 1999, just in time for the 2000 Millennium celebrations with only 8 products - today their current line is 150 and growing.

The Talking Tables vision is to provide stylish and co-ordinated accessories for your party or occasion, providing fun and different ways for people to celebrate and entertain.

They know how to get the party started - with party games from their ‘Table Trivia collection, table games to break the ice, such as ‘Jet Setters’, ‘Knowing Me Knowing You’, ‘Tots Trivia’ and ‘Food Fest’ to name a few.

The company’s in house team is constantly creating designs to inject excitement, glamour and elegance into any party occasion, from birthdays through summer fiestas and after-dark dinner parties to weddings.

There is a wide-range of exciting product designs on offer to suit all ages, including colourful place settings, table runners, garlands and decorations, posh party poppers, mini sparklers etc.

Talking Tables products can be found in retailers such as John Lewis, Heals, Selfridges and Liberty as well as independent shops nationwide, or online:

Web: http://www.talkingtables.co.uk.

Tel: (020) 8675 9811

Go on, pamper your mum on Mother’s Day 2nd March, with finest quality tea and coffee, served in stunning fine bone china or stoneware crockery, from Whittard of Chelsea including:

For coffee with a difference, give your mum a global taste experience with Whittard’s Coffees of the World Gift Selection (RRP £18); contains a hand-picked selection of the best coffee from far flung countries, such as ‘Santos and Java’ - from Brazil and Indonesia and ‘Vietnamese’ from Vietnam.

For ultimate relaxation, the Caffeine Free Teabag Selection (RRP £8) contains eight tempting flavours, including Spiced Fruits and Camomile Teabags, all stylishly packed in an aqua and gold box.

Tea-loving mums will be proud to host family and friends with the elegant china Teatime Teapot (RRP £25) in deep blue base colour beautifully decorated with pink, pale blue and green traditional teapot designs. Complete the set with a Teatime Mug (RRP £8), Cup and Saucer (RRP £12) and Chatsford Mug (RRP £14).

Mums with a taste for tradition will love the classic Victoria Chintz range featured here: The Teapot (RRP £32), Mug (RRP £10), Cup and Saucer set (RRP £12), Creamer (RRP £12), Sugar Bowl (RRP £8), and Tea Tins Selection (RRP £8) or spoil mum with the whole set of this stylish china that tells of a bygone era.

Web: http://www.whittard.co.uk

Tel: (0800) 015 4395

Easter brings a little more time to spend with the family, to create special seasonal dishes and to enjoy each other’s company; food is central to this and so too is its presentation.

Culinary Concepts, one of the UK’s leading designers and retailers of home and tablewares, has built its reputation on beautiful and functional designs that enhance any dining experience - formal or informal.

Designer, James Denton concentrated on 8 original styles of cutlery, elegant stainless steel and silver-plated serving dishes, beautiful bowls and stunning stemware - all perfect for Easter’s ‘family time’.

In cutlery, you’ll find something to suit every taste; from the substantial and perfectly balanced knot designs (in three different finishes) to the more traditional twist and millennium ranges.

All designs are available in 4 or 7 piece place-settings, as 16, 24 and 42 piece canteens, or as a beautiful teak-boxed, 74 piece collection. There are matching utensils too, such as ladles and carvers.

Why not finish your Easter meal in style, by offering a cheese board? Culinary Concepts has boards and cheese knives in a variety of combinations: three piece sets; Stilton scoops and single knives, specifically created for soft, hard and semi-hard cheeses.

Enjoy your time together!

Web: http://www.culinaryconcepts.co.uk

Tel: (0870) 2411689

It is said that you should eat like a king at breakfast, so better bring out the best porcelain tableware - Meissen’s Ming Dragon service is sure to liven up even the dullest morning.

The excitingly beautiful Ming Dragon service is available in dinner service as well as tea and coffee services, in seventeen different colours.

There are modern shaped bowls and mugs as well - ideal for breakfast and of course everything is hand-painted, as it was when Meissen first rediscovered the formula for porcelain almost 300 years ago.

Breakfast cup and saucer £ 313.00 a mocha cup and saucer £ 197.00.

Web: http://www.meissen.com

Tel: (020) 7589 0128

Menu’s new Thermos combines nature’s shapes with stylish and efficient high-tech materials to ensure the highest level of functionality.

The thermal insert, which can hold up to 1.0 litre is made of double-walled stainless steel; obviously, this is far more robust than the traditional glass insert, therefore the insulating effect is unparalleled.

The jug is a joy to pour due to the sturdy, perfectly balanced handle and the outer thermal jug shell is made of a solid synthetic material that has subsequently been coated with matt black synthetic rubber; this ensures that the jug is easy to clean, whilst still keeping its cool, sophisticated elegance.

The screw-on lid, also made of the black synthetic material, creates a perfect seal and stays in place throughout pouring; a single touch of the button in the middle of the lid permits the pouring of liquid.

Design: Pernille Vea.
Materials: Synthetic material, stainless steel and synthetic rubber.

Retail price: £49.95.

Web: http://www.menu.as

Tel: +45 48 40 61 00

Royal Copenhagen has launched some functional new tableware items for the cook, table, oven and kitchen ambience.

Royal Copenhagen’s thermal cups in hand-painted porcelain have long been popular and the thermal efficiency of the double layer of porcelain is now being applied to a range of hand-painted bowls.

The thermal bowls have two layers of porcelain with an air gap in between, which provides insulation, ensuring that the food is kept at the right temperature, while the beautiful hand-painted Mega pattern adorns the table.

This popular oven collection is now being joined by the Mega pattern in black, while a large square dish has been added to the blue oven range. Prices from £35.50.

Another new product for the discerning cook, featured here, is the new spice set in white designed to store herbs and spices and preserve their flavour; the cylinders are 11 cm tall and have a narrow band where their contents are clearly identified.

The set is available as six spice jars on a small tray priced at £105.00 and individual jars can also be purchased to accommodate an expanding herb collection at £20.25 each.

Once the food has been prepared and served in ovenproof dishes or thermal bowls, candles can provide the right ambience to enjoy the meal with Royal Copenhagen’s new candlesticks in Blue Fluted Mega in three difference sizes - 14 cm , 22 cm and 27 cm. Priced from £40.75.

Web: http://www.royalcopenhagen.com

Tel: (0800) 963 763

Flowers, chocolates, perfume… it’s all been done before and millions of times!

Forget dull domesticity and think instead of intimate dinners and breakfast-in-bed with sassy, sexy tableware.

Culinary Concepts offers a very creative take on Valentines’ Day traditions, with thoughtful and stylish designs that are a joy to receive and to use.

Their in-house designer, James Denton, has created some unexpected ways to surprise and delight the love of your life:

Take the Lover’s Flutes and Stand. Two romantic champagne flutes in gleaming silver plate, nestling on an elegant stand; perfect for intimate, seductive moments.

Or how about heart-shaped serving plates? Offer your beloved strawberries, chocolates or oysters on the featured silver-plated dishes; or rustle up breakfast in bed, with toast in a heart-shaped rack and preserves, delicately presented on matching dishes.

Introduce more love into your life, with heart-motif bottle openers, corkscrews and stoppers; or if ripe Stilton, mature Brie and a crumbly Wensleydale are the food of love, then Culinary Concepts has cheese knives and stilton scoops with heart designs too.

Silver-plated lover’s flutes with stand retail at £46.95 plus P&P.

The hammered silver-plated heart dishes available in small and large, are priced at £22.95 - £29.95 plus P&P.

A 2-tier silver-plated heart cake stand retails at £65.95 plus P&P.

Silver-plated heart toast rack retails at £22.95.

Web: http://www.culinaryconcepts.co.uk

Tel: (0870) 2411689