‘Tradition Reimagined’ – a new collection from Menu

I’m starting the week – and the new month – with a look at the latest pieces from Danish favourite Menu. Details of its new additions have just been released and there’s plenty of gorgeous furniture and lighting, including wall and floor lamps for its Japanese-inspired ‘Hashima’ lighting series and a sand-coloured Kunis Breccia option for its ever-popular ‘Plinth’ family of marble coffee and side tables. But it’s a collection of beautifully considered objects designed for entertaining that really caught my eye.

Called ‘Tradition Reimagined’, it sprang from a series of conversations about how gathering together at home has changed over the years – how past generations would often start preparing for guests days ahead of time, with careful planning and table settings. Our way of entertaining today may be a lot more relaxed, but the desire to forge meaningful interactions and memories remains – and it’s this very desire that Menu has sought to reflect and facilitate.

Created by various designers, the resulting pieces blend European tradition with modern design and have a simple, easy elegance about them. They’re also incredibly versatile, lending themselves to all sorts of different situations. In fact I can see them working just as well for everyday use as they do for special occasions.

My favourites are the ‘Estruscan’ pitcher and jug – modern interpretations of classic Roman vessels, created by Mathias Mentze and Alexander Ottenstein of Mentze Ottenstein. Made from polished stainless steel, they pair sweeping silhouettes with exaggerated handles and spouts, forming a minimalist yet striking aesthetic that exists outside of any specific style or period. The pitcher is ideal for chilled drinks and can also be used as a decorative object or vase; the jug, meanwhile, is perfect for serving milk or cream.

Mentze Ottenstein are also behind several other pieces in the collection. ‘Triptych’ is a trio of stoneware bowls inspired by 1970s artisan ceramics and decorated with a reactive glaze that responds differently according to where in the kiln each item is placed, producing varied textures in beautiful hues of ochre, coral blue and dark mocha brown. The ‘Strandgade’ series, meanwhile, is named after their street and takes its design cues from their personal collection of antique glasses. It features mouth-blown tumblers in two different sizes, an asymmetric bottle-like carafe in clear or smoked grey, and a slim-necked stem vase made from mottled olive-green stoneware. Glass features again in their ‘Abacus’ candleholders, which reimagine traditional chamber candlesticks in a lighter, simpler way.

As well as meals, the collection caters for casual fika-style gatherings thanks to the ‘Yana’ brewing pot from Norm Architects. Able to handle hot or cold coffee or tea, it has a double-filter immersion system that steeps leaves or grinds in water to release their natural flavour. The name comes from the Yanaka district of Tokyo, and the sleek shape and speckled dark or grey-glazed stoneware are nods to Norm Architects’ love of understated Japanese design. The pot sits perfectly on Copenhagen-based studio Krøyer-Sætter-Lassen’s ‘Balcony’ tray, whose mid-century aesthetic softens hard-wiring steel with rattan-entwined handles.

Napkins and tea towels aren’t ignored, either, with Mentze Ottenstein teaming up with textile designer Marie-Louise Rosholm to create the ‘Cocoon’ range. Woven from cotton and linen, it transforms the red lines and checks found on traditional French bistro textiles into a series of graphic patterns in burnt sienna, ochre and indigo.

Finally, to store everything in, Mentze Ottenstein have designed the solid oak ‘Curiosity’ cabinet, whose reeded glass blurs the contents without obscuring them entirely. It echoes the cupboards found in homes of the past to keep items reserved for ‘best’ yet it also sits perfectly in modern spaces, providing easy-access storage that’s as beautiful as it is practical.

See all Menu’s spring-summer 2022 news here.

All images courtesy of Menu