Food & Recipes, Lifestyle
The Making of a Beautiful Morning Coffee Service
How to make your morning more beautiful with the perfect way to serve coffee.
I’d love to share a food memory with you. It was several years ago on one of my many trips to Italy and I was staying in a really lovely hotel in Palermo. Early in the morning, my room steward would appear at my door with a beautiful pewter coffee service. I would open the window and let the morning breeze mix with the smell of fresh coffee. The morning view from my window, the amazing cup of Italian coffee, and the special feeling of enjoying my first cup from the beautiful coffee service was nothing short of heavenly. The feeling was so warm and happy that I decided I’d take that feeling home.
Today, one of my favorite morning rituals is that first cup of coffee in the morning. Sometimes with the windows open overlooking Beverly Hills. Maybe not as exotic a morning view as some other places I’ve seen, but the feeling of Palermo is still with me. I make it that way with a special coffee service and setting just for that purpose. Since then, I’ve collected several coffee services to match different moods: pewter, antique silver (I have several of those), white porcelain, and glass.
It’s the start that makes my whole day more beautiful and I wouldn’t want it any other way.
I’ve told this story to several of my clients who want a unique way to make their mornings stand-out as a perfect beginning for the rest of their day. What makes the act special is using an elegant tray with a hot pot of coffee or tea, service bowls of cream and sugar and lovely cups and saucers. You can add toast or biscuits, but the way you serve yourself that steaming hot service of your favorite coffee or tea is what makes it special—at least for me, it does.
Some of my clients and friends who have taken on the habit now take their Espresso or English Breakfast in bed, sometimes at a morning table. They’ve made it a special event with a style they love. And there are so many styles to choose from, with mixed materials, patterns, and colors.
One of my clients loves the retro look and found a 1960s deco style silver coffee service at her local flea market that completely matches her style. Another friend who is a true antique collector found a vintage service from the 1920s that’s truly lovely. But there are so many other ways to make that simple act in the morning more beautiful.
Alessi makes an absolutely perfect espresso maker, but you may be partial to a lovely pewter pot from Match 1955. If you love modern design, see Muriel Grateau, or Bernardaud for a more painterly or romantic style. Don’t forget the cups and saucers. Everything doesn’t have to be in the same pattern – the mixing of patterns can make it more interesting.
Pull it all together with exquisite trays, bowls, and flatware from Christofle, Hermes Tableware, Lifetime Brands, or Ercuis, perhaps with cloths and napkins from Bodrum Linens. And if you happen to live in the Los Angeles area want to take in an even broader view of possibilities for the pieces you love, take a trip to Gearys. You can see many of these items on my video.
I’ve heard that the act of serving yourself—as though you are a guest at a favorite hotel—evokes high energy satisfaction that can trickle into everything you do. So, start it off right and begin your day beautifully every day.
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