WNK produces finest quality silverware and tableware, and has grown to become a major international supplier in the food service industry. WNK offers a unique blend of family business traditions married to the use of the latest production methods and an excellent worldwide distribution and support network. Their company promises excellent products with a long service life, style and elegance to help promote your hospitality business.  ALBA is one of four new designs by Lyon-based designers Alain & Dominque Vavro for WNK. | WNK also recently launched several new flatware patterns designed by the well-known French design team of Alain and Dominique Vavro. All Vavro-designed flatware from WNK is 18-10 stainless. | Some features of WNK include: -Two modern factories with over 20,000 square metres of production space employing 800 dedicated staff. -In house mold shop, CNC and process machining. -All raw materials imported from Finland and Japan ensuring first class base quality. -Total quality control, a separated department operating on all part of the production processes. -In house design facility with a team of stylists and designers working on a program of improvement and development across the whole range of products. -Extensive world-wide distribution network. Be sure to explore WNK's full collection of products by going here: http://www.good-way.com/wnk/
We've mentioned the name Vavro in this publication before....but usually in the context of designing of porcelain serving pieces...for RAK Porcelain or the Bocuse D'Or competition. But, now the name of Vavro has gone on to great flatware design with WNK Flatware being the manufacturer. Based just outside Lyon, Alain and Dominque Vavro have been changing the world of gastronomy since the mid-1980's. Whether it is designing for Chef Paul Bocuse, working with Deboeuf wines on the newest labels or with RAK Porcelain on a new dinnerware design, the Vavros always bring a sense of fun to their designs.Now, they bring their artistic whimsy to cutlery for the restaurant table with their four new designs for WNK - ALBA, TOGO, JAVA, and NEMO - all made with top-quality 18-10 stainless steel. |  ALBA flatware, designed by Alain and Dominique Vavro, produced by WNK Flatware. |  TOGO is one of four flatware designs created by the Vavros and produced by WNK. For those not familiar with WNK, this is a company started in 1955, now with over 50 years of manufacturing experience in fine quality silverware and tableware, becoming a major supplier during that time to the internatioanl hospitality industry. WNK also produces buffet serving pieces, hollowware, and in-room amenity pieces, as well. WNK offers a unique blend of family business traditions married to the use of the latest production methods and an excellent worldwide distribution and support network. The company has made many investments to insure they meet the demanding standards of quality, design and value of the international foodservice business: - Two modern factories with over 20,000 square metres of production space employing 800 dedicated staff.
- In house mould shop, CNC and process machining.
- All raw materials imported from Finland and Japan ensuring first class base quality.
- Total quality control, a separated department operating on all part of the production processes.
- In house design facility with a team of stylists and designers working on a program of improvement and development across the whole range of products.
- Extensive world-wide distribution network.
To learn more about WNK and their new Vavro-designed flatware patterns....and their many other designs for the hospitality industry, go here: http://www.good-way.com/wnk/  JAVA (left) and NEMO (right) round out the new collection of WNK flatware designs from Vavro.
RAK Porcelain’s innovative, design-driven, yet practical products contribute to shaping the positive image of the brand and raising its profile on an international scale. They have been playing a decisive role in RAK’s global commercial success since 2005. Based in Ras Al Khaimah, United Arab Emirates, RAK Porcelain is part of the RAK Ceramics industrial group, the world’s largest producer of ceramics. Featuring ultramodern production facilities, RAK’s current production capacity is 16 million pieces of porcelain a year, certified to the highest quality standards. The group has a turnover of one billion dollars. RAK Porcelain invests heavily in the design of its collections. To this end, RAK calls on the best in terms of designers. Mikaela Dörfel and the couple Dominique and Alain Vavro have enjoyed the trust of RAK Porcelain for years, building a strong and reliable partnership with the porcelain producer, designing not only asthetically pleasing products, but products that meet the practical demands of the hospitality industry, as well.
| | | Mikaela Dörfel
Finnish-born Mikaela Dörfel has owned her own creative studio in Hamburg since 1997. She has learned her trade at leading international porcelain manufacturers. The artist’s design is heavily influenced by Scandinavian culture. “I get my inspiration from nature and simple shapes as well as clear structures”, the artist reveals.
Her Hamburg studio focuses mainly on porcelain tableware designs and has worked for some of the world’s greatest porcelain producers in Europe, America and Asia.
She has created numerous collections for RAK Porcelain including the newest, NABUR, inspired by nature.
| | | Dominique and Alain Vavro
The French couple Dominique and Alain Vavro have been at the forefront of French creation for several decades now. The two artists met at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Lyons and have been working hand-in-hand ever since. The Vavro couple settled on the banks of the River Saône, a stone’s throw away from Paul Bocuse’s restaurant, where they fell in love with the world of haute cuisine.
Driven by the love of tableware, they understand the needs of the trade and their designs reflect different atmospheres that are as elegant as they are practical, allowing RAK Porcelain to bring innovative and stylish solutions to the world of hotels and catering.
| | Here are a few testimonials for design, innovation, and practicality of RAK Porcelain: Othmar Schlegel, chef of the Restaurant Castello del Sole, Ascona, Switzerland “The quality of RAK Porcelain is appreciated as much by our staff for its functionality as by our clientele for its aesthetics. Every day, we are delighted to have chosen RAK.” Sébastian Bontour, chef of the Restaurant La Cour des Lions, Marrakech, Morocco “We were won over by RAK Porcelain’s products and have literally adjusted our cooking to them as their added value really stands out – our creativity is highlighted with clarity and refinement.” Léa Linster, chef of the restaurant Léa Linster, Frisange, Luxembourg “RAK Porcelain offers functional benefits that meet our expectations. Its design lends itself very well to haute cuisine and contributes to the inspiration for our new creations. Our clients never feel like they are being served twice in the same dishes.”To learn more about and to see the entire collection of hospitality dinnerware from RAK Porcelain, go here: http://www.rakporcelain.eu/
 From Villeroy & Boch's Hotel & Restaurant Division office comes word that the famous cooking competition Bocuse d’Or 2013 will be held on January 29-30, 2013 in Lyon, France. Since 1995, Villeroy & Boch, who is an official partner of the haute cuisine cooking event held every two years, provides the collector's item plate. Traditionally, an official souvenir plate and a promoting poster are designed by world renowned artist Alain Vavro. In 2013 again, a limited edition of a Villeroy & Boch gourmet plate will be launched. As the most spectacular series of Villeroy & Boch are regularly chosen for the event, this year's selection is the New Wave 25 cm round gourmet plate. The director of the Villeroy & Boch Hotel & Restaurant division as well as the Marketing team recently met with world renowned chef Paul Bocuse as well as with artist Alain Vavro in Lyon to review the design for the 2013 souvenir plate. The artistic theme will be fresh and colourful and a strong expression of the delight in cooking.
From the beginning, we have said that Alain and Dominque Vavro are leading the world in designs for not only restaurant porcelain, but for restaurant interiors, wine and culinary product packaging, and other areas of gastronomic graphic design. Recently, Germany's Deutsche-Welle TV, filed a report on the Vavros and you can link on it by clicking here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=81IVZlQCXRs
From their home base in Lyon, France, Alain and Dominque Vavro continue to leave their mark on the culinary world around the globe through their many design projects. Here in the U.S., Kenilworth China is the home of the the latest Vavro restaurant porcelain designs. Globally, after initally partnering with Villeroy and Boch, RAK Porcelain is where the Vavros now call their "ceramic home" these days.
F/S Tabletop Journal is being launched to bring you the latest and the best in products, people, and places of the foodservice tabletops in America. We've been in this industry for a long time now and never have we seen this industry so over flowing with exciting products. Today's tabletop buyers have so many options and where previously the options were only local suppliers....now, today, the world is literally at the buyers' fingertips. So, we are excited to get started at sharing our enthusiasm for tabletop products used by the hospitality industry. Our position is that tabletop plays a central part of the dining entertainment. So, stay tuned....and enjoy the show! Speaking of the show......nobody understands the entertainment aspect of restaurant tabletop better than designers Alain and Dominique Vavro, whose artistry you see above. We'll have more on Alain and Dominique's tabletop art in the future, but let it be said that the Vavros truly has re-defined the word "fun" in tabletop. If more restaurants took their approach to differentiation, there would not be the ocean of white tableware "same-ness" that permeates the restaurant industry these days. Sorry....our opinions are beginning to show. Oh well, we never said we wouldn't have opinions!
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