With Craig Bahl, designer and founder of the Steelforme line on hand, Service Ideas made a great impression at the recent NAFEM Show with multiple new Steelforme pieces.

With pieces designed for bar, table, buffet & beverage service, Steelforme from Service Ideas offers a unique look and feel that makes their items great as companion pieces to existing tableware or a wonderful mix & match collection to revamp your serviceware.

With new products and a new catalog on the way for 2013, Service Ideas keeps it's brand evolution on the move forward.

At TabletopJournal, we like to celebrate companies that are forward thinking and staying relevant within the tabletop category. Probably no company is changing quite as much as American Metalcraft. Just a few years ago they were known primarily as a back-of-the-house provider of plate covers and pizza pans. Not any more. While they still are a top supplier for those categories, American Metalcraft has definitely moved to also a premier supplier to the front of the house, as well.

With nearly 200 exciting new products added to their line in 2013, American Metalcraft now has more than 3,000 creative foodservice presentation items, making them one of the most innovative tabletop suppliers in the world.

American Metalcraft was incorporated in 1947 by Archer Kahn. In 1961, Herbert Kahn succeeded his father as President, and in 1995 David Kahn and Susan Kahn Bank took over the business, marking the transition to a third generation of family leadership. In over 57 years of family ownership, the company has expanded from 6,000 square foot in Chicago to over 120,000 square foot in west suburban Melrose Park, Illinois, and from a handful of employees to almost 100. 

American Metalcraft began with a limited product line and a local customer base to a company with customers in all 50 states and over 75 countries around the world. The company has evolved from job shop to a company that manufactures over 2000 items in house for its own product line. 

To learn more about this fascinating and evolving company, go here:
http://www.amnow.com/

Revol Porcelain has their new 2013 catalog out and it continues to showcase this company's great expertise at creating porcelain that is designed for and used by top professional chefs. Non-porous and highlyresistant to thermal and mechanical shock, REVOL culinary porcelain is not just an attractive product for your dining room, it is also a successful high-performing culinary tool in the kitchen.

Revol's BASALT collection (shown at left) continues to grow and TabletopJournal loves the way this line brings creative texture to restaurant tabletops.

With serving pieces of all sizes and shapes, it is little wonder that Revol Porcelain remains the choice of top chefs around the world. At a time when everything looks the same and run-of-the-mill, REVOL is giving chefs all over the world unique, creative and innovative solutions. And each solution enhances your dishes and awakens your guests’ senses.

To learn more about Revol and their new 2013 catalog, go here:

http://www.revol-porcelaine.fr/index.php?id=revolen

When we named 10 Strawberry Street as one of our tabletop companies deserving special watching in 2013, we're pretty sure that some of you said "Who?".  

Well, as one of TabletopJournal's "darkhorse" hospitality tabletop companies, 10 Strawberry Street will be front and center at the upcoming NAFEM Show with new products, a new 320-page catalog, and a new veteran tabletop VP, Sales. So...while it's still early in the year, we'd say this "fringe" tabletop company is quickly becoming a lot less fringy.

Long a leading supplier to caterers and rental companies, along with their retail distribution, 10 Strawberry Street's new catalog has a wide range of dinnerware, chargers, flatware, and glassware. There's even a wide range of oven-table serving pieces. Always known for good products at very good prices and substantial inventories for quick deliveries, 10 Strawberry Street seems poised to become a mainstream hospitality tabletop supplier.

If you are planning on atteneding The NAFEM Show in Orlando, you may want to check them out at booth #263. 

Otherwise.......you can view the entire 10 Strawberry Street range of tabletop products by going here:http://tenstrawberrystreet.com/en/

Silver and gold sparkle in The Milky Way Glass Platters from Izabel Lam New York.

The perfect presentation for exquisite and delectable offerings of scrumptious and exceptional flavors. Delicate renderings of silver and gold on a black background provide a desirable canvas for ingenious food creations.

Designed to be multifunctional and versatile. Each piece is hand painted so the result will be totally unique - variations in the color and pattern are inherent in  the design so no two pieces will be alike.

Produced for the finest quality and durability. Commercial dishwasher safe.

From the beginning of the 1990s, introducing metal products, the Izabel Lam New York collection of stainless steel cutlery and silver plated tabletop accessories has grown to include tableware in glass and porcelain.

Depending upon where you are in the world, there are lots of smaller suppliers of great tabletop products that help restaurateurs differentiate their guests' dining experience. 

One of those smaller companies is BDK-Glass,spol. s r.o.  from the Czech Republic. With a wide range of colorful serving pieces including plates, bowls, platters, and buffet pieces, BDK-Glass mixes color and clear glass easily using a fusion process, with a strong emphasis on providing quality design at reasonable prices.

Since its beginning in 1991, BDK Fusion Glass has supplied its products mainly to foreign markets in advanced European countries and in North America. The company began by making retail products and other products for the home.  In the last several years, as glass has become more desired for restaurant dinnerware, the company has become a creative tabletop source to some of the foreign catering & hotel supply companies.

BDK-GLASS, spol. s r.o. keeps good long-term business relationships with its regular customers thanks to its flexibility and the company acquires new customers thanks to the originality of its products. 

Most people we know rarely think of Matfer Bourgeat as a tabletop company. Kitchen tools and products that baers use is what usually comes to mind when this 200 year old French company is mentioned.

In fact, with the company's headquarters in a Paris suburb and a catalog with over 15,000 items that are tailor-made for high-end hotels and catering, Matfer Bourgeat is known throughout the world as Matfer, Matfer Bourgeat, or Eurochef, depending upon the location. The company maintains large inventories in Los Angeles, Hong, Kong, and Sydney, as well.

While Matfer Bourgeat is certainly a tremendous source for kitchen and baking tools, it is also a great source for those hard-to-find tableware adn serving pieces....pieces that might be a bit unique and help you differentiate the style of service you offer your guests. In other words, a great place to often find the perfect tabletop item!

So, if you are having trouble finding jsut the right item to serve a particular menu item....or, if you want to make a very special impression on your guests, you might want to check out the lineup of quality products from Matfer Bourgeat.

To see the company's global website, go here:
http://www2.matferbourgeat.com/en/

To view the U.S. website, go here:
http://www.matferbourgeatusa.com/index.asp

Fortessa has been providing solutions for tabletops since 1993 and the new BASICS collection continues in that tradition. Think about it....who else would have TWO sizes (2.25" and 4.25") mini Tagine Dishes? Exactly...

In the BASICS collection there's also round, rectangular, and square cassolettes, traditional and non-traditional creme brulee dishes, and lots more.

And they are ready for the rigors of foodservice since BASICS is made with clays reinforced with magnesium oxide for additional strength and durability.

One of the hospitality tabletop companies that sometimes doesn't get its "fair share" of recognition is Walco - except by savvy restaurateurs and purchasing people who look for a great product at a fair price.

Walco holds distinction in the tableware industry by maintaining part of it's manufacturing in the United States. They strive to offer the best value for the dollar in both 18% chrome and 18% chrome 10% nickel products from their domestic facility as well as overseas sources.

Tradition, raw materials, workmanship and ideas make the difference between a normal object and something special. Walco is both a manufacturer and an importer so that allows them to bring the best of both worlds to the customers. 

For instance, Walco has one of the largest selections of steak knives in the industry to meet your specific needs. Using materials like stainless steel in multiple finishes, fine pakka wood and numerous other hardwoods, polypropylene, and more to make handles, Walco has steak knives for nearly any type of foodservice operation. They also make many steak knives in both standard and jumbo sizes. Walco can even work with customers to customize the knife - either on the blade or on the handle. And, they can provide display boxes so that restaurateurs can offer them to their guests.

If a restaurateur is looking for the perfect steak knife, we think Walco would be a great place to start. The assortment shown at right is just a sampling of the lineup of great steak knives available from Walco.

To see the entire lineup of hospitality industry products available from Walco like flatware, steak knives, buffetware, chafing dishes, and more...go here:
http://www.walcostainless.com/

When thinking of tabletop options, particularly dinnerware, the name Carlisle Foodservice doesn't always come first to mind. But, for those who know, Carlisle brings a wide variety of both product and design options to the table.

Carlisle dedicates itself to designing and making professional grade products for people who have to use them every day.  Products that have real value and that can help make your operation run smoother, more efficiently, more profitably. With a number of products ranging from melamine to polycarbonate, Carlisle offers tabletop items that are both versatile and durable. 

With a wide range of designs, quality levels, items, Carlisle's Foodservice tableware invites mixing and matching until you get just the "right" mix of design, color, and practicality. 

And, don't forget that Carlisle has a complete line of coordinating tumblers, ramekins, soup bowls, and other serving pieces.