Cool Kitchen Supplies

If you’ve been asking, “Where can I get the most delicious balsamic vinegar on the planet, and find well-designed kitchen gizmos and stunning dinnerware from Finland?” I know the answer: bluecashew Kitchen Pharmacy in Rhinebeck. (And yes, that’s how the name is styled, to the bewilderment of copy editors across the region.)

Sean Nutley and Gregory Triana opened bluecashew a few years back in the little hamlet of High Falls, then moved last Christmas into bigger and better quarters in Rhinebeck, where the stream of likely customers runs a little more steadily.

The Balsamico Suite vinegar mentioned above is from the Bartolini family. It’s aged for 12 years, and is so intense and syrupy, you can taste hints of chocolate. It’s wonderful on salads, of course, but best drizzled over pears or other fruit, or a good cheese, so that you can discern its sweet tartness. Nutley says they’ve been telling customers to pour it over ice cream or panna cotta. “Panna cotta is ridiculously easy to make,” he adds, in case you thought otherwise. At $30 for 8.5 fluid ounces, it’s a bit of a splurge, but worth every penny. Other specialty foods in the store include white truffle oil, basil and pepper oils, coffees and teas. The Cucina cleaning supplies are so eco-friendly, they’re almost edible, too.

Liven your table with bluecashew’s many dinnerware collections, like these Taiki plates and mugs

Merchandise runs from what Nutley and Triana call “disco sponges” in gold or silver ($3), to an elegant Philippe Starck fly swatter, to lovely handblown glassware from Sardinia. There are utensils galore, as well as linens and baking supplies. Among the dinnerware is surprisingly tough but delicate-looking porcelain by Mud Australia, in muted shades. China from the Finnish company iittala Taika (another brand to confound copy editors) is a knockout, with vibrant colors and folk art designs (a dinner plate is $40). Smartly designed kitchenware from the British company Joseph Joseph makes terrific hostess gifts. If any of you are heading to my house soon, I love the spudski, a better masher, or the reamer with a little strainer.

Thick white toweling bar mops — only $8 for four big ones — spelled the end of paper towels in our house. You realize just how inadequate a paper towel is after you mop something up with a real one. Just throw them in the wash instead of the garbage, and you’re helping save the planet, too.

On April 10, from 3-6 p.m., bluecashew is having a tea party to celebrate the publication of the SoNo Baking Company Cookbook, and the work of a quirky potter. They’re on Montgomery Street. Stop in and have a baked something-or-other, browse, and maybe pick up a disco sponge if they’re not all sold out again.

â–º bluecashew Kitchen Pharmacy
6423 Montgomery St., Ste. 3, Rhinebeck
845-876-1117 or www.bluecashew.com