You Are Being Served: A Guide To Serving Trays
Are you being served, to quote a British TV show? Yes, you are — with what the media calls a “service” piece on serving trays.
With bicycles and golf clubs negating a breakfast nook in my kitchen, and a piano nixing a coffee table in the living room, I’m forced to eat from a portable dining table.
Recently I decided to replace the mock-croc trays that have served me for many years, but had no idea that finding something stylish would prove so difficult. Sure there are great things out there, but you wouldn’t have any money left over to actually dine on them.
I tried every google term I could think of and here’s what I found. At the top is Bliss Home & Design with an equestrial themed one for $1040. Then, in descending order by price, we have Ralph Lauren, $1295:
For a steampunk vibe, Fornasetti, $615:
Ralph Lauren with equestrian-themed trim, $395:
Allegro Shops, $258:
Go Home Black Rope Handled Tray, $205:
Undercover Recycled Leather Tray, made in the UK, $77:
Pottery Barn Speakeasy Tray, $49:
Home Decorators Houndstooth Trays, $36:
The bottom 5, assuming they’re of decent size, seem quite the bargains.
I like the Deco feel of the Speakeasy tray, but it looks suitable only for drinks and not a dinner plate.
The houndstooth comes in a set of small and large, so you’d need to buy two sets to get two large.
I suppose they could be his and hers….
Steampunk? More like 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, or possibly Cthulhu. I can’t imagine even having such a thing in my home, much less eating off of it.
The Speakeasy tray seems just the thing for serving cocktails, or perhaps to bring one bottle and a couple of glasses for a tête-à-tête, but definitely not for eating.
I thought 20,000 Leagues IS steampunk, or at least one of its main influences.
I suppose it depends on whether you like octopus.
But 20,000 is a product of its time, while steampunk is a nostalgia/retro thing.
I like octopus to eat—when it’s fresh and tender—but that Fornasetti tray is too gruesome for food.
Didn’t William Gibson inadvertently start the steampunk movement with The Difference Engine?
One could argue there is a much softer, mellower version of steampunk in Hayao Miyazaki’s Castle in the Sky.
Well yes steampunk is a modern concept, but I said influence. Isn’t the whole concept basically Victorians with advanced technology? That’s basically Jules Verne.
I put on the editorial calendar when I was planning the site to do something on steampunk interiors. Looks like it’s time to see what’s out there.
I’m not quite sure what to make of steampunk. On the one hand, I like that people are looking at the past favorably; on the other, some of the steampunk fashions are almost cyborg-like in their lack of human warmth. There’s also the whole problem with punk.
In any case, I’m looking forward to seeing what kind of steampunk masculine interiors you can find.
Someone found one for me:
http://www.wayfair.com/American-Atelier-Allure-by-Jay-Serving-Tray-13204-JJG1151.html