What Is and What Should Never Be - II

Continuing last week's three part series on what to Shirk, Save & Splurge on in outfitting your kitchen, the following recommendations are designed to help you target the money pitfalls, items that aren't worth the brand-name (or price) and, hopefully, save some money without sacrificing quality or performance.

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This part of the list will likely get me into the most trouble, as Williams-Sonoma, All-Clad, Mauviel, Le Creuset and others have spent the equivalent of a small nation’s annual budget on convincing foodies that only cooking with their products will produce satisfactory results, and in cooking with lesser products you might as well be serving CheezeWhiz on a Triscuit. This is not true, and while their products may arguably be superior, the fractional gain in performance is likely not worth the extra cost.

Pots & Pans – I covet the All-Clad sets of cookware that are provocatively displayed at the entrance to each Williams-Sonoma. I used to imagine that when I bought my first house, graduated from business school, or otherwise proceeded from the shallow end of adulthood, I would invest in them. But then I happened on a once-in-a-lifetime bargain at the Calphalon store in the Wrentham Outlets – the kind of bargain that was so profound as to become a regular anecdote at parties (“You got Prada mules for $249, well I got my 10-piece Calphalon set for $200). This bargain wasn’t epic simply because of the money saved from its original price, but because, in mingling with All-Clad pots my Calphalon pots looked, and most importantly, behaved almost exactly the same. Punctured, though not thoroughly deflated, was my vision of All-Clad as the only set of pans that would appropriately sear my tuna, or get the crust on my steak au poivre exactly so. My wonderful Calphalon pots and pans do a bang-up job at a fraction of the cost. The lesson behind this is to go for middling price but high-quality. If the pots and pans feel sturdy in your hand, are made from the same material as the more expensive ones you’re looking at, and have virtually the same features, save yourself the money and buy the lesser brand.

Williams-Sonoma – As a store it is an enigma, at once an indefatigable brand that draws foodies in like a beacon and prompts them to plunk down obscene amounts of money for items that could not, under the most liberal of circumstances, be considered necessities. But it also pays homage to the aphorism “you get what you pay for;” no marketing chicanery or charlatanism here, the products are as strong, if not stronger than the brand. Discerning what is worth the price and what is not takes a certain amount of studiousness and frugality. If you have all the money in the world, and space is your only concern, please skip this section. If you’re in the 99.9% of the population, the following are my recommendations for items that could be procured at Target or your local grocery store for considerably less than WS.


Storage & Non-Cooking Household Items – This ranges from the wine glass racks to the air-tight coffee bean holder to the $120 step stool. In the first instance, items related to design are not its core competency – they may certainly be well-made and look lovely, but the less expensive alternatives that you could find elsewhere would serve you just as well. In the second instance, I find a $39.95 air-tight coffee bean container a little laughable. The coffee beans housed in my sub $5 Tupperware give me the same jolt and stay just as fresh as those housed in expensive containers. In the third instance, what on earth is worth reaching on your top shelf, if it’s going to cost you $120 to get there? You can get almost the exact same stools at Target for half the price.

Soaps, Sponges & other Cleaning Products - Admittedly, the WS-line makes cleaning look as lovely and pleasant as a stroll through the French country-side, and for a reluctant housekeeper like me, it almost seems worth the extra cost. Maybe Herbes de Provence cleaning spray and micro-fiber cleaning cloths in a variety of Easter egg colors would make cleaning up more fun. It doesn’t. You won’t save a king’s ransom, but more likely a few dollars off of comparable products in either your local market or Target.

A general rule of thumb for WS is that its core competency is items that you cook with – they’re durable, designed well, and made to perform far better than many an ersatz look-alike. However, in avoiding money-pitfalls, steer clear of the beautiful, yet over-priced accoutrements for your kitchen. You can get equally functional and chic items at Target or the Container Store for far less.

As a foodie, it’s hard not to cost-justify every passing whim in the pursuit of the perfectly-outfitted kitchen (“Since I’m cooking at home and not eating out, this $50 can opener will practically pay for itself.”) But to maintain a balanced-budget, which, let’s face it, IS more important than a Architectural Digest-worthy kitchen, be sure to segment items by their frequency of use, performance-requirements, and visibility (if that can opener is going to spend 99.9% of its life in a drawer, why does it need to be diamond-studded?) and look for high-quality/mid-price substitutes for all but the highest-ranked items.