Misette Is Reimagining the Art of the Tablescape
It's time to start planning the return of (safe!) soirées.
Misette, a new dinnerware brand launched by sisters Amy Burstyn Fritz, CEO of Burstyn Inc., and Sarah Pecaut, a longtime special events producer for The Metropolitan Museum of Art, is the latest addition to the housewares space. A line that wants you to reimagine your relationship with your kitchen, it launches tomorrow, May 18, and offers a variety of dining sets including ceramic plates, stylish glassware, and chic cutlery. As we head into what's sure to be a highly social summer, Misette hopes to turn your dining table into a curated and artful experience perfect for late-night dinner parties or intimate meals.
Though the brand was conceptualized amid the COVID-19 pandemic, Fritz and Pecaut see Misette as a go-to for all occasions—socially distanced or not. "I think we designed Misette in a way that would work during the pandemic whether it was dinner for two, or with your family or your partner at home, [but] it would work just as well when everything goes back to normal or whatever that looks like down the road," Fritz tells BAZAAR.com. "The beauty of it is that the business model and the approach that we're taking is really long-term, but also one that works in the short term."
As for the founders' goal, they want the customer to view their dinner table as a blank canvas that is begging to be jazzed up with accessories. "[We want you to think of] decorating your table with a beautiful piece of jewelry that you can experiment with all different colors and shades," Fritz says. "Even if the overall feel is a more muted neutral, [the pieces are] still really different and special, and they all work perfectly together without being too matchy-matchy."
Another component of the sisters' business approach was creating unique designs that will aesthetically stand the test of time. They're launching with a trio of collections—Colorblock, Natural, and Monochrome—each of which can be effortlessly mixed and matched with additional offerings of glassware and cutlery. The three collections were inspired by the sisters' familial love of travel and global culture—hence the dinnerware's Mediterranean-inspired colorways, European geometric detailing, and tropical foliage prints.
"We come from a family that loves to travel, and our mom actually has an incredible tableware collection herself. But with Monochrome, Natural, and Colorblock, we really wanted these to be the staples of the collection—to become something people could add to their tables over time and collect," Pecaut says. "We've been to outposts all over the world, including Venice, where we were very into the Murano glass, and Portugal for dishware and linen, Spain for hand-painted ceramics, and Morocco just for vessels in general and all of its beautiful shapes, colors, and designs."
Misette is also an ode to Fritz and Pecaut's grandmother, who initially introduced them to the art of a beautifully curated dinnerscape. "Our Bubby was really into cooking. We always had Sunday-night dinners, gathering together around the table. Especially in the postwar era, I think the idea of gathering around the table as a family was really, really important," Fritz says. "That was something that my grandmother continued with us always. She and my mom would always set the table, and it was always impeccably done. Her biggest compliment she gave anyone was always, 'Oh, what a beautiful table!'"
As the world gradually shifts to a post-pandemic "normal" and people begin to host small-scale parties at home again, Fritz hopes that we don't lose sight of the power in tradition and gathering, and also how one's approach to decorating the kitchen and dining room ultimately shapes the entire aesthetic of one's abode.
"People are really starting to almost go back to that appreciation of how nice it is to just be able to gather around the table, even if it's just with your family, and have a meal together," Fritz says. "The world is really fast paced—you're always out and about, and looking outward and to the future. But I think that looking inward is something that's probably going to stay with us [after the pandemic] and, I hope, stays with us for a while longer."
Shop Misette starting May 18 online at misettetable.com.
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