Gaby Dalkin’s Collaboration With Crate & Barrel Is Both Earthy & Minimalistic

Are you ever in the middle of a recipe and suddenly realize you’re missing some key cooking essentials? Or perhaps you’re setting the table and notice your go-to dinnerware isn’t as party-ready as it once was. If so, you’re in luck because Crate & Barrel just collaborated with five-time cookbook author and food blogger Gaby Dalkin on a new collection of kitchen staples, which launches August 8. Complete with timeless tools, entertainment must-haves, and luxe tableware in a variety of earthy neutrals, the What’s Gaby Cooking founder created the collection of her (and your) dreams, whether you’re a self-proclaimed top chef or a Julia Child hopeful.

Fresh off the success of her latest cookbook, What's Gaby Cooking: Grilling All the Things, which dropped back in May, Dalkin designed this line around products that were missing in her kitchen. “I wanted [to create] beautiful bowls that you could make anything in, from a cookie dough to a pasta dish,” Dalkin told TZR in an exclusive interview. If you follow her on Instagram, you know her recipes are always aesthetically-pleasing. So, it comes as no surprise that Dalkin’s Crate & Barrel collab prioritized IG-worthy pieces, too. “When it came to an aesthetic, we really looked at Gaby's life,” Sebastian Brauer, Crate & Barrel’s senior vice president of design shared with TZR. “[We were inspired by] her beautiful home in LA, the finishes in her kitchen, and the spirit of both Gaby and LA, which is casual, open, friendly, easy, and livable.” Dalkin says the overarching handcrafted feel of the collection was further influenced by her childhood — specifically her mom, who’s a ceramist. “Everything she makes is one of a kind and small, so it was fun to put that into play where people can access this on a grander scale,” Dalkin says.

While overconsumption is commonly encouraged on social media, Dalkin clarifies that everything in this collection has a specific, intentional purpose. “I'm not into clutter in my kitchen, my closet, or my bathroom,” the chef says. “If I haven’t touched it in six months, it must leave.” That being said, Dalkin wanted every prep tool and dish to look and feel stylish, whether it’s being utilized or not. The result is hand-glazed terracotta mixing bowls, measuring cups and spoons, oak cutting boards, wooden servers, dish towels, and even a sleek paper towel holder. She’s especially proud of her “legitimately absorbent and beautiful” kitchen towels, because in her words, they usually suck. “Ours feel like linen, but they’re actually terry-backed, so they’re very hard working,” says Brauer.

Just like Dalkin’s coastal Californian home, the collection’s beauty extends well beyond the kitchen. When designing the tableware, she drew on her private chef experience to create inventive settings, most notably dinner boards with divots for toppings, serving dishes made out of recycled clay, and a sectioned centerpiece bowl for appetizers, crudités, and chips and dip. “The dinnerware, glassware, and the cruets are products you’ll see on What’s Gaby Cooking on a daily basis for the rest of time,” Dalkin confirmed. One through-line for most of the collection is the vertical ridges that add to the handcrafted feel — one of Brauer’s favorite accents. This minimalistic motif can be spotted on a variety of bowls, baking pans, and a soap holder in neutral shades like brown, green, beige, and taupe. The drinkware also mimics this energy as they’re created out of recycled glass from Mexico, which “gives it a warm, found look.”

Daklin’s first Crate & Barrel collection comes at a perfect time in the cuisine space — when people want recipes that are doable and approachable. “[People] want to make food for their friends and family any day of the week, or recipes that are special enough for a dinner party, but not too complicated,” Daklin says. According to Brauer, this uncomplicated trend extends onto kitchenware, too, and is mirrored in their new launch. “Gaby's helping us revise how we view entertaining and how we set a table — moving away from this formal table setting and into a more casual gathering, [a kind of] bringing people together approach,” Brauer shared.

While Dalkin’s Crate & Barrel collection can (and should) be used year-round, there’s a noticeable focus on creating products that compliment seasonal ingredients. “Now more than ever, customers are in tune with shopping seasonally — [think] farmer’s markets, local produce, small farms, and finding their ingredients close to them,” Brauer says. With this cultural shift in mind, Dalkin accompanied the launch with a few recipes, including an easy-to-make tomato and feta salad, a seafood pasta, a strawberry shortcake, and more. All of these recipes utilize her new Crate & Barrel faves, of course.

The best part about Crate & Barrel’s latest collab? Everything’s available to shop at Crate & Barrel on August 8. Get your hands on the Dalkin-approved items while you still can.