Food stylists and recipe developers seem to favor lightweight, linen designs. A handful of restaurants turn to local makers to outfit their staff: The staff at the new Tartine in LA wears custom White Bark Workwear aprons several restaurants in New York, like Frenchette, Barano, and Saint Julivert, outfit staff in Jones of Boerum Hill and Urban Farmer in Denver partnered with the husband-and-wife team behind Valentich Goods on custom aprons. More than one chef mentioned Bragard as a good, cheap option. Hedley & Bennett was a name that came up a lot. So I asked chefs, bartenders, butchers, food stylists, and other people who spend all day working in a kitchen for the best options. Better yet, plenty of these companies are placing a refreshing emphasis on catering to women’s bodies, expanding the options for everyone. Would it surprise you to hear that nothing in the rumpled pile is doing its job too well?īut the past few years have seen more and more kitchen apparel companies cropping up - brands like Jones of Boerum Hill and Tilit, makers of the ubiquitous jumpsuit you’ve probably seen everywhere, including Eater’s holiday gift guide - producing professional-quality aprons that look as good as they function. About half of them are vintage aprons bequeathed to me by my apartment’s former owner a few were borrowed indefinitely from the test kitchen of the food magazine where I used to work at least one frilly floral number was given to me by my mother. I’ve got a small collection of hole-y, stained options stashed in the linen drawer of my kitchen to prove it. “But man, give me something durable - I don’t have time to spot-clean that shit.” “I feel like every woman who likes cooking has been given a stack of cutesy vintage aprons with frills,” Heather Cahill, the general manager Pizzeria Beddia in Philly, told me recently.

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