L’Appartement 4F co-owner Ashley Coiffard and her husband, Gautier, love to host. “It’s always been our favorite thing to do together. He cooks, and I decorate,” says Coiffard. “I want people to notice the details, like the cheese knives I picked out.” Their bakery, L’Appartement 4F, started in their apartment kitchen three years ago as a side hustle to cover their wedding-flower budget. After a few months, it blew up on Instagram. “And then all of a sudden, I wasn’t even planning a wedding anymore, I was planning a bakery,” she says. The couple drained their wedding account to open a storefront in Brooklyn Heights where people regularly line up for their croissants.
After pausing their wedding planning to open up shop, the couple turned their attention to the big day, which included building their registry. “I used to think everything was very precious. If I had something nice, I didn’t want to use it, I just wanted to stare at it,” says Coiffard. But Gautier, she says, is the type of person who prefers to actually use the “good” dishes for every meal, which changed her philosophy: “Everything we have is something that should be used and appreciated every day.” Coiffard filled their registry with items that are both beautiful and durable, like dishwasher-safe Japanese porcelain, two sets of French-made knives, and a sleek kettle.
Laguiole is a French brand that makes the best knives. Gautier told me they used to put a Band-Aid in the packaging with the knives because they’re so sharp you could cut yourself; I just thought that was so interesting. And they come in such a beautiful wooden box I knew I wanted to put them on our registry. We asked for a set of four because I figured if we’re making nice steak, it probably would be for a smaller and more intimate dinner party.
[Editor’s note: These knives are currently sold out, but you can sign up for restock notifications on the product page.]
So I originally wanted Rinka plates from RW Guild, but they’re just so expensive that I scrapped it. I found these instead, and they’re way more budget friendly, also made in Japan, and had the fluting detail. I am really a sucker for fluting. Our pastry display in the bakery also has a fluted detail. When I saw these plates, I put them on our registry right away. They feel very expensive, like handmade pottery, but they’re also super-durable. And they’re dishwasher safe. As beautiful as they are, we actually can use them every day.
I asked for mixing bowls because we obviously bake a lot, even at home. They’re super-functional. They have a little spout so it’s easy to pour straight from the bowl. Each one also comes with a cover, and they nest so you can stack them up easily.
We never had good knives. I always thought I’d make do, and then when I realized we were taking ten minutes to cut a lemon, I decided we needed to get good knives. I didn’t realize how important knives were until we started using good ones. It is honestly life changing. It just makes everything so much easier. And I love Opinel, which is another French brand. The set comes with five knives; I love the wooden handles. I use the chef’s knife for everything, but Gautier will use each one. We use them every single day, and they look so nice in the block.
They’re very vintage feeling: I love that they have the ribbing detail and that they have the stem. And they are very, very sturdy.
I just love how sleek this stainless-steel flatware set looks and the more modern shape of each utensil. They’re very visually interesting compared to other flatware sets I looked at, and super-lightweight. Honestly, every time someone comes over and uses this silverware, they’re like, “Oh, I really love this.” I always get compliments.
For a long time we didn’t have a kettle. Gautier was boiling water in a saucepan. We have the Balmuda toaster that they’re really well known for. Since we’re bread people, that was the Balmuda appliance we bought first, but I knew I wanted the kettle to match it. Gautier drinks his coffee every single morning before he does anything, and then I make myself tea. This kettle not only looks really nice and sleek, but it boils water so quickly. The spout makes pouring the hot water more precise. It’s so good it makes me mad that we didn’t have a kettle before. It’s made our lives so much better.
Seeing all my friends who got married before me, their big registry item was either the Dyson vacuum or the KitchenAid stand mixer. That was the sign of a wedding. And we already had a KitchenAid stand mixer for the bakery, but it was this really big red one from the commercial series that was such an eyesore. KitchenAid stand mixers are extremely reliable — we worked our old one into the ground. We used it 24/7 with very little breaks to make our tahini chocolate-chip cookies and croissant dough. It got us through running L’Appartement 4F out of our kitchen. So I decided to put a new one on the registry that was visually nice and that we wouldn’t abuse, and I went with the artisan series in the almond color. His parents got that for us. It really is perfect for making cookie dough at home, and I’m excited to learn how to make pasta at home with it, too.
We’re a little bit crazy about collecting wine glasses. I have a huge cabinet filled with different glasses for different wines. I have my glasses for white, for red, for rosé. It’s a whole thing. These are for red wine, and I love them because they look like a little tulip. They’re just so cute. These aren’t our everyday wine glasses, but I pull them out when I’m having a party. The price point is not bad. It’s not the cheapest, but it’s also not devastating. My brother-in-law broke one of them and I was like, “It’s not the end of the world. I’ll buy another one.”
Laetitia Rouget is a French ceramicist. My favorite of this dessert series is the plate that says “Cherry on the Cake.” And I love mismatched dessert plates generally because it gives a fun look to the table. I just thought they were so cute. But these are still a coordinating set, so you get the effect of mismatching but the colors all still work together.
I might be telling on myself. We were in the south of France at a nice hotel called the Martinez and they had a beautiful breakfast spread. They had fruit in a small Weck jar, and I was obsessed with it. We paid a fortune for the room and I thought they were specific to just this hotel, so I took one. And it was my precious Weck jar. Then I Googled it and I realized you can just buy them. They’re so useful. I hate mason jars, I think because there was a long time where people my age were throwing everything in a mason jar. So I’m anti–mason jar, and I like these so much better. The wide mouth top is great. It’s easier to scoop things out. I use my Weck jars to store fresh fruit, dry grains, and vegetables. I fill them with water and place carrots or celery in the refrigerator and they stay so fresh. They are also perfect for packing snacks for a picnic and eating everything straight from the jar. I do want to start pickling things like my Persian grandmother as well. She has a whole separate refrigerator of pickled vegetables — but I’m not there yet.
I originally looked at all the trendy cookware sets out there. I have nothing against them, but when I started doing some research, I found that going with stainless steel was the most tried and true. They won’t chip. They don’t have a nonstick coating that will inevitably wear off. This set had great reviews. It comes with 12 pieces, and it has all of the things that we would need in the kitchen. We use them every single day for cooking. Plus they’re extremely easy to clean.
These tablecloths are made in Marseilles in the south of France where Gautier’s family is from. Sarah Espeute embroiders each one with pictures of the place settings or of food. It’s like trompe l’oeil. My favorite is the one with a whole seafood dinner embroidered on the table, but I picked this one with the two place settings because it’s a little bit more affordable.
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