Babyboop bowl adds style to predinner snacks

(Credit: MoMA Store)

It wasn't until I began to peruse the MoMA Store's Web site last year that I learned a valuable lesson about hors d'oeuvre: presentation is everything!

I'm no stranger to creating pretty presentations. In fact, many of my friends for whom I've cooked a meal will tell you that I care almost as much about how a plate looks as how it tastes. What I don't do, however, is spend much time thinking about how to serve predinner snacks, and so most of these end up gracing the coffee table in the same bowls that I use for my Cheerios.

And so, as I sifted through the various dishes and kitchen gadgets that make up the MoMA's store collection, I began to find bowls for appetizers like this Babyboop five chamber hors d'oeuvre that are just as ready to serve as sculptural centerpieces as they are to serve olives and nuts. Even though they may only be associated with the foods that come as a precursor to the meal or outside of mealtimes entirely, they make a surprisingly beautiful first impression.

The Babyboop bowl was designed by Ron Arad as part of a series of "large, blow-molded aluminum furniture-as-sculpture pieces" for Alessi. It's made from mirror-polished stainless steel that curves into four bubble shapes. What you put in it is up to you, but one thing is for certain: your guests won't be forgetting your hors d'oeuvre course anytime soon.