Designer Recommended: Ellen Marie Bennett’s Favorite Products, Tools, and Gear
Ellen Marie Bennet turned her passion into her business. Design by Barbara Cadorna.
As the founder and Chief Brand Officer of Hedley & Bennett, a Los Angeles based cookware company, Ellen Marie Bennett has spent over a decade fine tuning the perfect design for kitchen essentials that have found their way into pro and home kitchens across the country. A multi-hyphenate, Ellen is also an acclaimed chef, designer, author, and mom.
Of both English and Mexican descent, Bennett has had a passion for cooking from an early age and traveled to Mexico City at age 18 to attend culinary school. She returned to L.A. to cook professionally in some of the city’s best kitchens, including two-Michelin starred restaurant, Providence, where she realized there was ample room for improvement in the standard kitchen work wear. Starting with only $300, she launched Hedley & Bennett to redesign the kitchen apron with professional grade quality and more style. Now, the brand has grown beyond its beloved apron collection to kitchen essentials including pro-grade knives, cutting boards, kitchen linens, and more.
Every product at Hedley & Bennett is chef-tested and approved. For example, from Bennett’s experience and her many conversations with chefs, she realized that cutting boards were cumbersome and always slipping. So, she created a cutting board with a curved lip to keep juices in when you’re cutting, but is easy to swipe off food and keep clean (unlike impractical deep well edges). And the bottom of Hedley & Bennett’s cutting board features a silicone mat designed to keep the board perfectly in place. It’s no surprise, then, that smartly-designed products and objects are central to her creative life. Here, she shares the products she obsesses over, what she gifts to her creative friends, and the best find for under $20.
The Products I Use the Most in My Creative Life
The Mud Australia Nest Bowl is not only beautiful, but incredibly functional as well. It’s glossy on the inside, matte on the outside and you can put them in the oven! I use them to display all of my fruits and vegetables on the counter which looks nicer than your typical plastic bag and helps them get consumed very quickly. They also make pitchers that I’ve made dual use for as a vase.
Purchase it now: $66
The Most Unexpected Tool I Use in My Line of Work
A Marysia swimsuit. I keep a swimsuit, goggles and earphones in my bag with me. I go swimming every week and am working up to being on a swim team. I’ve found this to be a really important time for me to swim and kept my mind clear so I can tap into creativity.
Purchase it now: $369
“This makes it incredibly easy to take a conference call without a computer.”
Products Outside My Work Life That I Obsess Over
1. A Silicone Suction Cup with an Adhesive Mount (above) for my phone. This is attached to the back of my iPhone and makes it incredibly easy to attach to walls or anything for shooting photos and video or taking a conference call without a computer.
Purchase it now: $13
2. Thorne vitamins. Maybe also unexpected and it seems incredibly simple, but I love these vitamins and think it’s really important for entrepreneurs and creatives alike to take their vitamins and stay sharp and healthy.
Purchase it now: $68
Best Product Ever (for under $20)
Maldon salt. This is one of the best products ever. I use it in almost everything and balance it in my cooking with sea salt. They sell 8.5oz boxes or if you’re cooking a bunch, they sell a big 20oz reusable tub.
Purchase it now: $15
Hedley & Bennett’s bread knives are a cut above. Image from Hedley & Bennett.
Favorite Gift to Give to My Creative Friends
1. Hedley & Bennett Bread Knife. Our bread knives make for a great gift because most people don’t actually have a quality bread knife. A bread knife that works really well can be life changing!
Purchase it now: $85
2. Casa Dragones’ 375ml Tequila. This is a female founded tequila company that’s near and dear to my heart. My husband and I served Casa Dragones at our wedding. It’s so delicious and makes the perfect celebratory gift.
Purchase it now: $35
3. Roe Caviar Gift Set. This is also an incredible gift if you’re looking to splurge. Their gift set comes with delicious potato pancakes, creme fraiche and salmon lox that’s sliced perfectly thin. It’s the whole package and is a great, elegant ready-to-go gift.
Purchase it now: $135
My Favorite App on My Phone that Says A Lot About Me
Libby. This app connects through the library so you have access to a countless number of books on audio. I’m always hearing or reading about new book recommendations so I mark books in there to remember to read and have read such a range of books. My recent reads have ranged from Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance by Angela Duckworth to Bringing up Bébé by Pamela Druckerman.
Jumpsuits, the new power suit? Image from Frank & Aileen.
My Last Splurge
A Frank & Aileen One Piece Jumpsuit. Frank & Aileen’s linen jumpsuit is so comfortable! I love that this brand is female founded and is a certified B Corp (not to mention based in Los Angeles, just like Hedley & Bennett!).
Purchase it now: $488
The Top Item on My Dream Shopping List
TOD’s Leather Penny Loafers. These are so beautiful yet functional and I know they will last forever.
Purchase it now: $695
The Product That I Need for My Creative Work That Doesn’t Yet Exist
A hospitality-forward app, like Calendly, but that’s more personal. Something to help you manage your schedules and others, but offers a feature for everyone to plug in times that work for them with a personal lens. We need something that’s not just technological, but personal, too.
Favorite Work of Art That I Own or Want to Own
I want to own anything from Ellsworth Kelly. My son’s middle name is actually Ellsworth. I love his work; Blue and Yellow and Red-Orange is one of my favorites.
Purchase it now: Prices upon request
My favorite piece of artwork that I own is this Uno, La Mela Apple Print by Enzo Mari. We initially bought it for our son’s room, but loved it so much it found its way out of his room and into our shared living space.
Purchase it now: $375
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