Renovating while the café is open – #103

You might notice that this edition looks slightly different.

I’ve been changing a few things in the newsletter design over the last weeks. Mostly small layout tweaks that I hope make it nicer to read, and bring it a little closer to how I imagine From Europe with Love should feel.

Some parts already work.

Some parts may still need a bit of love.

I’m trying not to wait until everything is perfect, because that usually means waiting forever. So I’ll keep improving it bit by bit while still sending the newsletter every Sunday.

A small renovation while the café stays open.

Anyway.

If you’re new around here: Every week, I share 5 of the nicest products from Europe I’ve discovered in the past 7 days.

I scout, you explore.

With love 🌞
Jakob

P.S.: Missed the last edition? The bedside clock from habity design was the most-clicked product.

Achielle is a Belgian bicycle maker with the nice kind of old-school seriousness. The Omer is their Caféracer model: handmade frame, classic lines, and exactly the kind of bike you ride to get coffee, bread and one admiring look from a retired architect. Very dignified errand energy.

This is not new. Not rare. Not a secret brand discovered in a side street in Antwerp. But the Moccamaster belongs here anyway (and to the map). Handmade in the Netherlands by Technivorm, around since the late 1960s, and still one of the nicest ways to make filter coffee without turning your kitchen into a small chemistry lab. Mine is constantly in use at home. There’s also one in the holiday apartment. That’s probably the most honest endorsement I can give before coffee.

Horezu ceramics are one of Romania’s great craft traditions, and Maria Stefanescu’s plates have that warm handmade look where every small imperfection makes the piece better. Folk, alive, and very far from “rustic farmhouse Pinterest wall”.

A watch with a built-in light meter. That’s it. That’s the idea. The LMW-V1 by Increment Lab is made for photographers who shoot film or use manual cameras. It measures light from your wrist, looks like a proper little tool, and saves you from carrying yet another black plastic gadget. Is this for everyone? Absolutely not.

This brand was recommended by a reader: EMKO from Lithuania makes furniture with materials sourced from Europe only, which is already a nice start. Then they went and made a lounge chair with ears. The Bunny Chair was designed by architecture studio inblum and somehow manages to be playful without looking like it escaped from a children’s dentist waiting room.

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