Welcome to Sunday Reset, where we share how we're unwinding and what we have planned for the week ahead. This time, our editor, Julia, is dreaming of cooler weather.
This weekend, I'm thinking about two things: the bliss of a three-day break, and the bittersweet fact that summer's days are numbered.
Labor Day always feels like a turning point—yes, there are still a few more beach days left, but cooler evenings are creeping in. I'm thinking of toasting goodbye to August with this Italian Sparkler cocktail.
In the Test Kitchen, we're also leaning into fall flavors and kicking off Apple-Thon—a month-long celebration of one of our favorite fruits. To start, we're spotlighting four recipes that are both sweet and savory:
I'm still holding onto my iced coffee, but if you're ready to go all in on early fall flavors, we rounded up some of the best pumpkin-spiced drinks and snacks on shelves. Get the list here.
—Julia, Editor
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This week, I’m celebrating three of my favorite activities: eating tomatoes (Brown Butter Tomatoes recipe), wrapping myself in a cozy towel (a bath towel deep-dive, with intel from experts), and shopping for housewares (an L.A. guide)—all below. Happy Labor Day weekend!
America was once a Fieldcrest nation. Before the 2000s, if you needed towels, you bought Fieldcrest terry cloth towel sets, usually in a pastel shade, from JCPenney or Macy’s—and you used them until they were ready for the rag bag. Buying towels now is more interesting and also more confusing because there are so many different choices. There are dense hotel-style towels, bath sheets and bath towels, waffle weave towels, thin Turkish towels, and double-sided towels with flat weave fronts with terry backs. There are also countless colors and patterns, features that were previously limited to beach towels.
We’re going to need towels for Ojai, so I called up Paul Denoly, co-founder of Hawkins New York, and Erica Peppers, an industry expert and former head of product development at Snowe Home. Tad and I still have great terry towels from Snowe Home (they were a shop partner for Food52), but they’re getting into rag-bag territory.
Fiver is not a bath (and therefore towel) enthusiast.
Paul said the expansion of the bath towel universe paralleled the self-care movement. “It’s like making sure that you have the most comfortable bed possible,” he said. “The bath is one of the only moments to really take care of yourself, and cleanse yourself, and I think people are willing to spend more money to make sure that ritual is the best it can be.” Materials have gotten more luxurious, weaves more varied, and dimensions super-sized. The bath sheet is becoming the norm.
Erica laid out the world of towels into three groups: terry towels, waffle weave towels, and flat weave Turkish towels. She was also quick to note that, “the majority of details that set towels apart are subtle. You want to touch a towel for the hand-feel and see what you think.”
Within the looped terry category (which is what most of us know simply as terry cloth), you may come across the following variations and features:
Sheared face towels have “the same construction, but you shear off the tops of the loops to give it a velvety feel,” Erica said.
Dobby weave—this is the flat woven strip that runs through some terry towels. The shape and pattern on the strip are largely decorative and a way for towel companies to “brand” their towels.
Yarn-dyed terry towels are made with yarn that’s been dyed in advance, giving the towels a more consistent color. Piece-dyed towels are dyed after weaving, and can show more variation in color.
Terry towels can have patterns woven into the towel, like a jacquard fabric. Here is a good example.
If you look close at the yarn, you can see how it’s twisted (in the industry, there’s zero twist, single twist, and double twist). “If it’s less twisted,” Erica said, “the towel will feel loftier and softer. The more it’s twisted, the less plush it is.” Zero twist towels tend to lint more. Double twist towels don’t have nearly the same plushness to them.
No matter which version you go for, the best raw materials are going to make the best terry towel, but the way they’re assembled also affects how it feels. For example, air spinning technology creates a hollow core within the cotton. Erica said, “It uses less cotton to weave the same towel but you’re not giving anything up on absorption. And they dry more quickly.”
The source of the cotton, its staple length, and grams per square meter (GSM) are what professionals ask about, but it’s nearly impossible for regular people who bathe to assess this info unless the brands share it (as the two that I linked to do). Here’s a tip sheet: 600 or higher is dense; 450 is medium; 300 is low.
Price does help guide you, however. According to Erica, you can have a heavy-weight junky towel or a lightweight junky towel: “You don’t need to be spending 50, 60, 70 dollars per bath towel, but for a good towel, you do need to pay more than four dollars.” Fair!
Waffle Weave
Wabi-sabi color and an airy feel are hallmarks of the waffle weave. (Images via Hawkins New York and Onsen)
There’s a lot of variation in waffle weaves; some are very loose, some tight.
Waffle weave towels are sometimes made with irregularly dyed yarns, which translate into a marled look. You won’t see other patterns in waffle towels.
Even though waffle weave towels are consistent best-sellers at Hawkins New York, Paul said they take some adjustment if you cut your teeth on terry towels: “I had a little bit of trouble using them, personally. It’s a very different feel.” With terry, the moisture gets pulled into the towel, but with a waffle, it stays on the surface—however, waffle weave also dries much faster. “At first, having that wet surface was off-putting, but now I prefer it,” he said, “especially since I’ve moved to a warmer climate.”
Flat Weave
Flat weave towels are thin and ultra-lightweight. (Images via The Citizenry and Anatolico)
So named, Erica said, “Because you’re literally weaving a flat surface.” The great part of a flat weave (often referred to as Turkish towels) is that any design will show up better in the finished fabric.
Both Erica and Paul recommend thinking about the conditions of your bathroom and the climate you live in before selecting a towel. If you have a great vent fan and live in a dry climate, then high GSM terry (a.k.a. denser) towels may work well and will properly dry between showers.
Bath towels, much like mattresses, elicit deep convictions—people’s preferences are strong and persistent. A few years ago, I tried to break from our mid-weight terry towels with featherweight terry bath towels. Tad hated how insignificant they felt. So, after a while, they were moved to our dog Fiver’s bath supplies. Fiver now hates them, too, because seeing them means she’s getting a bath that she didn’t ask for.
The winner: reversible terry “Hanna” bath sheets from Autumn Sonata—with 600 GSM, for my fellow newly converted towel geeks. (Image via Autumn Sonata)
In Ojai, I will stay in the terry towel realm with a little more density, and am planning to embrace more color than usual. For our primary bath, these bath sheets are my pick.
Yours in mid-weight terry towels forever,
Amanda
For our kids’ last night home before they headed back to college this week, I made them a family favorite, Brown Butter Tomatoes. The recipe (if you want to be generous and call it that) involves spooning hot browned butter over sliced ripe tomatoes. The tomato juices sizzle and mingle with the butter to make the best mopping sauce known to humans. Serve with slices of country bread!
A Shop (and Food!) Crawl Through L.A.
My shop-crawl lewk: casual with layers and comfy shoes.
A great pleasure of leaving the company I founded is getting a chance to lift my head and see what’s happening in the world. In recent months, I’ve gone on a few shop crawls to discover what other home companies are doing and thinking about. In June, I toured around Los Angeles with Jojo, the former general manager at Food52. Below are some of our favorite studios, stores, and sources of inspiration, together with where we fueled up in between with excellent food.
Venice / Culver City
Destroyer’s coiled croissants and chickpea salad.
Destroyer This cafe has become a go-to for breakfast on my way to/from LAX. On my latest visit, I had caramelized chickpeas with crispy panisse, stewed cherry tomatoes, espelette, and herbs. Ideal lunch after a 6-hour flight, right?
Sunny Blue I hate lunch. But if I have to take time for it, I think onigiri is the perfect midday meal. It’s fun to hold, there’s a little surprise at the center, and you finish feeling sated but not stuffed. Sunny Blue specializes in onigiri (which they refer to by its other name, omusubi). I recommend the one with tuna, along with the yuzu soda, which (unlike other brands/mixes) wasn’t too sugary.
Tortoise General Store I bought my first set of steel Sori Yanagi bowls and strainers here 25 years ago. Since then, the store has relocated and expanded; it always carries high-quality cast iron cookware, fun linens, tidy and thoughtful home accessories, and simple, well-made tableware.
Amber Interiors We needed to pilgrim our way to this IG design mecca. I liked their waste basket with its thick weave and satiny sheen.
West Hollywood
Toiro Naoko Takei Moore has been on a mission to bring donabe, Japanese earthenware pots, to more American kitchens. Moore, known as “Mrs. Donabe” by her fans, began selling her double-lid donabe rice cooker in 2008. She published Donabe, the cookbook, in 2015. And two years later, she opened Toiro, a store that features donabe of all shapes and sizes—as well as lots of other cool cooking and serving tools. You can also watch “Naoko’s Happy Donabe Life” on her YouTube channel.
Schindler House Rudolph Schindler is widely considered the father of California’s indoor/outdoor home design movement (and had a big influence on our architect, Barbara Bestor). This 1922 building (his personal home) was designed as an experiment in communal living. Pretty neat!
Coop Jenna Cooper, the founder of Coop, has a great eye for homewares. I love going to her store to see what shapes and materials have captured her imagination. If you’re not already, sign up for her property updates at the bottom of this page, in which she features the special homes she sells through her real estate business.
Nickey Kehoe Nickey Kehoe, which is right next to Coop, started as a design firm and has expanded to include shops in L.A. and New York City. Their furnishings and hardware offer reimagined traditional American and European designs. (We showed up on a day that both Coop and Nickey Kehoe were closed. Don’t be like us—check the store hours before you plan!)
Hollyhock the plant and Hollyhock the house. Lloyd Wright incorporated the flower’s vertebra-like stem into the furnishings, like these dining chairs, whose tall backs gave diners a sense they were in a huddle around the table.
Hollyhock House Frank Lloyd Wright designed this home and two others in the early 1920s for oil heiress Aline Barnsdall, who had a plan for a theatrical community on the property. He was fired before the project was completed, due to creative differences and cost overruns (a common theme in FLW projects!), but much of his design was realized. The living room fireplace is surrounded by a moat of water, which is fabulous as long as you weren’t the one who had to add a log to the fire.
Rolling Greens I like to come here to check out what’s happening in the world of planters. In 2025 that means vessels that have been submerged in the ocean until they’re covered in barnacles. It’s a vibe.
East Side
Fondry A strong contender on L.A.’s laminated-pastry bracket, Fondry’s flat croissant with a sugar glaze that shatters when you bite into it is a must; but my heart is with the yuzu-stuffed roll with meringue swoop.
Homage Brewing I like how in L.A., you can be in the middle of the city, sitting outside on picnic tables. Homage has a wide selection of beers you can try in small taster glasses.
Cold noodles with shredded chicken; all hail the $14 beer tower! (Plus Jojo, for scale.)
Xiang La Hui I feel like we ate everything on the menu, but standouts were toothpick lamb, cucumbers in garlic, cold noodles with shredded chicken, wontons in chili oil, and fish with pickled vegetable soup. If you like beer, order the 50-ounce Sapporo beer tower, because it’s so funny—and for $13.99 a total bargain!
Sōgo Los Feliz We drove here for the crispy rice cakes topped with avocado and jalapeno, and were happy we did.
Elorea A perfume shop with drinks inspired by the fragrance ingredients (think: iced mugwort tisane and smoked misugaru mocha).
Bub & Grandma’s Locals love Bub & Grandma’s for its breads, but there’s also a full-service diner, complete with a whopping tall fried egg sandwich and its sesame-speckled lid.
LOQ This is a shoe store primarily, but with a small selection of glassware, cutlery, and serving pieces (like this cake plate with a donut-shaped base).
Hollywood
The Future Perfect If you like beautiful furniture and architecture, you may have to rest up after absorbing all the visual stimulation here. This showroom is in the former mansion of Samuel Goldwyn of MGM. The home is now filled with modern pieces from some of the best designers in the world, including Piet Hein Eek and Faye Toogood.
BDDW You’ll always find Tyler Hays’s expertly crafted wood furniture at BDDW, but we went for the surprise pieces—butter dishes, plates, textiles, and lighting.
Found Oyster I got an Easy Rider beer and we shared a platter of pristine oysters here before crossing the street to Saffy’s for dinner.
Hummus, soft-serve, and Katherine Lewin, founder of Big Night.
Saffy’s Order the fava bean hummus, beef shishlik, lobster skewer, and lamb shawarma, but do save room for the vanilla amaro nonino and blackberry buttermilk soft serve.
Apparatus Studio This place feels like you’re in a villain’s lair in an early ‘70s Bond film. I fell for the incense side table (that also features a landing pad for your relaxing cocktail). It’s a cool $7,000, confirming you can find a little bit of everything in L.A.
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