The mind behind our favorite breakfast burrito in Asheville has a new kitchenware brand. Co-owner and Chef Elijah Scott of The Med just rolled out Fifth Quarter Kitchenware, a boutique online storefront of chef-vetted tools to elevate your culinary chops.
Scott decided to launch the brand after years of friends, family, and The Med regulars asking for his cookware recommendations. The products featured on Fifth Quarter are his tried and true go-tos or tested personal favorites, even including cookbooks coming from his own personal collection — peep this OG Barefoot Contessa cookbook from 2001.
While these tools can help you elevate your workspace from a home to a restaurant-quality kitchen, they aren’t meant to be pretentious. There are the basics, like sturdy, stainless steel bowls that will run you $7 at most, or a $6 Beech wood spoon that could last you years (if you keep it dry). Then, there are the more elevated workhorses, like a gorgeous jade Vivi et Margot Dutch oven, or a carbon steel knife.
We asked Scott for his top picks every cook should have in their kitchen. He assured us that the recipe is simple, and in fact, 90% of his own cooking is done with just a few simple tools: a good knife, a cast-iron and stainless steel pan, and a solid cutting board.
The importance of good, simple tools is the impetus behind the brand’s name, which takes from the Roman culinary tradition of “quinto quarto.” Essentially, the simple, sometimes overlooked elements — when put into the right hands — become the star of the show.
While the online storefront has just taken off, the ultimate goal is to introduce Fifth Quarter in a brick-and-mortar storefront and eventually provide more branded products — even collaborating with other Asheville chefs and artists to create new collections. But for now, you can shop the site online and stay up to date with new drops by following along on Instagram.
