My beloved (anonymous-make) salad bowl is kaput. It was a fairly contemporary design but I don't know who made it.
It was a high-quality laminated white plastic; white outside, white inside, layer of clear plastic sandwiched in between-- the rim was completely flat. About 12" across, 8" tall, perfect hemisphere shape-- like a bisected basketball. Light as a feather, easy to clean, easy to store, great looking (even though I normally balk at plastic serving pieces).
Any suggestions? I'm not a fan of those giant wood salad bowls (too big a footprint, too difficult to store, too heavy, too ugly, too rancid after 20 Ceasar Salads).
Nothing's prettier than Arne...
Nothing's prettier than Arne Jacobsen's Cylinda bowl -- in my opinion, anyway -- and it's also a beautiful way to serve bread or chips/crisps.
It's not the most rugged thing in the whole world -- Jacobsen's stainless-steel salad servers will scratch the hell out of it, and it shows fingerprints, and it'll probably dent if you drop it just right -- so if that's important to you, Olive's recommendation would be a better choice. But if you care more about looks than toughness (and if that particular look appeals to you), I can't think of anything nicer... Especially if you can find it on sale.
[I've also just discovered that it's really hard to photograph, so please excuse the stock photos.]
But if you still like plastic or melamine
But if you still like plastic or melamine, the folks at Zak (food service and hospitality) offer a reasonably attractive selection. Sorry, Power Users, why Photobucket image isn't coming thru, I can't tell.
(edited, picture fixed by DA)
http://www.zak.com/Salad-Service_c_342.html
The Cylinda bowl is museum worthy
but I don't think it'd serve me very well as an everyday salad bowl. Not quite big enough for a vigorously-tossed Ceasar salad, at $300 I'd treat it with far too much reverence, and I highly doubt that it could easily be picked up & carried from kitchen to table using only one hand.
A stainless steel bowl that I love using is the Bodum double-wall 'Midora' bowl-- a joy to handle, and the double-wall design means that it doesn't require a trivet when filled with hot food, such as pasta.
Still, even though the Bodum comes in an XL size, it's not my ideal salad bowl. I guess I consider the platonic ideal to be super light-weight, and WHITE.
(The Bodum below, just for the sake of illustration.)
I'm not a fan of IKEA housewares in general (they always seem a little bit off, a little clunky or something) but I've always loved their Banda stainless bowls. If they're not a perfect half sphere, then they're close to it. The outside is brushed stainless, the inside is polished. Someday when my Iittala Flora bowl gets broken, I might get finally get one.
The glass one looks nice here but I don't remember seeing it in the store, which could mean that I've seen it but wasn't impressed with it at all. Maybe.
http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/50057254
The Banda Bowl
My sister uses that one and it's huge, which is great if you are serving salad to more than 2-4 people, which she often is. It's not as thick-walled or as sturdy as the restaurant supply one I have, though. Hers shows lots of creases and dents o nteh sides from active use. But it's a good option, for sure!
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