The Best Things Our Staff Bought This Month (Yes, There’s a Radicchio Dress)

Behold an It Girl lettuce dress, a tiny candelabra cake topper, and everything you need to make boba at home

As the Eater team looked back on what we bought and loved for the month of April, I noticed that our best buys fell on both sides of the spectrum: My coworkers are down to become savvy DIYers to save money, but they also recognize the power of a strategic, serotonin-boosting purchase. One of Eater’s editors, for example, gave me his Amazon shopping cart list of everything you need to make boba at home, while another shared a vegetable-themed Rachel Antonoff dress that could have walked out of the Rothschild Surrealist Ball. In the words of my beloved Mother Witch, Gwyneth Paltrow, life is about “finding the balance between cigarettes and tofu.”

Last month, Eater staffers waxed lyrical about a cult-fave Japanese toaster, a confetti-colored cutting board, and a moka pot by Alessi that deserves a place in a modern art museum. This month, our staffers are sharing how the items they bought this month make their life better on a practical level (Liquid I.V.! microplanes!) but also noted their coolest, most aesthetic purchases — see: a kitsch candelabra cake topper and a Stagg kettle dupe — that add a lot of panache without breaking the bank.

Here’s a big, heaping tablespoon of what Eater staffers bought (and loved) in the month of April.

Microplanes: the Swiss Army knives of graters

The only thing that has stood between me and a bunch of bright, beautiful spring and summer recipes with heaps of lemon zest has been a great grater (for years, I have been making do with this wonderfully kitsch — albeit far more decorative — Eiffel Tower-shaped grater). I’ve finally come to experience myself why Microplane’s namesake product has become synonymous with the act of grating and zesting, because it’s just that well-designed; the sharp stainless steel holes help me zest slippery fruit skins in seconds, while the long and narrow shape assists in grating even the most abstract hunks of cheese with precision. Every mason needs their tools, and this is no different. — Francky Knapp, commerce writer

The next It Girl dress is an ode to citrus and radicchio

Hallelujah — scrolling through Nuuly and setting the filter to “Newest” really came through for me this month. The clothing rental service had the new Rachel Antonoff print I’ve been eyeing — a colorful melange of citrus and radicchio, including the It girl Rosa del Veneto variety — on a festive dress that perfectly fit the theme of a wedding I was attending (bright colors, fun prints). I love the print so much that I’m sad to send it back. Forget dressing for the job you want; dress like the salad you want. — Bettina Makalintal, senior reporter

Lemony cocktail napkins

I threw an Easter brunch a couple of weekends ago for far more people than I could accommodate for a proper seated meal, and I was reminded that most people are perfectly happy to stand around and chat while they eat if they have a decently sturdy plate and a proper napkin. But I also detest when things are BORING! So I upgraded my stash of regular old paper napkins to these really lovely ones with lemons that remind me of dining al fresco in a garden with a trellis and all that, and they were a hit. I wish I had a real lemon grove on my property (I live in an apartment, so some logistics remain to be solved), but these will do for now. — Hilary Pollack, senior commerce editor

An attractive and practical cake stand

For said brunch, I also made an ambitious coconut layer cake, which required preparation a day in advance. I realized while planning for it that I did not own a single cake stand, and subsequently, came to understand the practicality and appeal cake stands offer. They really create a fantastic display for a cake or pie you’re awfully proud of, and on top of that, the topper protects your dessert from “the elements” — flies, moisture, people with poor boundaries. I like the robin’s egg blue color of this one (it looked great in contrast with the cake’s pink frosting) and imagine I’ll reuse it many times over. — HP

A whimsical butter dish

I am deeply resentful that this $60 butter dish has brought me so much joy, because $60! For a butter dish! But I can’t deny that the waves and colors that make it look like a fussy old woman’s apron makes me smile whenever I see it on my counter. Is it the ascendance of little treat culture that has convinced me I not only want but deserve to display room temperature butter in such a vessel when many other options would suffice? Sure! But look at it! I rest my case. — Jaya Saxena, correspondent

My new favorite flavor of Liquid I.V.

I’m constantly dehydrated, work out a lot, get hung over after 1.7 drinks, and have a not-great relationship with the terroir of Los Angeles tap water, so Liquid I.V. is a friend of mine. However, the flavor crystals of some varieties [cough passionfruit cough] are way too powerful to the point of tasting like you’re eating a tube of Raven’s Revenge when you get to the sandy sludge at the bottom of the glass. The watermelon flavor is my new favorite; when diluted properly, it actually tastes like a watered down tropical cocktail, and maybe because it provides the idea of a very water-laden fruit, makes me feel extra hydrated. — HP

Everything you need to make boba at home

It’s 2025 and outside feels more expensive than ever, so I finally decided to reverse engineer my local coffee and boba shops’ drink recipes to make my own riffs on the specialty drinks threatening to bankrupt me. To supplement my stash of loose-leaf and bagged teas, I bought a caramel cream tea mix, a tub of coffee jelly, reusable straws, my go-to vanilla bean paste, and some cans of dulce de leche, because even budgeting baddies deserve a little treat. Next up? blue spirulina, thanks to Morgan Eckroth. — Jesse Sparks, senior editor

Start with this cream tea mix

A tub of coffee jelly

Vanilla bean paste

This dulce de leche caramel

Last but not least, jumbo boba straws

This high-tech gooseneck kettle (that looks more expensive than it is)

Now that I’m nearing my mid-thirties, I think I can safely say that I have owned almost every kind of kettle, but I was curious to see how Cosori’s gooseneck kettle would compare to Fellow’s Stagg electric gooseneck kettle; the latter cuts an elegant silhouette, but it costs $125 more than Cosori’s equally sleek stainless steel iteration of the gooseneck design, which is ideal for pour-over coffee and tea thanks to its precise spout action. It brews quietly and comes with five different preset temperatures (with settings for white tea, black tea, oolong tea, green tea, and coffee), but my favorite feature is its ability to keep the kettle at the same temperature for an hour, as I’m constantly adding a splash of hot water to my moka pot coffee throughout the morning. — FK

This bowl feels like a hug

Haand makes beautiful ceramics, no question about it. Every piece is guided by the hands of ceramicists throughout the creation process, from casting to polishing, and has just the right amount of satisfying weight without ever feeling cumbersome; I always say the mark of a great little bowl is whether or not I can carry it with one hand. The Burlington, North Carolina-based company makes plenty of dreamy breakfast bowls, but its rice bowl has actually become my comfort vessel for eating cereal, Cheez-Its, poke bowls, and stews. I can’t quite explain it, but it just feels like a hug in bowl form. — FK

This charmingly stupid candelabra cake topper

As soon as I became aware of the existence of candelabra cake toppers, I knew I had to have one. I love miniature things, and it does have a kind of Beauty and the Beast energy but I love the kitsch factor. I only wish it could accommodate lit candles for longer than the duration of the Birthday Song. — HP

This elite sardines and beans combo

I love sardines. I love beans. I especially love being able to consume compact amounts of protein-packed food, but not in a Tiger’s Milk protein bar way. Patagonia Provisions — yes, as in, the good folks making your favorite puffer jacket and (actually) putting up a good fight against climate change — has a surprisingly solid selection of pantry goods, including this tin of sardines (sourced from family-owned fishing boats in the Cantabrian Sea) combined with white beans, lemon, garlic, and leeks. When I don’t know what to eat for lunch or dinner, I’ll pop open a tin over some leafy greens, and voilà. — FK

See you next month.