Pasta Pot by Patrick Jouin for Alessi

Jouin has designed products for Ligne Roset, Cassina, and Kartell, among others; worked in the studio of acclaimed designer Philippe Starck; and collaborated with Ducasse to create the look and feel of many of his restaurants. For the Pasta Pot, they worked together to create a cooking set and reintroduce cooking style.

The stainless steel Pasta Pot is not a standalone item; it comes with a stainless steel cover, a melamine spoon that fits into the pot's handle, and a melamine trivet. Its built-in spoon slot takes away the need for a spoon rest and the trivet lets you take the pot from cooktop to tabletop and serve the dish straight from the cooking bowl.

The Pasta Pot was also created to reintroduce modern home cooks to the pasta-making methods of ancient olive pickers. The pickers apparently cooked their grains risotto-style, mixing them with herbs and liquids and cooking them all together until the grains softened and the flavors and ingredients blended together to create a sauce. Along with the pot and its accessories, the Pasta Pot comes with a booklet of recipes by Ducasse that use the method. Sounds intriging as its design.