An open letter to Le Creuset

June 15, 2019·Jenny

Dear fine folks at Le Creuset,

I am writing to make a half-hearted request: Stop introducing new beautiful colors of cookware.

Signed,

Addicted to French cookware in Denver

Last Sunday, I attended a knife skills class at Williams-Sonoma and began chatting with Keith, an employee. We are both from New York and have a cookware problem. We commiserated that each time we think we have every color our hearts desire, Le Creuset does it again.

Recently, the new Sea Salt and Berry colors had their way with me and now my worst fears have been realized: Le Creuset has even more colors and designs coming. Curses, hooray, curses, hooray!

Lisa Freedman from The Kitchn wrote about her sneak peek of the upcoming beauties which include persimmon, be still my heart, marble, pour over kettles and cones for coffee, adorable little rice pots, and autumn designs.

To the left is just one of my cookware displays. If Le Creuset keeps doing this, I will have to build an annex.

Which color or item are you excited about? I will reach out to my friends at Le Creuset and ask if we can do an autumn promotion on a piece of that gorgeous persimmon.

By the way, Williams-Sonoma's classes are affordable and include a piece of cookware or kitchen product, along with a discount on items purchased the day of the class. Right now Williams-Sonoma has a 20% off one item using the code UPICK!

PS: Keith was an absolute delight and my new BFF and I paid full price for my knife skills class $99 and walked away with a pair of knives that valued 149.95! Another gem at Williams-Sonoma is Charlene in Customer Service - she is a lifesaver.

9 comments

MarciKJune 15, 2019

I love that Fall oval platter!

Indio32June 16, 2019

If I had to write an open letter to Le Creuset it would be about it’s increasingly ludicrous pricing.
I have absolutely no problem paying for quality but a similar grade product without the Le Creuset name is around 3 times cheaper. Even at sale pricing the costs laughable.
I have around £1500 worth of Le Creuset at today’s RRP =8O Would I buy it again at current pricing?..... Almost certainly not!

darcie_bJune 16, 2019

I agree that the price is steep, but I wonder how the costs are cut for the lesser-priced items. If they come from China, the workers aren't being paid fairly, and the environmental costs may not be properly accounted for in the price. I have had one or two of those pots over the years, and the quality is really not the same. The finish is not as smooth, the enamel chips easily, and I had one that developed a rust bubble from the inside out!

Le Creuset (and Staub) are heirloom items that will last for generations, plus they come with a lifetime guarantee. It brings to mind the John Ruskin quote: "There is hardly anything in the world that some man cannot make a little worse and sell a little cheaper, and the people who consider price only are this man's lawful prey."

susan gJune 16, 2019

I still use the enameled cast iron pots that I bought "early marriage" regularly. That was late 1960s, early '70s. I had some learning curve mistakes (e.g., do not pour cold water into a pan where you are dry roasting kasha!), but for the most part they have held up quite well.
The prices were very reasonable at the time, nothing like Le Creuset prices even then. Some were made in Belgium, some in France.
I was a fool not to take the Le Creuset (and Dansk) pots that my mother had used for many, many years, but I did learn from her that good cookware is a pleasure in the kitchen.

lulufJune 25, 2019

I only have a frying pan that I was given in 1984. It's my favourite pan. The handle broke years ago when one of the kids dropped it on the floor which surprised me. I wrote to Le Creuset at the time ( before the days of email) and they offered to send me a saucepan but I didn't take up the offer for some reason. Maybe I'll contact them again! Here in Australia, a Le Creuset frying pan the same as mine is $375 and I have never seen any on sale so I have other cheaper cast iron enameled pots, which are still quite good

pumpkinspiceJune 15, 2019

Already dreaming of a white rice pot.

JennyJune 16, 2019

I agree with Darcie. I will have pots that will outlive my children. I'd rather buy quality than not. I do find incredible sales - here in the US.

darcie_bJune 15, 2019

I think I will need something in the marble, and I will also need to reinforce my floor joists (not an exaggeration; there was once a fire in the kitchen of my 100 year old house and my husband says we need to repair the floor because I have too much heavy kitchen stuff!).

kerrin1976September 8, 2019

The satin black is just stunning but all the colours are gorgeous. The new berry is very pretty as well.