An old friend put me onto the series The Restaurant, on the Sundance Channel. It’s about a family-run restaurant in Stockholm after World War II. The first-season dynamics are both familiar and original. An imperious matriarch. An incompetent and conniving son at the helm. A beautiful daughter in love with a young boy who works in the kitchen. And another son—a handsome returning veteran—and his girlfriend, a concentration-camp survivor. There are corrupt businessmen, touching early loves, fedoras, and Nazi sympathizers. What more could you ask for? Also, it’s seriously elegant, with great cars and clothes. Even the credits are smashing. You’ll love it. And you’ll be famished after every episode. (sundancenow.com) —Graydon Carter

The first time I had kombucha, after an office bodega run, I swear to you, my ears started ringing and my vision blurred—it was like what they say about moonshine turning you blind, the “railroad gin” that undoes the narrator of Bob Dylan’s “Stuck Inside of Mobile with the Memphis Blues Again.” But I’ve since come around to the stuff, after trying a home-brewed formula at a friend’s house. She opened a cabinet and revealed a group of Mason jars filled with bubbling liquid that she explained contained a SCOBY—a symbiotic culture of bacteria and yeast, apparently. I was hesitant at first, but she got me to take a sip and it was … very good. And I didn’t go blind. Plus, it’s a beverage that is claimed to have all sorts of health benefits. So brew some tea and grow yourself a SCOBY or two until you’ve got a jar of kombucha. All you really need is a starter culture, but this kit comes with everything else you might require to make a damn fine batch on your own. ($45, amazon.com) —Alex Oliveira

The days when restaurants offered smart-looking boxes of matches are long gone. (Anyone want some toothpicks?) But the humble fire starter remains a necessity. So no need to mine from your collection—instead, buy a jumbo-size box of strike-anywhere matches and stash them in this elegant case from Giuliva Heritage. Handcrafted in Italy, it’s made of brass and finished in gold and mother-of-pearl. Plus, it can be elegantly personalized in the bottom right corner. ($487, giulivaheritage.com) —Ashley Baker

Taken as a whole, this Brooklyn-based design studio might feel like a trend that’ll be gone tomorrow. But the individual pieces—collectible vintage furniture made by or in the style of the 20th century’s design bigwigs—are timeless, and save the planet the carbon footprint of producing something from scratch. Founders Jordy Murray and Nora O’Neil are as focused on creating a mood as they are on selling hand-knotted Turkish rugs, Frank Gehry cross-check wooden chairs, sculptural stone coffee tables, cloud-like sofas that are definitely not Restoration Hardware’s Cloud couches, and the occasional Wassily armchair. Pieces sell fast and aren’t cheap; if nothing else, their sleek, minimalist Instagram account is worth a follow. (friendsofform.com) —Julia Vitale