Trends: It's a Small World

From micro bikes to teeny-weeny martinis, tiny is trendy. Here, a look at a few small wonders.

Kitchen Gear

Oxo has shrunk its salad and herb spinner down to 8 inches across ($18; 800-545-4411). Deskmate's retro mini fridge fits a soda and a sandwich ($70; Target stores nationwide). There's room for four place settings in Haier's countertop dishwasher ($300; 888-76-HAIER).

Electronics

Razor's battery-powered electric bike folds to two feet ($600 at the Sharper Image; 800-344-4444). Apple's newest iPod is smaller than ever, yet stores up to 4,000 songs ($500; 800-MY-APPLE). Casio's EXILIM EX-S1 digital camera is not much larger than a credit card ($300; 800-836-8580). Think of Sony's CMT-L7HD bookshelf stereo as a mini jukebox, able to hold 300 CDs' worth of music (from $1,000; 877-865-SONY). Motorola's sleek V70 cell phone is just bigger than a pack of gum ($375; 866-246-4852).

Food

Chef David Shea at Chicago's Twelve12 serves mini potpies as a side dish (312-951-1212). The Four Seasons Hotel in Manhattan offers a weekend brunch sampler with six shrunken favorites and a trio of tiny desserts at its 5757 restaurant (212-758-5700).

Cocktails

San Francisco's Pesce serves prosecco and lemon sorbet—sgroppino—in a shot glass (415-928-8025). First restaurant, in Manhattan's East Village, is widely credited with introducing the Tiny 'Tini (212-674-3823).

Toys

Hasbro's new Scrabble Game Folio Edition is the size of a paperback book ($20; 800-471-0641).

—Salma Abdelnour, Jessica Blatt and Monica F. Forrestall

Published December 2002