More Than $700k Raised for The Aviary's Porthole In Less Than One Month

The Porthole by Martin Kastner of Crucial Detail. (Photo: Crucial Detail)

How do I achieve balance with all the crazy, off-the-chart goings-on in today's dining scene?!

I tell my mother everything.

When I first told her that The Aviary designer Martin Kastner had raised more than $20,000 in less than 15 minutes for a Kickstarter campaign for mass production of an infusion vessel called the Porthole, she thought people had gone mad.

"What if this guy can't finish those things in time?" she asked, with much doubt in her voice. "People are not going to be very happy!"

The campaign launched August 7 with a somewhat modest goal of $28,500 by Sept. 4. But check this out: Kastner obscenely exceeded his goal, with 4,270 people pledging $736,113 by the deadline.

Wow !@(*$#(#$%^&*&^%$!^)^%$#! WOW.

Eater Chicago totally put Kastner's situation in perspective:

"Can the Porthole be used to infuse coffee? Looks like he'll need it."

I know, right?!