Real Kitchen Tours

Check out the new and (very!) old details!

Who cooks and eats here: Anne Parker, a food and prop stylist Where: Portland, Oregon Rent or Own? Rent Anne Parker’s Portland kitchen is a small, imperfect rental, but that has not stopped her from making it one of the coziest, treasure-packed culinary outposts I’ve ever had the pleasure of spending time in. Anne has tenderly gathered up a world within this kitchen that is creative, efficient, economic, and very, very pretty.

Sophie and Michael live in an eclectically decorated brownstone in Brooklyn. Their kitchen, like much of their home, is full of a lot of “great deals.” They have a keen eye and seem to be, often, in the right place at the right time. Almost everything in their kitchen was found on sale — often in the ‘discontinued’ pile!When Sophie and Michael embarked on renovating what was once a rooming house, they decided to implement the biggest changes to the ground floor.

Yesterday I shared a peek into Mallika Basu’s home kitchen in London, England. Mallika (a.k.a. Miss Masala) is a mom of two toddlers, a PR executive, and the proprietress of a popular food blog called Quick Indian Cooking. I was charmed and impressed by her energy and inventiveness in cooking, but I was somewhat boggled — how does she do all this and cook traditional Indian food, which I find quite time-consuming (and not usually light or healthy).

Extremely satisfying or downright scary?

BRB, packing our bags and moving into this sun-drenched California shed just so we can hang out in the kitchen.

Who cooks & eats here: Tom Madrecki, Creator of Chez Le Commis supper club Where: Clarendon, Northern Virginia Size: 850 square feet Own or Rent: 2 years renting Considering the recent abundance of food-centric publications with an emphasis on more intimate dining experiences with smaller crowds, Tom Madrecki had the right idea to start an intimate monthly supper club early on.

Who cooks and eats here: Jeanee Ledoux, owner of Finely Crafted Boutique Where: Decatur, Georgia Rent or Own? Own Jeanee Ledoux is an Atlanta boutique owner who found herself the guardian angel of one of the most unique homes we have seen in a long time: a vintage Lustron prefabricated home in the heart of Decatur, one of Atlanta’s prettiest suburbs.

Judith Jones, the cookbook editor best known for championing and publishing Julia Child’s Mastering The Art of French Cooking, died yesterday in her home in Warren, Vermont. But her reach goes far beyond Julia. In the culinary realm, she brought us Lidia Bastianich and Edna Lewis — and long before then, she played a critical role in getting Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl into bookstores and homes.

Who cooks and eats here: Shawna Mullarkey, her husband, and their three children. Where: Novato, CA When I walked into Shawna Mullarkey’s kitchen, I think I audibly gasped. The light floods into the space, illuminating the clean, white walls and custom cabinetry. The chandeliers sparkle (yes, I said chandeliers, plural). A single beam made of reclaimed barn wood punctuates the space with rustic warmth. Antique flea market finds, succulents, and an enviable cutting-board collection, oh my!

Kittie lives in a 170 square foot studio, so you can imagine how small her kitchen must be. The original Pullman kitchen dated from the 1920’s and was like a narrow closet behind french doors.When Kittie renovated her apartment, she knew she wanted to build a working kitchen regardless of how miniaturized it would have to be.

A couple years ago, without really planning it, l found myself standing in William Faulkner’s kitchen. In Oxford, Mississippi, for the Southern Foodways Symposium, I did what every tourist to Ole Miss does: I visited Rowan Oak, William Faulkner’s home just off campus.

After dating for three years, Caitlin is moving into Jed’s two-story Highlands home just west of downtown Denver, Colorado. I happened to catch them as they were combining their belongings and officially meshing their lives together. The couple’s focus is readily apparent by the fact that although there were boxes and clutter around the house, the kitchen was already organized!

Lauren Scott has no trouble telling you how to find her Petaluma, California home. “It’s the only one on the block that looks like a giant Easter egg,” she says. She and her husband live in a big, pink Victorian-style house that can’t be missed. When I arrived she welcomed me inside and showed me her kitchen. Little did I know I’d also get the chance to adore her beautiful, four-month-old baby girl and eat a delicious lunch she whipped up fresh from her garden.

Although Rubén wasn’t born or raised in the generally warm and sunny Mediterranean city of Valencia, his years as a college student in this region decisively influenced his cooking style. During that time he managed to learn and prepare almost to perfection what is considered by many to be the quintessential Spanish dish: paella. (His friends even gave him the noble title of The King of Paella!

Melody is an architect and an avid home cook, so when she and her husband set out to build a new home in the hills of Portland, Oregon, they put a lot of energy into the cooking and dining spaces. The resulting kitchen is open, airy and perfect for hanging out with guests who can relax at the counter or the stunning reclaimed wood table at the adjoining dining room.

If you have ever visited Vancouver, you were probably directed to Vij’s — a splendid Indian restaurant run by Vikram Vij and Meeru Dhalwala. The restaurant has garnered swooning praise over the years for its sexy, dim-lit interior, its fragrant and fresh interpretation of classic Indian dishes, and its innovative integration of wine and cocktails with the menu.Well, last week I was in Vancouver, and Vikram Vij himself welcomed me into this kitchen.

We have the deepest admiration for cooks who remodel their own kitchens. The mess, the dust, the terrifying tangles of pipes and wires — it looks like a traumatic process. But when that process turns out a kitchen as stunningly beautiful and pristine as Josh and Maria’s — well, it’s downright amazing. Josh and Maria (of the food blog Two Peas and Their Pod) live in Salt Lake City, and with just a little help, Josh took this kitchen from plain and dated to sleek and white.

As I was thinking about kitchens that might be interesting to Kitchn readers, my dear friends Tara and Devesh came to mind. Not because they have a particularly unique kitchen. In fact, to the contrary: they have a fairly standard galley kitchen in a rental building. Well-equipped and up-to-date, but certainly not unique.What is unique, however, is their pantry, which is literally teeming with all manner of dried spices, pastes, dried beans, pickled items, sauces, and specialty flours.

It’s the first day back from a long weekend. There are a pile of emails that need answering and several meetings that will shortly need attending. It’s hard to believe a three-day weekend could be over that fast. Let us ease your workday transition with some adorable cats and kittens that require your attention.

Earlier this month we gave you a sneak peek into some of our favorite chef kitchens, and this week we’re giving some of our favorite cookbook authors the same treatment. What’s most impressive to us about so many of these kitchens is that the authors, like Joy the Baker and Anna Watson Carl of The Yellow Table, not only develop their recipes in their home kitchens, but many of them also style and photograph the food for their books right there. Talk about a multitasking space!

Do you dream of renovating — someday? Remodeling a kitchen is one of the more expensive things you can do in your home, and so it is a far-off dream for many of us. Most commercial kitchen renovations, depending on where you live and what you need, start at $10,000 and go way up from there. And yet there is a lot you can do for much less than that amount, as our readers have shown.

We don’t do restaurant reviews or restaurant chatter here at The Kitchn. We focus on the ways that home cooking can transform your home into an even more nourishing space. But what happens if your passion for food overflows? What if you want to make your table bigger — big enough to feed a neighborhood?That’s what happened to Molly of Orangette and her husband, Brandon.

Inspiration for us to all have LESS stuff. And to try more DIY projects.

Jeni Britton Bauer has a thing or two to tell artisans who want to create and sell good local food. “Be a rock star. You have to go out there and go at it like you’re trying to be President of the United States.” In other words, you probably need to do what she did: Work 80 hours a week. Don’t take a salary for years. Be on your toes every single day. This is part of Jeni’s story, which has become a story of truly local food making good on a wildly successful scale.

Who: The pottery-making experts of Bat Trang Village What: Ceramics Where: Bat Trang, Hanoi, Vietnam Everything about Bat Trang village is an extreme. Lots of places have old towns, yes, but Bat Trang village is ancient. It’s not just a place where pottery is made – the entire village makes pottery. And they’re not just good at making pottery — they practically invented it.

Who: Nguyen Van Binh What: Pottery Where: Bat Trang, Hanoi, Vietnam The village of Bat Trang in Vietnam, is known for its intricate lotus tea sets, blue and white dragonfly bowls, and durable, beautiful dishes. Bat Trang just might be Vietnam’s most famous ancient craft village, and its handmade ceramics can be found in stores globally, including IKEA, Target, and 10,000 Villages. You’ve explored Bat Trang itself. But just how is its pottery made?

Who: The pottery makers of Bat Trang village What: Ceramics Where: Bat Trang, Hanoi, Vietnam The village of Bat Trang, Vietnam, may feel like a small town, but don’t let its size fool you: its small workshops pack a serious pottery punch. We’ve explored the village itself, and looked at the process used to create its wares. Let’s take a closer look at the beautiful handcrafted ceramics themselves made by Bat Trang’s expert potters. You may recognize something you own!

We are always interested in seeing how city-dwellers work with tiny kitchen spaces. Perhaps the reigning champion of tiny kitchen spaces belongs to Jack, an artist and musician who lives in a 10×16 Manhattan apartment. See more of Jack’s kitchen and some of the things we noticed about it, below…• Jack’s whole apartment is only 10×16 – our dorm room was bigger than that! The kitchen is immediately to your right as you walk in the door.

Our 1917 studio is comprised of several small rooms, and Gregory and I transformed what had originally been the dining nook into our bedroom. Thus, the kitchen is located just off the bedroom, and we wanted to make it fun and colorful to complement the adjoining space. (You can see more pictures of our space on Apartment Therapy.

Food blogger and cookbook author David Lebovitz is an American renter in Paris who inherited a narrow kitchen with a motley assortment of appliances stuffed under the slanted roof of his 650-square-foot top-floor apartment near the Bastille. “In America, if you don’t like your kitchen, you bulldoze it,” he says in his kitchen on a recent afternoon. “But renters don’t really spend a lot of money to do that in France.

Andy and Courtney just renovated their 9×9-foot galley kitchen in Richmond, Virginia, and the result is a bright, smart space that is coolly sophisticated yet warm and welcoming. Come peek into this little cottage kitchen and see a before photo (it was a great transformation!), and read all sorts of tips and good ideas for getting the most out of a smaller kitchen renovation — on a budget too!

After fourteen years in a Manhattan kitchen untouched by renovation, Sara Moulton recently took an axe to it all and started from scratch. It might shock you to learn she still cooks on an electric stove (no gas in the building) and didn’t enlarge the footprint one inch. Better yet, she cooks five nights a week for her family of four and develops all of her recipes there.

Paule Caillat is a French cook extraordinaire, very skillful and talented, and generous with her cooking experience. She teaches cooking classes and leads market tours in Paris, and I was lucky enough to join one last week. The food was fabulous, the markets a treat. But her kitchen was what truly took my breath away. Here’s a peek inside Paule’s Marais district kitchen, and a taste or two of what we cooked that afternoon.

There isn’t a cabinet in Scott’s brand new kitchen that isn’t a pleasure to explore. While the kitchen is part of a new construction condo, Scott amped up the bells and whistles on his own dime to make it all the more spectacular.Scott’s last home was a house, with ample basement storage and a relatively spacious kitchen. It was a bit too quaint for Scott. His main impetus for selling that house and seeking new shelter was a better kitchen.

I recently spent a morning with Chef Laurent Tourondel, creator of the popular BLT Restaurants, in his country house kitchen on Long Island. A gaggle of French relatives plus Laurent’s girlfriend and her family had descended for a holiday weekend so the house was full of energy. Pancakes, from Laurent’s book, Fresh from the Market: Seasonal Cooking with Laurent Tourondel (Wiley) were on the menu.

This kitchen, set atop a hill in a lovely Santa Barbara, California home, is chock-full of treasure. Heirloom pieces made by Penelope’s mother and grandmother, a puppeteer and ceramics artist, intertwine history and a handmade touch into this beautiful, contemporary space. Penelope and Andy are avid cooks and world travelers. Their adventures inspire their fresh, healthy and global menus.

This is my petite kitchen. After stepping into one dream kitchen after another in my work for this site, coming home to my tiny space can induce long sighs. What I’ve learned over time though is no matter how glam or un-glam your kitchen is, it’s the magic and creativity that goes on inside the kitchen that counts. And one day, I will thank my lucky stars for not having to use my floor as a work surface due to lack of counter space. Until then, join me for a tour!

When Ginnie and Janie invited me over for an afternoon visit, I knew I would be in for a treat. These two women are artists turned sustainable-house paint creators, so their color palette and remodel vision was sure to dazzle. And dazzled I was, by their laughter and warm kitchen! Ginne and Janie, partners in life and in their eco-friendly paint business, Yolo Colorhouse, moved to Portland many years ago after sharing cramped apartments in New York.

Piper Davis, a celebrated baker, business owner and cookbook author, recently had the opportunity to build the open, rustic kitchen she always dreamed of. In it she cooks everyday meals of local greens, grains and sustainably-raised meats as well as the most astounding biscuits, “jammers.” I was lucky enough to spend time with Piper in this unique kitchen and sample those unbelievable biscuits.

As a food writer currently making do with a less than optimal rental kitchen, I find it especially satisfying when I get to visit others in my profession who, after years of cooking and recipe testing, have pulled their preferences and experience together to create, at last, their dream kitchen. This is how it was when I visited Carla Snyder, a cookbook author and food writer who lives near Cleveland, Ohio.

After years of moving around both coasts, Lilian and her four young children settled down close to her husband’s family in the rolling country hills of Ohio. Lilian and her husband finally had the opportunity to build the home they had dreamed of for years, and when they did, they put the kitchen literally in the heart of the home. This is Lilian’s “forever kitchen”, as she puts it. It was built to age. It has the space to feed four young kids, now and as they grow.

Scott renovated his kitchen entirely on his own, figuring it out as he went along. You’d never guess it from spending time in this delightfully bright space, a classic with a modern twist. He’s certainly made the most of this funky layout with the use of strategically placed pantries and a keen sense of organization. Scott is also one of the most inventive cake makers I’ve ever met.

I’ve driven by Kathy Delgado’s store, Vintageweave Interiors, a dozen of times. She specializes in amazing French farmhouse style antiques and home decor. I am not sure how I got so lucky to get an invite to have lunch with her and tour her own kitchen, but I did! When I walked through Kathy’s front door I went right to the kitchen, where I promptly ooh’ed and ahh’ed. There are lots and lots of linens, and everything in the kitchen is very tactile.

Who cooks and eats here: Krista and Lorenzo Ricchi Where: Florence, Italy Rent or Own? Rent Krista, an American lifestyle-travel-blogger-expat, lives with her Italian husband in a cozy yet elegant apartment in the Santa Croce neighborhood of Florence. Their kitchen is typical of European rentals; it sits flush against one wall of the living/dining room. However, there is a lot more style and functionality going on here than in most of the apartments I’ve rented in in the US!

Who cooks and eats here: Wendy Cracknell and friends Where: Lake of Bays, Ontario, Canada Rent or Own? Own I’ve known Wendy my whole life. My earliest memories of her include her curly red hair, glasses, truly gigantic pet cat Dudley, and her pink and orange tie-dye Prince t-shirt. She’s my next-door neighbor in my favorite place in the world, the Lake of Bays in Ontario, Canada. Our cottage on the Lake of Bays is a sacred spot for my family.

Who cooks and eats here: Mallika Basu, her husband, and two young children Where: London, England Rent or Own? Own Entering Mallika Basu’s southwest London home involves a moment of transition, and then surprise. From the entrance, her home looks quite the same as its neighbors in a long row of Clapham townhouses. The front hallway and staircase signal the Victorian heritage of the home, down to the carefully restored tile in the entryway.

Who cooks and eats here: Ivka, her husband Angelo, and Totti the dog Where: Florence, Italy Rent or Own? Rent Ivka’s Florence kitchen reflects her cooking philosophy: simple, clean, and no superfluous clutter or junk. Despite being a humble rental space, Ivka frequently and enthusiastically cooks up Italian classics for a crowd! When I visited her we shared a cup of her grandmother’s herbal tea (grown in her very own garden in Croatia!

Who cooks and eats here: Michelle Marek, chef at Foodlab, and Anthony Kinik, film professor and food writer Where: Montreal, Quebec Rent or Own? Rent When I was in Montreal a few months ago I looked around, as I always do, for a cook to visit, someone willing to open up their own home kitchen to all of us. On this trip, I got a double pleasure: a visit with chef Michelle Marek both at home and at the restaurant, Foodlab, she runs with her partner Seth Gabrielse.

Who cooks and eats here: Sandrine Follère, painter and sculptor Where: Toulouse, France Last week I had the great pleasure to visit with Sandrine Follère, an artist who lives and works in Toulouse, France. She welcomed me into her home; gave me a tour of the studio where she teaches, sculpts, and paints; and cooked lunch for both of us to share. Sandrine is a gifted improvisational cook and I learned quite a lot from watching her.