Great Kitchens: Design Ideas from America's Top Chefs [Paperback]

If envy is an issue with which you struggle daily, you may want to avoid Great Kitchens, a lavishly illustrated walk-through of 26 fabulous kitchens in the homes of some of America's best chefs. This is a Taunton Press publication--the same people who bring us Fine Woodworking, Fine Homebuilding, and Wooden Boat, among others--so rest assured the production values are high enough to raise the stakes for everyone else in the business.

The one thing all of these kitchens have in common is that they didn't start out this way. There are kitchens put into Victorian houses, 1920s farm houses, swim schools (no kidding: Mary Sue Milliken of Border Grill in Los Angeles, and her architect husband, Josh Schweitzer, bought a small swim school and put home and kitchen where locker rooms and showers could once be found), old bars, upscale apartments, ancient stone houses. These are kitchens, then, that have been thought about by people who work with food, and know what they want at home.

Built-in wood-burning ovens and hearths seem to be a big deal. So, too, are custom wok stoves. Seattle chef Tom Douglas put his enormous prep island on industrial casters. He also put his herbs and spices into cans that attach to bar magnets on what would be wasted wall space. He chose the domestic version of an industrial stove because it is better insulated and doesn't heat up the kitchen. And like several chefs in the book, he swears by his commercial Hobart dishwasher with its 90-second cycle.

Great Kitchens is a multifunction book. You can leave it open on a coffee table as a piece of publishing art. You can use it to launch your daydreams. But most of all, you can use it to learn from the mistakes and successes of others, and gain insight from a lot of very practical information.

Most over-the-top built-in appliance? Terrance Brennan's bread-warming drawer. But in this book, it makes perfect sense. --Schuyler Ingle --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Foodies will enjoy a voyeuristic thrill seeing, in this cookbook/home design hybrid, the kitchen of Cecilia Chang (founder of San Francisco's Mandarin restaurant as well as others) with its built-in wok, or the cooking oasis of Lidia Bastianich (Felidia, Becco and Frico Bar in New York City) with its etched-glass d?cor. The authors (food -aficionado Whitaker; architect Mahoney; and Jordan, editor of Professional Remodeler magazine) highlight 26 kitchens and include discussions with their owners on what they love about their homes and about cooking in general. The chef profiles tend to be predictable (it's no surprise, for example, that Alice Waters has a commitment to organic farming); the most interesting parts focus on what the chefs did to their kitchens and how they did itAand often what they wish they had done differently. When Anne Quatrano and Clifford Harrison (of Bacchanalia in Atlanta) moved from a tiny apartment in Manhattan to Atlanta, Ga., they reveled in the additional space and designed a 24-by-24-foot kitchen with a 22-foot ceiling, but they still regret not adding a second sink. On the other hand, the chefs' recipes, such as Crispy Vegetable Stir-Fry from Ken Hom and Smoked Chile Salsa from Mary Sue Milliken, feel tacked onAtheir contributors certainly expended more energy on their envy-inducing kitchens than on these recipes. (Oct.)
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Who would better know what should be in a great kitchen than a professional chef? Here are the home kitchens of 26 of the country's best-known cooks, including Alice Waters. Many of these could be best described as "kitchens on steroids" because of the predominance of restaurant equipment and other impressive quality supplies. For each, there are photos, floor plans, and the individual chef's ideas about kitchen design. A section listing the chefs' favorite home recipes rounds out this fascinating title.
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Having struggled all day and evening to satisfy the appetites of their paying customers, chefs retreat to their homes, only to retreat to their private kitchens and start cooking once again. Even at home they demand the best appliances and the most efficient working space, so they continue to seek out the best stoves, refrigerators, and countertops. This volume illustrates the kitchens of the country's top restaurant chefs, ranging from city kitchens to rambling farmhouses and majestic seaside mansions. Virtually all these kitchens are designed to double as classroom spaces, enough room for students to gather and learn from the master. Most unexpected are the kitchens designed to cook primarily Chinese foods, their built-in woks with giant burners the only way to reproduce restaurant quality in the home. A helpful inventory of resources concludes the book. Mark Knoblauch --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

GREAT KITCHENS is a must for anyone setting out to re-do a kitchen or even for those who just want to sit back and gawk enviously. With beautiful photography, floor plans, and explanations, it shows you the best possible kitchens and introduces you to the chefs who own them. -- James Peterson, Award-winning cookbook author, including Sauces: Classical and Contemporary Sauce Making, Splendid Soups, Fish & Shellfish, and the forthcoming Essentials of Cooking

GREAT KITCHENS offers an inside look into the home kitchens of some of the most successful chefs in America. Whether at work or at home, today's great chefs kn ow that the kitchen is a nurturing place ? one that should be as inspiring and inviting as it is efficiently designed. -- Ferdinand E. Metz, President, The Culinary Institute of America

This is a warm and wonderful opportunity to move behind all the public relations and commercial glitz and explore the places where some truly real people do their very personal, creative cooking. A truly wonderful idea that makes celebrity a celebration. -- Graham Kerr, International Culinary Consultant and host of PBS's Graham Kerr's Kitchen

“Foodies will love a look at the home kitchens of famous chefs... Although these are kitchens to dream about, there are many lessons to be gleaned." -- Canadian Living, October 2004 --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

If the kitchen is your favorite room, if cooking is your favorite pastime, or if eating well is your most unregrettable vice, let Great Kitchens take you to paradise. From the home kitchen of Chez Panisse's Alice Waters to The Inn at Little Washington's Patrick O'Connell, each chef's kitchen is a unique jewel of culinary understanding and design. The 26 chefs in this book share the secrets that make a kitchen a great place to cook, to relax, and to enjoy the best of food and company.

The 300 color photographs in Great Kitchens map out an intimate tour of the home kitchens of America's top restaurant chefs. Inside you'll see a remarkable range of styles, each expressed in the cabinets, fixtures, appliances, counters, storage, and finishes of these mouth-watering kitchens. Look inside, meet the chefs, hear their stories, and learn the secrets of first-rate kitchen design--and be sure to check out the favorite home recipes from each of these 26 world-class chefs in the back of the book.

Whitaker is president of Berkeley Research Group, an on-line research firm based in the San Francisco Bay area.