The Serious Cook’s Kitchen
Gourmet cooking as a hobby and an avocation has become a popular part of modern life. Dozens of magazines, thousands of cookbooks, television channels and web sites devoted to food, mail order catalogs full of restaurant quality tools and ready availability of exotic ingredients have powered our interest in the fine art of cooking. Any serious cook has dreamt of their ultimate kitchen as a super efficient workspace and/or a personal place to pursue their craft. Restaurant style ranges and gleaming stainless steel appliances, maple butcher block counters and overhead racks full of copper pans all appeal to the serious cook. When we get the opportunity to create a kitchen that works the way we want, we often crash into the expensive reality of what these commercial kitchen choices mean.
The kitchen designed for the serious cook is not about stainless steel and 15,000 BTU cooktops, although these tools have their place. It is about efficiency, about the way you cook and the size and type of meals you prepare:
- A baker may want a dedicated area for baking with its own mixers, stone work surfaces, shoulder height oven(s) and special storage for trays, pans and utensils used in baking.
- A cook versed in classic French techniques may have an extensive batterie de cuisine
- A vegetarian with an interest in exotic dishes may work out of a wok 90% of the time.
- While their kitchens may look quite different they share a need for functional, well designed workspace.
Laying out the workspace is the key to a kitchen for a serious cook:
- How many people will use it?
- How many will you typically cook for?
- Do you need large cutting and prep areas?
- How about easily accessible storage for spices, herbs and condiments including both fresh and dried?
- An efficient, easy to clean cooktop or a massive six burner range with its required ventilation and safety systems?
- How about a place to display your treasured collection of pots and pans, knives and tools?
- A place to keep track of recipes would be nice.
- Maybe you’ll want a computer to reference the Internet or possibly write that cookbook you’ve been making notes for.
- If you entertain, you’d better be prepared for on-lookers as you cook.
- Or maybe you want to be in on the action at a party instead of cooking in the back. Layout can encourage or discourage participation by guests.
All of these considerations cost money, take careful planning and can mean a big difference in your enjoyment of your kitchen. As a serious cook you’ll spend a lot of time in your space and you’ll regret any oversights you may make during the design process. We’ll be looking at ways you can fit in all of the features you want, with the budget you have and still create a kitchen that works well for you.
