Like clockwork, exactly five days before the House Beautiful's annual Kitchen of the Year opens to the public (and media outlets such as yours truly), the New York Times gives us the first look. This year's 2,600-square-foot space at Rockefeller Center was designed by Tyler Florence, the magazine's relatively new contributing food editor, the host of The Great Food Truck Race, the proprietor of a $50M empire, and the champion of milk. So what tips does this emperor of endorsements have to impart about kitchen design? The following half-dozen tips of the trade:
1. For the best possible source of inspiration, eat at Spain's impossible-to-get-into-also-because-it's-about-to-close-restaurant El Bulli. It is not only the ultimate restaurant, but it's the ultimate kitchen, and no meal, nor kitchen, one sees in his/her lifetime will ever compare: "It was really spectacular. The space is incredible."
2. Choose an aesthetic and stick with it. Here, "Northern California" means manly, rustic, and romantic. The "experience is about being able to cook out of a wood roasting oven, and to eat outside."
3. Embrace function first. Go for "Edwardian service kitchens" with a big island, rolling butcher's cart, two double ovens, and built-in knife blocks.
4. "Fifty thousand dollars’ worth of cabinets isn’t going to make you a better cook; cooking is going to make you a better cook." Just like Momma always said.
5. Buy the essentials: good pots and pans, a chef's knife, a paring knife, and a serrated bread knife.
6. Buy the extraneous: "For us, antiques create that one-of-a-kind look. It’s not a purchased look—it’s a collected look."
We are confident there's more to the KOTY than what's shown above, but that's all the Times publishes for now. Stay tuned for additional photos (and a firsthand look) on Monday.
· Tyler Florence on His Kitchen of the Year [NYT]
· Tyler Florence to Design House Beautiful Kitchen of the Year [Curbed National]
· House Beautiful Welcomes Tyler Florence [Curbed National]
· Watch a Trailer for The Great Food Truck Race's New Season [Eater National]
· Tyler Florence Explains His $50 Million Empire [Eater National]
· Tyler Florence Suckles at Teat of Dairy Industry [Eater National]