A food writer brings her work home and tears up her kitchen

Sunset, Feb, 1994 by Linda Lau Anusasananan

MORE THAN 20 YEARS IN THE SUNSET EDITORIAL test kitchens had spoiled me. It was getting harder and harder to return to my cramped kitchen at home. My kitchen lacked many of Sunset's conveniences--and space. When my husband, Terry, and I entertained, putting the meal together in my pocket-size kitchen afforded two options: isolation or compression (from guests who wanted to keep me company). The counter I used most was an 18-inch-wide space between the stove and sink. It did double duty as a chopping block and collection spot for dirty dishes. I couldn't even see into a third of our cabinets, so I'd kick around an ugly yellow plastic step to reach ingredients. Most other cabinets were too narrow for ordinary pans and so deep that some pans got lost.

I hated the linoleum floor. Its pitted no-wax finish collected dirt, aging it to a permanent dull brown. When the refrigerator door refused to stay shut and the oven stopped working, I knew it was time for a change.

Ideas from Sunset

What did I really want in a kitchen? At the top of my wish list were counter space and accessible storage. Once I started to think about specific features, I realized that many of my ideas were coming from work.

At Sunset, each food writer is assigned her own kitchen. I've always liked mine best because of its huge butcher block counter. I can cut anywhere on the counter, and the broad expanse offers plenty of space to spread out ingredients, roll out breads, or fill up a dozen dinner plates. And when the kitchen really gets busy, four people can work at the counter.

Other Sunset kitchen features I appreciate are a concealed pull-up shelf with a mixer, which saves workspace; vertical dividers in cabinets over the microwave oven that hold cookie sheets, racks, and large pans; and a deep closet with shallow shelves and doors with bins to store small loose items.

Family needs and matters of style

I also wanted a room where guests could comfortably join us and where our daughters could entertain friends. It had to be functional but fun--I was tired of glamour kitchens that didn't look as if anyone used them. And sophisticated neutrals just weren't our style; I wanted bold, whimsical colors. Architect Heidi Richardson understood my desire for color. She brought me a photo of a kitchen with a marvelous mosaic tile backsplash of wild, bright colors. I loved it, but was worried about the cost of piecing together the small tile segments.

Richardson had a suggestion. She talked Deborah Osburn at Bisq'ettes in San Francisco into an experiment. Osburn would crack 12-inch unglazed brownish black tiles into large pieces, glaze a few pieces with different colors, then reassemble them into squares and glue them onto a backing.

I chose five colors from a favorite Chinese folk art painting for Osburn to duplicate. When we first visited her at the store, she said, "Now I know why you picked these colors. You're wearing most of them."

She was right. I was dressed in a purple coat, jade green sweater, and red shirt. Terry also wore a red shirt.

The tile backsplash turned out to be a labor of love on Osburn's part, but the results were spectacular--the first detail people notice when they walk into the kitchen. Friend and designer Dennis Leong helped me carry out the backsplash colors (red, periwinkle blue, jade-turquoise, and yellow) in the rest of the room.

Done at last!

About one year after we decided to remodel--and after seven months of construction, campstove meals, and dust--we had our new kitchen. It's a beauty. Central to its design is a large butcher block island, much like the one I have in my Sunset kitchen. Pullout drawers hold a garbage can and recycling bin, another drawer holds a knife block and spices, and a pull-up shelf holds a mixer.

One side of the island lies close to a counter holding a cooktop and drawers for pans. After I chop vegetables on the island, it's easy to transfer them to a wok for a quick stir-fry. On the other side of the island, two pantries have baskets on their doors to hold small objects, and shallow shelves that make ingredients easy to find.

And I enjoy a double stainless steel sink with one bowl wide enough to soak roasting pans, the other smaller for washing vegetables. Now I don't have to unload a sink of dirty dishes before washing lettuce. A dishwasher and pullout shelves for dish storage lie nearby.

At the opposite end of the island is a table for everyday family dining. Walls on that end of the kitchen enclose sitting and office-entertainment areas. (To get this extra space, we pushed the side wall out about 5 feet, the back wall out about 12.)

The shiny hardwood floor matches flooring in the rest of the house and cleans up easily with just a broom or vacuum and an occasional wipe with a damp mop or towel.

We love our new kitchen--cooking seems easy when you have room to spread out. And there's enough space for another cook to jump in. I appreciate having so much storage. In fact, a couple of drawers are still empty.

Now when we entertain, the kitchen becomes the heart of the party. Guests start with appetizers and drinks in the corner sitting area while I finish putting the meal together. When the food is ready, the island becomes a serving buffet. Adults often go to the dining room to eat, but the kids relish staying in the kitchen for their own party. The room is so cozy, guests frequently find their way back as we clear dishes and serve dessert.