I’ve always loved this Alessi tea kettle with the blue handle and a little red bird whistle, so was tickled to open a package from my parents containing one for my birthday. The bird looks great on top of our stove, which has dark red knobs and the blue handle speaks to some of the light blue accent pieces of Heath Ceramics in our otherwise french gray kitchen.
A few of you have emailed asking about our kitchen tile backsplash, which is honestly my absolute favorite part of the design! It’s Heath Ceramics from Sausalito (one of the few remaining mid-century American pottery companies still running today). Incidentally, check out the new Heath store on Beverly, inside which my friend Adam Silverman also has a very cool pottery studio.
Even though it looks like there are several different shades of tile, it’s all the same glaze and just varies in warmth because it’s hand glazed! Our tile color is “greystone” and it is the same glaze as our dishes, also Heath, which are French Grey. Our dishes inspired the color palette for the kitchen, from the paint on the walls to the marble countertops (some are white with a brown vein, while the island is brown with a white vein). The design is the GENIUS of Mick de Giulio, who also is responsible for designing the SieMatic Beaux Arts Cabinets in here (and that groovy pot rack, and the plate rack). Mick started with a piece of the Heath tile and one of our dishes and went from there. I think the tile helps bridge some of the mid-century items in the kitchen, like the tables and chairs, with some of the more traditional elements, like the lines of the cabinets. The design nerd in me likes to think the binary pendant lamp, round kitchen table and sphere in the photograph on the wall behind the lamp are all having a conversation. Yeah, I know.
Since de Giulio Kitchen Design is based in Chicago, Mick did all of this sight unseen. Per his request I sent him some snaps of favorite architectural elements from around our house, which was built in 1921, so that the kitchen would feel like it belonged. One of my favorite recurring themes in our house is arches. Check out the arched entry window and front door, built-in book cases and cabinets in the living and dining rooms (not to mention Tiny G’s new Radio Flyer wagon boxed up by the door!):
In a nod to these elements, Mick added this totally great spice “rack” built into the wall:
And then I love this hit of copper for warmth in this deep undermount sink from Franke. In fact, it’s not copper, but copper-hued titanium so very durable and won’t patina. Seriously, this sink is awesome for washing huge pots and pans.
Thank you, Mick! The kitchen is hands-down our favorite room in the house, and where we spend most of our very best times.
My biggest regret about our lovely marble countertops is not the chip my husband innocently took out of one while putting a beer bottle in the recycle bin or the acid from the lime juice I spilled while making margaritas that ended up eating the surface and leaving white blotches, but the fact that you can’t put hot pans down on it like you can with granite. My quick fix is this awesome Japanese wood trivet that I got yesterday for $10 at OK on Third Street. It’s so tactile. I love it!
For those who aren’t familiar with OK, it is without doubt one of the most smartly edited stores in L.A., with everything from exquisitely etched sake glasses (one of my absolute favorite wedding gifts, from my friend Lizzie), Heath Ceramics, and groovy placemats to Anne Ricketts bronze sculptures, Max Bill clocks, recycled gold wedding bands and chic little Comme des Garçons wallets. The best news is that they recently launched an online store: okthestore.com. Happy surfing!
Several years ago I was given this ball whisk as a gift by a designy friend, who picked it up at MoMA. But unlike many kitchen utensils that rate high in looks, this one actually works. It has become my favorite whisk, particularly when it comes to cleanup as there are no crevices for food to get stuck in. Also, the design means that the ball rods can generate more whipping action using less effort. What’s not to like? They are now available with silicone handles and balls, as well as a flat-whisk option. I’m guessing these are less likely to leave scratches on those amazing Rösle stainless mixing bowls that you knew you had no business spending that much money on, but then your awesome friend Dreanne got them for you as a wedding present and they are the BEST. BOWLS. EVER. You know, those.
This past Valentine’s Day, I thought it would be really romantic to sign up my husband and me for a knife skills class. After all, nothing says “till death do us part” quite like a 10-inch chef’s knife. My knife obsession is no secret, and our kitchen features two knife drawers each holding about 10—one for Germans and the other for Japanese, with the Germans in the west drawer and the Japanese in the east. I love reaching into a drawer on a whim, and picking up an old friend that feels right for the task. Maybe I want to use my beloved Michel Bras all-purpose knife with a titanium-coated blade to slice mushrooms. Or my trusty Wüsthof chef’s knife to dice a pork butt. Or slice carpaccio paper thin with a spectacularly sharp FKW 9 MAC knife. Here’s a sneak peek of a few of the knives in each of the drawers.
There will be tons more posts on knives in future, believe me, but back to our knife skills class, which was held last night at Sur la Table at The Farmers Market. While I have ZERO formal culinary training, I have long been a fan of the instructor’s preferred “pinch grip” (which Alton Brown showed me years ago when we were judging a wild game competition together in Portland, Oregon) and the “claw” to keep your fingernails intact, but I learned a few new tricks including how to do a fine julienne, and an awesome new way to chop onions. However, allow me to save you the $79 (come on over, and we’ll julienne for free!) and any guilt over your love affair with sharp blades and lots of ‘em. Our instructor systematically dissed just about every knife in my albeit excessive collection, telling us that all we need is a chef’s knife and maybe a paring knife (hot tip though: her favorite paring knife is one sold at Smart & Final for a song). I’m sure this is true—you really can do anything with a chef’s knife from clobbering a whole chicken to smashing and mincing garlic, but where’s the romance?
If you have a couple of hours to kill, head over to etsy.com to browse the thousands of handmade items, with everything from original artwork (I have a serious weakness for wondercabinet’s chimera silk screens on old dictionary and book pages, which I have framed throughout the house) to hand-carved wooden cuffs to children’s toys (I ordered several from cynicthelamb long before procreating). My latest obsession are these cryptid monster magnets like this Fiery Red Lochness Monster magnet ($9), or the Chupacabra Joins the Circus magnet ($9) by Southern California artists PearsonMaron. Spice up your fridge with Nessie, whose description is as entertaining as the magnet itself: “I spotted Nessie in my fireplace last night. She was making her way toward the kitchen again. She seems to enjoy guarding the hot sauce in the pantry. She’s preparing her migration to your house.”
My friend Hugh got his Christmas tree home yesterday, and was frustrated by his Swiss Army Knife’s inability to cut through the twine securing the tree to the roof of his car. So he ran up to the California Surplus Mart on Vine and Santa Monica Blvd., and picked up this excellent utility knife by Ken Onion, who is none other than the same genius who designed one of my all-time favorite kitchen chef’s knives. Since buying the Leek model 72 hours ago, Hugh says “I’ve used it to cut open a bag of string cheese, neatly tailor landscaping cloth, and sharpen a colored pencil.” The anodized black is really stealth, and the torx screws make disassembling it to clean super easy. The blade is half serrated/half straight, and has a spring-loaded opening that has a sort switchblade appeal, but is legal of course. For the vixen on your shopping list, check out the smaller pink Scallion model, which is more compact and perfect to stash in a purse for any gift-wrapping challenge that might arise during the holiday season.
Several years ago, sitting over brunch at the Sunset Marquis in West Hollywood, a fashion editor friend in town from NY said, “You know what you are? A foodinista.” I think we were discussing Louboutins and guanciale at the time. But whatever it was, the name made sense. And it ... Continue reading »
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