We found three (highly) creative professionals who turned their kitchens into the center of their homes. Learn how a high-end Italian kitchen designer spent a tortured year as his own client (totally worth it), a Dutch trend forecaster created a room around her Paris kitchen that’s still trending almost two decades later, and a New York cooking-school teacher built the kitchen that broke Pinterest.
Italian architect and Boffi designer Piero Lissoni transformed his Tuscan kitchen (pictured up top) into a Japanese restaurant, seating guests around him while he cooks. “For me, the kitchen is like a twilight zone,” he says. “Hanging around with your friends or family, everything becomes a bit more relaxed.”
On Entertaining: “I designed this kitchen because I like the social qualities of life. Traditionally speaking, food is a social moment in Italy. We glue our family and our society together around food. This is exactly the same: I use the kitchen like a glue.”
Lissoni likes to play with genres around the counter. He has Fritz Hansen stools, French bistro chairs, and ones designed by James Irvine for Cappellini in the ‘90s—an influence seen in these Tom Dixon Slab chairs.
The island surrounding the Boffi cooking component is both workspace and dining table, putting Lissoni—who loves acting the pro cook—on the spot. “Confusion near food is a disaster,” he says.
Photo: Courtesy Alessi
When making risotto alla Milanese, Lissoni prefers to use an aluminum pan. He swears by the La Cintura pots by fellow Italian design stars Alessi.
Alison Cayne opened Haven’s Kitchen, a cooking school and café in New York City, knowing that everyone loves to hang out in the kitchen—"even if they don’t cook. It’s where everyone feels happy." So when she designed her own kitchen, she made sure her loved ones had plenty of opportunities for joy.
On Entertaining: “If you’ve had a hand in something, it’ll taste better. Sometimes I’ll have people roll their own veggie wraps, or set out flatbreads from Hot Bread Kitchen and let guests top their own. For some parties, I put out pots of herbs with scissors and let people snip away.”
On Prepping for Success: “I feel the pressure: People expect me to run my kitchen like a pro. So I have things prepped: If I’m having a party at 8, I’m done cooking by 7:30, take a shower, squeeze some lemon, add some herbs, and I’m good.”
“I don’t like to have a ton of pots going on. In winter, I’ll do a tagine. In summer, D.I.Y. fish tacos or a big bowl of gazpacho.”
Cayne sourced her brackets from Japan. We like these from Rejuvenation in Portland, Oregon.
The glass door on her Sub-Zero Pro 48 refrigerator ensures that Cayne stays tidy—even with five kids in the house. Before parties, she checks to see that her prepped herbs are looking good.
The Paris-based trend forecaster Lidewij Edelkoort creates reports that look 18 months ahead. (Her latest, for the watchmaker Rado, even explored the alchemy of food.) So why hasn’t she redesigned her 17-year-old kitchen? Because the open space is a natural draw for friends.
On Entertaining: “Opening the kitchen makes everything lighter and gentler. It’s really a good recipe. Even if you’re not cooking, you’re participating in the feeling of space. Friends lounge and drink while I cook. We can go back and forth and talk—it makes it more convivial and fun. And it forces you to clean up!”
On Collecting in the Kitchen: “The space is always transforming. I use it very much like a room: There is culture, a little stone Buddha. It’s like it doesn’t want to be a kitchen.”
“We eat with dessert knives and forks,” says Edelkoort. “I like smallness because you eat more slowly and more precisely.” Try these new Ikea Sittning forks.
The only light in the space comes from a skylight, sconces, and the stove hood, giving the room a quietly dramatic feel—no candles required. This Ameico sconce mixes materials Edelkoort-style.
The workbench in Edelkoort's kitchen was left in the garden by the former owners. She uses it to show off ingredients and her ever-changing collection of bowls from her travels. The table shown here is from Restoration Hardware.
Piero Lissoni
Ex-Libris Storage Unit by Piero Lissoni for Porro
Tom Dixon Slab chairs
Gaggenau induction cooktop
Alessi La Cintura pot
Alison Cayne
Emile Henry 3.7-quart tagine in Charcoal
Rejuvenation Large Arched Shelf Brackets
Waterworks Grove Brickworks Field Tile
Benjamin Moore Paint Wrought Iron
Sub-Zero Pro 48 Refrigerator
Lidewij Edelkoort
IKEA Sittning Forks
Ameico Sconce Lights
Restoration Hardware Salvaged Wood Kitchen Island