House Beautiful
NEW WORLD ORDER: In her condo kitchen in Florida, Marcella Hazan stores several sets of
silverware, pots and bowls in every size, and all the other equipment a
cooking legend requires.
Four years ago, when Marcella Hazan, the Italian cookbook author and teacher, went to Florida with her husband, Victor, to visit their son, Giuliano, it took only one walk on the beach to inspire them to move from Venice, Italy, to Longboat Key. The down side to family closeness and a Gulf of Mexico view was the 11-by-16-foot kitchen in their new condominium. “Obviously, the architects’ thought had been for the major rooms around it,” Hazan says. “The kitchen fit into what space remained.”
Not surprisingly, Hazan has “an abnormal quantity of equipment,” and she likes to spread out when she cooks. “Counter space is extremely important to me,” she says. The new workspace had to be carefully planned. Not just every inch but every quarter-inch counted.
Melissa Cook of Cook’s Custom Cabinetry in Sarasota helped the Hazan’s squeeze storage into surprising places. Drawers were fitted into the toe-kick spaces; vertical dividers were inserted in narrow cabinets to store baking sheets and serving trays; skinny slots between cabinets were opened to hold pull out bars to hang towels and pot holders; perforated metal drawers and upright racks were tucked into cabinets for potatoes, tomatoes, and pot lids. A stainless-steel shelf under the rapid-response cooktop was installed to hold hot pasta pots.
The Hazans had the Wood-Mode cabinets in natural maple custom-made, at a 50% increase in price. For a sense of openness, cabinet doors and the stove hood were crafted from glass. Hazan also designed maple-and-glass sliding doors to open onto the dining area – and the Gulf view.
Four years ago, when Marcella Hazan, the Italian cookbook author and teacher, went to Florida with her husband, Victor, to visit their son, Giuliano, it took only one walk on the beach to inspire them to move from Venice, Italy, to Longboat Key. The down side to family closeness and a Gulf of Mexico view was the 11-by-16-foot kitchen in their new condominium. “Obviously, the architects’ thought had been for the major rooms around it,” Hazan says. “The kitchen fit into what space remained.”
Not surprisingly, Hazan has “an abnormal quantity of equipment,” and she likes to spread out when she cooks. “Counter space is extremely important to me,” she says. The new workspace had to be carefully planned. Not just every inch but every quarter-inch counted.
Melissa Cook of Cook’s Custom Cabinetry in Sarasota helped the Hazan’s squeeze storage into surprising places. Drawers were fitted into the toe-kick spaces; vertical dividers were inserted in narrow cabinets to store baking sheets and serving trays; skinny slots between cabinets were opened to hold pull out bars to hang towels and pot holders; perforated metal drawers and upright racks were tucked into cabinets for potatoes, tomatoes, and pot lids. A stainless-steel shelf under the rapid-response cooktop was installed to hold hot pasta pots.
The Hazans had the Wood-Mode cabinets in natural maple custom-made, at a 50% increase in price. For a sense of openness, cabinet doors and the stove hood were crafted from glass. Hazan also designed maple-and-glass sliding doors to open onto the dining area – and the Gulf view.
Hide in plain sight, kitchen photos above left to right: A stainless steel extension can lift up to expand the cooktop peninsula. Appliances dissapear behind a tambour door. Glass doors slide tidily rather than swing wide open.
Kitchen photos below, left to right: A work table in on wheels. Garbage also tucks away. Pull-out compartments store veggies, lids, towels and pots.
