Team KBB

The perfect recipe for creating your own chef kitchen at home

Posted on 20th August 2024

Wish you could cook like a pro? Whether you’re an avid entertainer or love to spend time perfecting your home bakes, it’s important that your kitchen is up to the task.

To help you create your own chef kitchen at home, KBB magazine journo Charlotte Luxford spoke to some of the country’s top professional cooks about the design of their own culinary spaces and found out which features they cannot live without…

Yotam Ottolenghi’s family home

This bespoke Urbo kitchen was designed by Roundhouse in collaboration with Yotam Ottolenghi for his family home. “When planning your kitchen-island sink, avoid materials that can scratch or stain easily,” says Allison Lynch, senior design consultant at the company, which has made domestic kitchens for several other chefs including the award-winning Antipodean, Peter Gordon.

View of a kitchen-diner through sliding glass doors. — The kitchen in Yotam Ottolenghi‘s family home was designed by Roundhouse.

Neutral kitchen with stainless-steel worktops in a professional design. — When designing your chef kitchen, avoid materials that can scratch or stain easily. Photography: Nick Kane.

“We’d recommend man-made composite stone, such as quartz or sintered stone, or stainless-steel surfaces like those in Yotam’s kitchen, which are industrial in style and very hygienic, as well as easy to maintain. This eliminates the stress of staining, and hot pans can go directly on them too.”

Island design with food preparation area and a sink and tap. — Stainless steel surfaces are ideal for a kitchen island or sink area.

Handleless base cabinetry with stainless steel worktops and open shelving decorated with glassware and cookbooks. — Opt for open shelving so you can put your favourite cookbooks on display.

Closeup of spice drawer under a glass hob. — A spice drawer or rack is a must-have in any pro-style kitchen.

A kitchen fit for a star baker

Celebrity chef and former Great British Bake Off contestant Chetna Makan called upon Sheraton Interiors to enhance her kitchen for her work, creating recipes and family mealtimes. Chetna wanted a bold look for her open-plan room, with a striking but practical stone backdrop.

Celebrity baker making a cup of tea. — Chetna’s kitchen works for both creating recipes and family mealtimes.

The U-shaped layout maximises the cooking zone, providing a generous work surface as well as a peninsula island with seating. “The Dekton worktop is not only resistant to heat and scratches but also provides ample preparation space, which is essential for rolling out dough or laying out ingredients,” explains Shehryar Khan, director at Sheraton Interiors.

Closeup of a veiny stone worktop and a gas hob. — A practical worktop was on Chetna’s wishlist.

The ovens are situated at eye level, making them easy to see into and removing the need for constant bending when baking. Sheraton Interiors also put in some clever storage solutions and a large, modern, open dresser, giving Chetna easy access to all her baking essentials, which are now within arm’s reach.

Dark kitchen design with veiny worktops, wood wall cabinets and open shelving. — “Changing the dark surfaces to white gave my kitchen that lift and light it desperately needed,” says Chetna.

“For me, the essential thing was a space for spices, so having drawers designed specifically for that was a game-changer. Being a cook and baker, I have many little spatulas, brushes, measuring spoons, cups and so on, and having drawers with integrated organisers means I don’t waste time looking for things. The clever corner pull-out sections also mean I don’t lose any storage space – and I am also in love with my boiling water tap, which saves me a lot of time.”

U-shaped layout with base cabinets for storage and a peninsula for food preparation and dining. — Soft-touch matt lacquer kitchen, with cabinetry in graphite and European walnut, and Dekton worktops.

Layout was key when designing this chef kitchen for the family-run Enrica Rocca cookery school in London, which needed to cater for up to 30 people. Sisters Claire and Charlotte Chapuis wanted a homely style rather than a standard stainless-steel professional kitchen, so Rebecca Nokes, design director of John Lewis of Hungerford, incorporated open-shelving to make the space feel cosy, while providing easy access to glassware and crockery.

Sisters Claire and Charlotte Chapuis at their cookery school in London. — Sisters Claire and Charlotte Chapuis wanted a homely kitchen for the cookery school.

Green Shaker cabinetry with brass accents, green, white and red tiles, brass taps and wood open shelves. — The hob was positioned on the island for demonstrations, and super extraction was incorporated so there would be no lingering food smells when clients were cooking.

“The double-oven stack was a must-have for the cookery lessons because it allows for cooking at different temperatures,” says Rebecca. “While we wouldn’t normally install a metre-wide sink, this was essential for Charlotte and Claire to be able to wash their 90cm oven trays and keep surfaces clear of dirty dishes. The double dishwashers were also a must-have for the same reason.”

Closeup of washing up area with a large sink and brass taps. — The large sink is spacious enough for washing 90cm oven trays.

Tall cabinetry with built-in double ovens. — The double-oven stack allows for cooking at different temperatures.

“We’ve also got three bins in the huge island – one pull-out and two built into the surface, which makes it easy to clean up, especially after making dough; you can just wipe all the flour into the bins and it doesn’t go all over the floor,” says Charlotte. “Another favourite feature is the iroko worktop. Wood is not usually recommended, due to its upkeep, but we love it because it’s like one giant chopping board and when it looks a little tired, we just rub olive oil into it and it looks great again.”

Traditional kitchen design with central island with a wood worktop. — Shaker kitchens from John Lewis of Hungerford start at £35,000.

Deliciously Ella’s studio kitchen

Founder of the Deliciously Ella brand, Ella Mills, shares daily plant-based food content from her studio kitchen. But despite being blessed with large windows, Ella described the workspace as lacklustre and somewhere that “didn’t really bring the brand’s recipes or ethos to life”.

Ella Mills preparing salads in her sage green studio kitchen. — Ella Mills at her studio kitchen overlooking London’s Tottenham Court Road.

The space needed a rethink. So, she called upon Neptune to divide the long, industrial-style room into a shoot kitchen and a food preparation area. For Ella, this was about maximising space. “We have so many different projects going on, we are frequently developing recipes at the same time as working on product development,” she says. “An additional preparation kitchen can be a good solution for those who like to entertain because it enables you to keep the main area clear for hosting,” explains Fred Horlock, design director at Neptune.

A shoot kitchen and an adjacent food preparation area. — The room is split into a shoot kitchen and a food preparation area.

“Scullery-style second kitchens are becoming popular again as they are highly functional but can also double as a larder or utility room. Keep plates, glasses and serving ware in the front kitchen, where it’s decorative and handy for guests, while the preparation kitchen can be used to house bulky appliances, a second dishwasher and to store food items that you don’t need every day.”

High on Ella’s wish list for the kitchen was a double-door larder, and, while Neptune’s Henley collection doesn’t traditionally offer one, the designer suggested crafting bespoke bi-fold doors to echo the same effect. “I wanted a larder-style cupboard for storing foods and spices, but also for larger appliances like a toaster and blender,” explains Ella.

Larder with bi-fold doors in a traditional sage green kitchen. — “We installed built-in plug sockets so that the appliances could be used straight away without having to be taken out,” she adds.

A chef kitchen catering to all occasions

Dani Mosley, of catering company @family_feasts, had been dreaming of a new kitchen for seven years before finally being able to make it a reality. Having inherited a dated American diner-style kitchen, she was keen to extend the kitchen and create a large, light-filled contemporary space that could host culinary workshops, as well as provide ample room for crafting her signature feasts, celebration cakes and cosy family dinners.

Pink kitchen design with stainless steel accents, terrazzo surfaces and pops of yellow. — “Incorporating as much natural light as possible into the room was the first consideration when we designed the kitchen,” explains Dani.

Dani worked with designer and Pluck Kitchens co-founder George Glasier on a layout where the fridge, hob and sink would all be within easy reach of one other. The dishwasher was placed next to the sink and a big fridge-freezer – for larger events, as well as the family’s everyday essentials – was vital. Dani chose a Fisher & Paykel model with a single, huge freezer drawer, as opposed to several smaller drawers.

L-shaped kitchen design with terrazzo worktops and steel-framed windows. — The dishwasher sits next to the sink and a big fridge-freezer.

“The double-door larder with its bright, Market Mustard interior was a must-have on Dani’s wishlist,” says George. “It’s large enough to store ingredients for both the family’s meals and Dani’s catering creations, freeing up the other cupboards for her crockery and equipment. To ensure there’s plenty of space for rustling up multiple dishes at once, there’s an expansive island worktop too.”