Slaving Over a Hot Stove
While those of us who live in older homes take pride in preserving as much of the provenance as possible, our self-imposed rules slacken here in the kitchen. For today’s serious cook, they have to—with our time at a premium, we actually need our modern conveniences. And so much of what keeps a house running and the people within it functioning begins here, certainly more now than a century ago. That’s especially true with entertaining. In the old days, when it came to guests in the home, the kitchen was even more sequestered than children—not meant to be seen—or heard.
“The problem with older kitchens is that they were never meant as a place to entertain, which is so much part of our lifestyle today,” says custom cabinet maker Warren Hile of Pasadena’s Warren Hile Studios. “The kitchen was hidden—it was where all the dirty work happened. That small space was never meant for today’s six-burner ranges and 48-inch-wide refrigerators. And they’re just not efficient places to cook—the work triangle of the stove, fridge and sink was not a concept introduced into yesteryear’s kitchens.”
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